Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

A Publicity Campaign with a Catch

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens came to Ethos with a unique challenge. World-renowned Danish artist Thomas Dambo would be creating an exhibit called “Guardians of the Seeds”. Dambo uses recycled materials to create giant trolls, the experience of which is designed to get people away from their devices and reconnected to nature and each other. 

Meeting Nature’s Protectors

We started with a campaign immersion to help us understand the Gardens, the exhibit, and the goals. The team then developed a playbook that mapped out phases and tactics, including positioning, target audience, insights, launch plan, recommended metrics, and KPIs. And wanting to reflect the goal of the exhibit, we made sure to weave a message of sustainability throughout the campaign.

And because we wanted to generate excitement for the exhibit without revealing too much about the specifics before it opened, we decided the campaign would have both a tease and a launch phase. During both campaign phases, we worked on creating a feeling of magic and mystery around the exhibit.

Something BIG is coming

Ethos also set up stories on high-profile local and national platforms, such as the Boston Globe, NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Portland Press Herald, and Downeast Magazine. During the initial tease phase, most of the stories shared some of the look and feel of the magic of the exhibit. Once the exhibit was open, we used more complete images and details.

Blowing away expectations

The entire Ethos crew loved working on the campaign. With an initial goal of reaching a 30% increase in traffic over 2019, we initially worried about managing expectations when COVID hit. But as the campaign progressed, the results were outstanding. Traffic increased 80% over 2019. Expectations were blown away.