Why Do We Do What We Do?

Exploratorium: The Science of Sharing

Client

The Exploratorium

 
Services

Marketing strategy

Audience research

Creative development & production

The Challenge

How do you make a science museum exhibit personally relevant and interesting enough to trigger a visit?

Strategic Decision

Since the exhibit's aim is to provoke thought around social behavior, make the marketing an extension of the experience.

The A-Ha Moment

Everyone should ponder this at one point in his or her life: Am I an asshole?

Each Conversation Car posed questions that were relevant to a rider's experience and got people contemplating while commuting. Do you put your bags on the seat, or at your feet? Should you just sit there, or is it okay to start talking to strangers? Is MUNI a call-free zone, or do you blab loudly and incessantly on your phone during the entire trip, annoying riders that are even three cars away? (Not that we're judging.)

We also posed San Francisco denizens with perhaps one of the most pressing dilemmas of our times...especially in a city where the dogs outnumber the children.

We launched a guerrilla-style marketing attack in the form of hundreds of pieces of fake dog poop scattered in San Francsico parks and on city streets. Each "land mine" featured a sign asking passers-by if they'd clean up after their dogs if no one was around. The stunt was so attention-grabbing that our plastic poop propaganda pieces became collector's items as people scooped them up and carried them home.