Travel Channel
Complex communication campaign
Travel Channel - “Expedition Unknown” series’ episode shot in Hungary
Travel Channel television channel has been present in Hungary for 20+ years. It is already well-known having an established fan basis. Momentum has been working for them since 2014 to build and raise brand image and promote upcoming shows. This campaign focused on an episode of the series Expedition Unknown. The episode was filmed in Hungary with Josh Gates who searched for Sultan Suleiman’s heart that is – according to the legend – buried in Hungary.
The communication objective was to promote the series and the brand among current and potential viewers.
What we did
Momentum cooperated with the Natural History Museum where we built a “Expedition Unknown” room during the time of Night of Museums. On the Night of Museums, during one day-and-night people can buy an overall museum ticket at a very reduced price - with that they can attend as many museums as they wish. For this occasion, museums offer not only their usual exhibitions, but several special programs. The Natural History Museum is one of the most popular destinations on this day.
In 2015 Travel Channel already had a highly successful cooperation with the Museum. In 2016, the year of the campaign described here, the museum’s programs were related to the theme „Explorers and Heroes”.
In the museum we created a Travel Channel “Expedition Unknown” mystery room, where people had to solve riddles and quizzes to find treasures. We planned the layout of the room; compiled the riddles and other challenges, the whole strategy of the game; coordinated the furnishing of the room, etc. At the entrance of the museum people received a map of room, a leaflet with riddles and quizzes, and description of the series and list of the upcoming episodes. In the room there were stations with different challenges (all related to the Expedition Unknown show running on the channel) and finally go to the museum garden and find with a metal detector the sultan’s tomb and his hidden heart. All players received a small branded merchandize at the end and a main prize was drawn.
Results
900+ leaflets were filled in and taken home by visitors - as they were mostly 4-member families, it means approx. 3500 people visited our Expedition room.
The biggest commercial TV channel introduced the room in their 6 o’clock and 8 o’clock news.
Several program guides described the Travel Channel initiative amongst the Night of Museums programs, and many print and online publications covered the initiative.
Affiliate cooperation: 3-day quiz on an affiliate’s Facebook page before the event with 322 entries, prize: double tickets for Night of Museums.
Extended communication via Travel Channel Hungary’s Facebook page: quiz, posts with photos and videos.
As a continuum of a good partnership, similarly successful cooperation with the museum happened in 2017, too.
