Bishop Museum Getting the message to More People

It’s not widely known that Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum has one of the largest, most diverse collections of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultural objects, artifacts and specimens in the world.

The idea that millions of these items are housed on Oʻahu is nothing short of incredible.

However, although the museum was well known, it was struggling to:

1. Bring in tourists, who had any number of other, well-advertised attractions to choose from.

2. Remain relevant to locals, who knew about the museum but weren’t aware of all the new exhibits or of the upgrades to the signature galleries, campus and programs. Kama’aina also incorrectly assumed that the museum was well funded by Kamehameha Schools.

Our Approach

Bishop Museum needed to get its message out!

In consultation with Bishop executives, we drafted a marketing plan for a multi-channel digital advertising funnel. This included new landing pages to convert traffic from a multi-layered, digital and traditional advertising campaign that utilized Facebook ads, paid search advertising (Google search ads) and display advertising on both the Google Display Network as well as Programmatic Digital Display Ads.

In order to show museum executives a positive ROI, we also implemented extensive digital integration, tracking and analytics. This involved a revamping of the Google Analytics/Tag Manager accounts and tracking code for all advertising platforms. The information gleaned helped us to identify the museum’s ideal customers (avatars), what kinds of things were of interest to them and how best to present Bishop’s message.

We have worked hard to build awareness and appreciation for the breadth and depth of treasure that exists within the institution’s walls. The message has been to convey that these items are more than objects. They are stories waiting to be told and shared with visitors to the museum who can, in turn, share the knowledge they’ve gained with others.