Visit Battleship IOWA

Increase attendance and revenue for Battleship IOWA, Los Angeles’ award-winning naval museum.

When COVID hit the U.S., Battleship IOWA’s attendance was slashed by 76% in 2020. 2021 was only slightly better because California had some of the strictest COVID safety protocols in the U.S.

California typically relies on a heavy international market to drive tourism. With international travel still not ready to return in 2021, it became apparent that Battleship IOWA needed to come up with a plan to offset the 21% lift that the international market typically accounts for.

Strategy & Tactics: Battleship IOWA has a lot of destinations to compete against in the crowded L.A. market — amusement parks such as Disneyland, Hollywood, and Universal Studios; there are many professional sports teams across the area; and, of course, the appeal to visit the plethora of beaches. So, let’s say museums aren’t people’s first stop when they visit L.A.

To put Battleship IOWA on people’s radars, we created a campaign to promote visits to the ship with print, digital, billboards, and T.V. ads. In addition to this campaign, we wrapped 12 Uber cars and had those cars pick people up at the airport and other main attractions throughout the L.A. market. When people left LAX, one of the first billboards they would see was of Battleship IOWA. The driver of the Uber would comment on the billboard, then hand riders a flyer with a discount to visit the ship.

Additional ads were placed in local tourism guides and magazines, along with a geofence around the location of the Super Bowl, creating the impression that Battleship IOWA was everywhere in L.A.

The marketing campaign drove over 30,134,871 impressions and 131,137 clicks to their website. Most importantly, attendance was up 32.24% compared to 2021, and revenue spiked 42.6% compared to 2021.

The campaign was so successful Battleship IOWA is increasing its marketing budget by 84% heading into 2023 to double down on the success of the campaign.