The Great Train Story

Replacing a 61-year-old icon that was loved by three generations of Museum visitors is a serious undertaking, but as the Museum of Science and Industry proved, it can be done with stellar results. The Great Train Story – a giant 3,500-square-foot model train exhibit featuring intricate recreations of Chicago’s Loop district and Seattle – opened with positive press that drew more than 254,000 guests in just six weeks during the 2002 winter holiday season.

A limited advertising budget placed higher expectations on public relations to bring visitors to the Museum despite a soft economy and extensive competition from an array of competing exhibits in the Chicago area. The program earned the Museum and PCI a PRSA Skyline Award and a PCC Silver Trumpet Award for special events.

Research

The communications team of MSI and PCI staff members began the program by doing a competitive analysis on special holiday events for families in the city to determine appropriate timing and tactics for the train campaign.

Research also identified model train enthusiasts and model train shows where the campaign could reach an avid audience that would generate word of mouth.

To prepare general pitches and to design the media kit, the team researched the history of railroading in America, model railroading and the marriage of model railroading and the holidays. The team worked closely with exhibit designers to prepare advance feature pitches about how the thousands of photographs from a cross-country train trip were used in constructing a true-to-life representation of modern-day railroading in America.

Planning

MSI established key objectives:

• Increase attendance by more than 5 percent over a very successful 2001 holiday season despite competition that included a holiday train exhibit at Navy Pier;
• Build and sustain public interest before, and after, the exhibit opens;
• Replace a 61-year-old icon train exhibit without public backlash

A competitive analysis determined the importance of reaching people early who were deciding what to do in Chicago during the holidays. The primary audiences were families and tourists – especially those with fond childhood memories of model railroads. The secondary audiences were model railroad enthusiasts and employees of the train industry in the Midwest. Finally, the tertiary audience was the general public fascinated by the elaborate recreation of Chicago’s Loop district, Seattle and the railways in between.

The Museum’s communication team prepared a 5-month media plan with a budget of $49,500 that would begin in August, culminate with the exhibit’s opening on Nov. 22, and continue into the new year with on-going media relations and evaluation.

Execution

To reach families and tourists early, the media team distributed a general release to regional visitor guides and travel writers in August. Photos and releases were made available on the Museum’s press page in September to assist feature reporters with advance stories. They also seized an opportunity to position the Museum as the place for “family, fun and value for the 2002 holiday” before Halloween by packaging the announcement of the train exhibit’s opening with the two-month extension announcement of the popular Titanic: The New Exhibition in mid-October.

To reach the secondary audiences, the Museum held a special preview and breakfast with exhibit designers for model train enthusiasts from the Midwest and select media – especially reporters with young families. Invitations were e-mailed to 50 model railroad clubs from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin and 30 media contacts, resulting in 125 people attending.

The Museum also reached out to Metra, Amtrak and CTA employees by inviting them to opening day ceremonies and offered discounted admission to their families via internal newsletters and email distributions.

Exhibit fliers were sent to hobby shops in Illinois and Indiana. More than 150 posters were placed on all Metra lines traveling in and out of Chicago. By partnering with the Chicago Transit Authority, a #10 bus traveled from Michigan Avenue to the Museum in a Great Train Story design. A partnership with the Hyatt Regency allowed for a huge Great Train Story mini-exhibit to further attract tourists.

Opening day festivities included a book signing by popular children’s author, Chris Van Allsburg. He provided a special reading of The Polar Express to a sold-out event of almost 450 children who wore their pajamas and received bells and hot cocoa as featured in his book.

To sustain a presence in the regional media, the media team also capitalized on smaller stories within the Great Train Story, including the sale of the Museum’s old model railroad on Ebay in November.

Objective #1: Increase attendance by more than 5 percent over a very successful 2001 holiday season despite competition in Chicago, including a holiday train exhibit at Navy Pier. More than 254,000 guests visited the Museum of Science and Industry’s Great Train Story in less than six weeks, surpassing the Museum’s attendance objective for November 22 through December 31 by 10 percent. The Museum projected November attendance at 118,073 and December at 168,075. With support of the aggressive PR program, attendance was 126,657 in November and 190,472 in December. Attendance for the month of December rose 7 percent from 2001 and 19 percent from 2000.

Objective #2: Create a PR program to build and sustain public interest before, and after, the exhibit opens. Media relations secured more than 235 placements beginning in September through December reaching an estimated audience of almost 27 million with continued interest into 2003. National, regional and local placements were secured including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, CNN Headline News, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, WLS-TV’s “190 North” and a feature by WLS-TV’s Frank Mathie

Objective #3: Replace a 61-year-old icon train exhibit without public backlash. Due to strategic planning and a successful PR plan, the public embraced the updated model The Great Train Story, making it a new favorite Museum icon.