Earning Media Credit for Discover Card's Sponsorship of the Smithsonian Institution's Sesquicentennial

When the Smithsonian Institution's museums pack up 300 priceless artifacts, including an Apollo 14 space capsule, Judy Garland's ruby slippers, Abraham Lincoln's top hat and a Tucker automobile, for a national tour, it makes news. But, it doesn't guarantee media attention for the corporate sponsors of the tour. That was the challenge we faced on behalf of Discover Card, one of four sponsors of America's Smithsonian: the 150th Anniversary Traveling Exhibition, along with MCI, Intel, and Trans World Airlines. At the national level, CBS was the exhibit's broadcast partner, thus limiting the amount of national network coverage.

Each sponsor created a special exhibit that toured as part of America's Smithsonian. Discover Card's exhibit, Voices of America, focused on three distinctly American musical styles: gospel, rock n' roll and Broadway musicals.

A large group representing curators from each of the Smithsonian's 16 museums, the four corporate sponsors, advertising, public relations and marketing interests met regularly to approve each leg of the six-city tour. It was soon evident that logistics, politics, and even local weather conditions would affect the tour schedule and the opportunity for publicity. At the same time, Discover Card wanted strong local media attention and, if possible, national coverage for its sponsorship.

To cutaway Discover Card from the other sponsors PCI created a local event for each of the tour cities to draw public and media attention to America's Voices and to provide media with a specific reason to mention Discover Card. Each event had to be something that would merit high-profile media coverage and could be quickly pulled together.

The tour's first stop was Los Angeles where we launched America's Voices with a special media preview hosted by Broadway legend Cyd Charisse, and rock n' roll pioneer Booker T. Jones. The Los Angeles media turned out in force and gave rave reviews to the exhibit. Most important, the majority of media coverage noted Discover Card's sponsorship.

Six weeks later, the Smithsonian tour moved to Kansas City, where we played to that city's jazz heritage by hosting preview performances with local amateur and professional musicians. A "musical trivia" contest featuring hometown artists debuted in Kansas City and continued in the remaining markets. The call-in contest was offered to local radio stations along with exhibit tickets as prize giveaways. Whenever possible, contest questions were related to items in the America's Voices exhibit. Despite ticket distribution problems and a delay in opening the entire exhibit, America's Voices received very positive media coverage and attracted a steady stream of visitors who mentioned hearing about it on the radio or seeing coverage in the papers.

A tour stop in New York City provided an opportunity to secure national media attention for Discover Card so we pulled out all the stops and put on a big show! We contacted each of the legitimate theatre shows that were playing on Broadway and asked them to donate a costume or prop to America's Voices. At the conclusion of the tour, the items would be added to the Smithsonian's permanent collection at the National Museum of American History. We staged a press conference with stars from 11 Broadway shows including Lou Diamond Phillips, who donated a mask from The King and I; Debby Boone donated her Pink Lady jacket from Grease; Dule Hill, presented Savion Glover's autographed shoes from Bring in 'Da Noise; and Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who donated Angel's trench coat from Rain.

CNN's Showbiz Today and Headline News, Black Entertainment Television news and CBS Entertainment Tonight ran stories on the Broadway donations to America's Voices. Discover Card was prominently featured in all coverage, which reached an estimated national audience of more than 36 million.

As the tour continued with stops in Providence, St. Paul and Houston, we worked with local civic, business and media leaders to organize special preview events and news conferences. We secured numerous stories on television, radio and print media during the tour's six-week stop in each city, reaching an audience of more than 124 million through local media outlets.