CHALLENGE
Commemorating the Miami Seaquarium’s 50th anniversary of the world-famous TV and movie star “Flipper” with a year-long celebration was the task for The Conroy Martinez Group. The goal was to design a creative, sustainable campaign that would hold the interest of our target markets and benefit the community.
STRATEGY
We created an overarching theme “A Year Full of Wonder” along with the corporate social responsibility campaign called “Flip it Forward.” The year-long celebration reinforced the park’s continued commitment as a good corporate citizen in the community, and as South Florida's most popular tourist attraction. The Conroy Martinez Group developed and incorporated the 50th Anniversary celebration with various elements and components that included the following: a new Flipper dolphin show, a display of memorabilia from the TV show at the Flipper stadium entrance, a press event with the actors and creator from the TV series, community outreach during the year with the launch of the ‘Flip it Forward’ social campaign via traditional and social media channels.
The community was encouraged to pledge their random acts of kindness on the park’s website as part of “Flip it Forward.” For the kick-off press event with the actors and creators of the TV series, the agency wanted to build up excitement among the media without disclosing details in advance. The agency mailed a series of ‘media teasers’ that consisted of anonymous riddles along with a keepsake item, which were mailed to all media outlets and journalists. The agency worked with the client in developing and executing a total of three mailers. The first teaser was a “ransom note” with the message “Something Big is Happening in December.” The second teaser was a music CD with the top ten songs of 1964 (American Top 40). The third one was a small dolphin figurine labeled ‘Flipper’, which was mailed along with a media advisory. At the press event, media were surprised at the press conference with the presence of the program creator, Ricou Browning and Tommy Norden, former actor who played Bud in the Flipper TV series. In addition, the celebration received proclamations from all three municipalities Miami-Dade County, City of Miami and Village of Key Biscayne.
RESULTS
As a result of the ‘Flip it Forward” campaign, there was a significant increase in consumer interaction with their social media platforms. The park received nearly 1,000 pledges on its website as people continued to sign up for the social campaign. Consequently, the campaign also fostered and promoted non-profit and civic partnerships in the community for the client. In addition to Miami Seaquarium partnering with numerous organizations, they also hosted a series of free admissions to the park, animal encounter experiences for underprivileged children, and more. The park’s reputation as a corporate citizen was showcased by the countless partnerships that were ongoing throughout the year. In addition, the agency secured substantial editorial coverage in the most prominent national and regional news and media channels across the U.S. Total media placements for the 50th Anniversary press event and the ‘Flip it Forward’ campaign generated more than 12.5 million impressions across all media platforms.