ARTIS - Microlympics

Using the existing museum contents, we created a new reason to visit ARTIS-Micropia; a noteworthy summer event, with an unusual perspective on the world of microbes. The Microlympics were a successful promo: the summer period drew 25% more visitors than the same period the year before. The event was covered on both national and regional television (NOS Jeugdjournaal, AT5, NH), national newspapers (Algemeen Dagblad, Telegraaf) and various lifestyle media. The PR campaign generated a reach of 2,7 million people and free publicity worth of €550.000 providing a ROI exceeding 30. But most importantly: people learned about the abstract world of microbes in an accessible manner by bringing together pop culture, science and education in a way that was unmistakably ARTIS.

Last year, Rio hosted the Olympic Games. Amsterdam had the Microlympics: the event for the world’s tiniest athletes. At Micropia, the public became acquainted with microbes and their impressive athletic skills. The events included the 50 micrometre free stroke, Planktonic rowing, Spore shot put and Leaf lifting. In a special exhibition, people could see the athletes in real life and learn everything about them. 

We shared videos (online, social, PR) of the Microlympic disciplines to get both the audience and media curious about the exhibition. We activated visitors of Amsterdam, showing videos of the events on the big screens at Schiphol and in town.

In our PR strategy, we established a link between the 2016 Olympic Games and the Microlympics. We compared the skills of the microbes to those of the Dutch Olympic athletes, like swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo and the Holland Eight rowing crew. Because if you think Usain Bolt runs fast, Ranomi swims swiftly or the Holland Eight row rapidly, you’ll be surprised to hear that they were all beaten by the microbes.

For the full experience, people had to actually go to Micropia. There, the lab techs put together a special tour and told interesting stories in order to teach visitors about microbes and their world based on the Olympic theme.

ARTIS-Micropia is the only museum in the world where the invisible world of micro-organisms is made visible. The brief was to stimulate visiting numbers during the summer holidays and raise awareness of ARTIS-Micropia and its contents, with a PR-driven campaign. The challenge: making the abstract and unknown world of microbes interesting enough to attract a wider audience. We primarily focused on parents and their children aged 10 – 16 and everyone that is interested in popular science.