Chicago?s Field Museum used mobile to transform its traditional marketing efforts to promote its Real Pirates exhibit.

The Field Museum set up multiple keywords ? SKULL, CROSS, PIRATE, GOLD ? that consumers could text to a short code. The museum launched a mobile treasure hunt, pushed mobile pirate facts and engaged consumers through a text contest. The museum leveraged its Web site, voice mail and marketing materials to promote the mobile campaign and achieved 7,000-plus text interactions.

?LSN Mobile implemented a three-fold strategy for The Field Museum,? said David Spear, executive vice president of LSN Mobile, Atlanta. "The first part was to extend the exhibit beyond the four walls of the museum. The second was to spark engagement with younger audiences and lastly, deliver knowledge about the exhibit.

?Real Pirates is a fascinating National Geographic discovery because it tells the story of the first authentic pirate ship, The Whydah, to be pulled from the ocean floor in U.S. waters,? he said. ?The Field Museum marketers saw a unique opportunity to incorporate mobile marketing with the exhibit to drive additional interaction among audiences before, during and after visiting the museum.

?To this end, Real Pirates would be able to stay top of mind with audiences beyond just the initial visit.? 

The Field Museum was founded to house the biological and anthropological collections assembled for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. These objects form the core of the museum's collections which have grown through world-wide expeditions, exchange, purchase and gifts to more than 20 million specimens.

The collections form the foundation of the museum's exhibition, research and education programs, which are further informed by a world-class natural history library of more than 250,000 volumes.

Ahoy mobile!
The mobile initiative marked the museum?s first foray into mobile.

?With more than 7,000 mobile interactions, this was a huge success that spotlighted a new means of marketing for a venerable property like The Field Museum,? Mr. Spears said. ?There is no doubt that you?ll see mobile become an integrated component of future museum marketing campaigns.?

Signage encouraged consumers to text-in to become the first to receive the latest exhibition news, updates, special offers and chances to win exclusive pirate prizes through their mobile phones.

Consumers could also opt-in by filling out a form on the mobile Web site.

Participants were also able to have a pirate call one of their friends and say, ?Join the crew,? Feel Better? or ?Happy Birthday.?

Consumers could download wallpapers for their mobile phones as well.  

?Mobile provided the perfect distribution channel for the museum marketers to deliver exhibit knowledge in a highly relevant manner,? Mr. Spear said.

Audiences could also opt-in to receive weekly pirate facts, play an SMS treasure hunt game and enter a contest for pirate paraphernalia.     

?SMS was chosen for the campaign because of its simplicity, universality and relevancy,? Mr. Spear said. ?These three hallmarks underscore the reason why SMS was the right choice, and the numbers certainly reinforce this decision."

Mr. Spear said it is easy for marketers to get caught up in the iPhone's sex appeal.

?But marketers need to stay focused on their target audience and how the consumer sees and interacts with the brand, product or service,? Mr. Spear said. ?Understanding the compelling nature and power of something as simple as SMS, the marketing staff at The Field Museum was brilliant in their choice to use SMS as the primary tool to deliver Real Pirate engagement, fun and knowledge."