I am a fan of a viral/interactive promotion of the NC Aquariums where visitors to their website are encourage to submit photos of themselves and their children making fish faces! The URL for the promotion is www.showusyourfishface.com.
I first learned about the program from their outdoor advertising promoting the “show us your fish face” URL. My fear was that I’d go to the website and be disappointed with the experience. That was not the case. Although the landing page is fairly static and graphically not very engaging (this is fun and crazy stuff – so have fun with it), the promotion does offer an interactive experience. When you visit the website you are invited to upload your own photo, rate other photos, and send a photo to a friend. Each month a winning photo is selected and qualifies for an annual grand prize. And, when you upload your fish face photo, the NC Aquariums sends you an official Fish Face ID card that you can use to win cool stuff when you visit a NC Aquarium.
Admittedly, I am a sucker for aquariums (The New England Aquarium is my favorite) and purchased a family membership to the NC Aquariums last year. I believe we visited every one of the aquariums throughout the year (there are three), and went to one a couple of times (Pine Knoll Shores).
The promotion that the NC Aquariums developed is fairly simple, easy to participate in, and fun. That said, it has a ton of promise and could have been so much more. But it works in its current form. Based on the photos that have been submitted, people of all ages are participating. And the organization is successfully linking “fun” with their brand. Aquariums are fun and interesting places, after all. Kudos to the marketing team who took them in this direction. I’m sure that based on the success of this promotion there will be an opportunity in the future to take this kind of online promotion to the next level!
Post by Dan Dunlop, Brand Expeditions
