Challenge
To launch and promote the new California Academy of Sciences (designed by architect Renzo Piano) in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park as a 21st century museum – the only building in the world to feature an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, 4 story glass-domed rainforest and scientific research center, all under one “living” roof. Scheduled to open after 4 years of construction, the Academy’s goal was to become the world’s greenest museum.
Tactics
LCI developed and executed a multi-faceted campaign to provide maximum outreach to the press, but was also a strategic player in regard to media and visitor events, speaking opportunities for Academy leaders and scientists and visibility for green/sustainability issues. LCI identified the need to earn the attention of influential New York media and executed a press tour a full eight months in advance of the Academy’s opening. The centerpiece was a press luncheon at New York’s Morgan Library (re-designed by Renzo Piano). LCI also coordinated a series of desk side meetings to introduce the Academy with story angles that ran the gamut from architecture and design to science and sustainability. LCI secured media sponsorships with WIRED Magazine, San Francisco’s ABC affiliate, KGO-TV, KGO Radio, 7×7 Magazine (which targeted a young urban demographic) and the San Francisco Chronicle. LCI also leveraged the scientific research of resident Academy scientists to establish the institution as a world-class research facility and continues to this day to promote the Academy’s ongoing programming and exhibitions.
Results
Attendance at the new California Academy of Sciences has far exceeded visitor projections and continues to draw-record breaking crowds to Golden Gate Park. The facility is now recognized as one of the West Coast’s leading research facilities. LCI garnered coverage from almost 100 top U.S. print, broadcast and online outlets. Top-tier coverage included: Good Morning, America, NPR, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Vanity Fair, USA Today, Newsweek, Travel and Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Sunset Magazine and Metropolis, among others.