Specimens With Something To Say
The Field Museum of Natural History
Issue 45 | December 2017
Agency
Leo Burnett Chicago
Creative Team
CCO, Leo Burnett U.S.A. Britt Nolan Creative Directors Carlos Murad, Pete Lefebvre ACD/ Copywriters Julio D’Alfonso, Travis Klausmeier Senior Art Director Luis Marques Script Writers Chrissy Bruzek, Anthony Brooks, Austin Paramore
Production Team
Executive Producer Juan Woodbury Production Designer John Havemann Editor Jon LeVert Associate Producers Luke Crawford, Amy Tyszkiewicz Creative Resource Director Kevin Brown Activation Production House Engage & Resonate Music Producer Alec Stern Senior Sound Designer Marco Morales Audio Engineer Surachai Sutthisasanakul Producer Interns Josephine Tse, Bryan Casallo
Other Credits
Senior Account Executive Sasvi Alam VP of Celebrity Services Peggy Walter Technical Director Veronika Garmanova Associate Technical Director Kate Mitchell Website Developer Steven Daoud Front-end Web Developer Griffin Thompson Website Development Intern Ashley Echols
Date
July 2017
Background
Chicago's Field Museum had more than 30 million plant, animal and mineral specimens in its archives; yet only about 1% were ever put on display.
In Spring 2017, to showcase more than 5,000 of these diverse items and share how they have helped shape science in important, and often unusual ways, the museum launched a new exhibit, "Specimens: Unlocking the Secrets of Life".
The problem was how to give a voice to so many diverse stories in a way as unique as the specimens themselves.
Idea
So, what exactly does a 120-year-old cedar waxing have to say? A lot, actually.
To promote the collection and enrich the experience of the exhibition, "Specimens with Something to Say" enabled the exhibit to tell its own stories with the help of voices from the local Chicago community. A pop-up sound booth was set up in different locations around the city and Chicagoans invited in to read one of more than 100 short scripts.
Each "Specimen Monologue" was a light-hearted and educational story told by each item in its own unique voice. Locals lent their voices to hundreds of recordings and spread news of the activation and exhibition through word of mouth. The best of the "Specimen Monologues" were featured on the Field Museum's smartphone app for visitors to enjoy at the exhibition.
Results
The activation stirred a swell of local and national broadcast and online press coverage from outlets like Adweek and the local ABC affiliate, among others. In September, the Field Museum launched the exhibition app featuring the voice-over stories as a permanent part of the collection.
Our Thoughts
Leo Burnett have got the advertising-for-museums category completely to themselves, it seems, with "Van Gogh's Bedroom" winning a pride of Cannes Lions for the Chicago Art Institute.
What's smart about this idea is how it got local people actively supporting and promoting their local natural history museum themselves by inviting them to become participants.
This is how an extinct minnow, a moss that helped the FBI solve a crime and an egg that is helping with climate research all got given a voice. And, I hope, a lot of people listened and were enthralled.