Tekniska Museet in Stockholm is Sweden’s largest museum of technology, where visitors can explore how everything fits together.
In 2018, the museum was planning a new exhibition on computer games: Play beyond Play. The exhibition aimed to make visitors try their favourite games, explore game history and be immersed in games themselves.
With a local perspective on Swedish games, visitors were to experience nostalgia and find out more about amusement and advanced digital technology.
Tekniska expected the exhibition to appeal to younger people, teenagers in particular. The team set about exploring digital marketing approaches that would bring Play beyond Play to this audience’s attention.
The challenge for the museum was not just to find the right digital medium but also to ensure the message resonated with current and potential audiences. Tekniska had recently started using MHM’s Visitor 360 rolling research, which provided valuable insight into the mindsets and motivations of their visitors.
Images: Anna Gerdén, Tekniska
The marketing team decided to join forces with Theoz, a popular young influencer, to raise awareness of Play beyond Play. This was something the museum had never done before.
Through the Visitor 360 findings Tekniska knew its adult audience was dominated by three Culture Segments: community-minded Expression, fun-loving Entertainment and self-guided Perspective.
The data also showed word of mouth was a powerful factor among Tekniska’s visitors.
The Theoz campaign consisted of a series of social media posts about the exhibition and a Meet & Greet at the museum itself.
As well as the children and young people, the celebrity element would attract attention from adults in the Entertainment segment, while Expression would love contributing to and sharing the stories about Play beyond Play.
The marketing campaign was a great success.
Theoz’s social media posts sparked new conversations and brand awareness for Tekniska. The museum gained 300 new Instagram followers from a single post and profile views went up significantly thereafter.
The Meet & Greet attracted 80% more visitors than anticipated.
Play Beyond Play contributed to all-time high of visits during autumn break 2018.
Visitor 360 data showed it was the prime motivator in 37% of visits in the last period of the year. Moreover, 83% of the exhibition audience were returning visitors, significantly more than the general audience that year.
The V360 data also showed the marketing campaign had been particularly effective with the Expression and Entertainment segments.
Together they made up 47% of exhibition visitors, compared with 37% of visitors to the museum overall.
The exhibition managed to attract 58% of visitors under the age of 18, compared to 47% overall during the year.
