The 10 millionth visitor of the Rijksmuseum
When you ask people all over the world about the Rijksmuseum, everybody will say “The Night Watch”! So, the following creative idea arose: Let’s create an extraordinary experience for the specific single visitor with this painting as a unique backdrop.
The 10 millionth visitor was invited to sleep next to the world-famous painting, to experience his own “Night Watch”.
The ‘operation’ was prepared with extreme precision. The entire technical crew was standby for two days, to be able to take action at the right moment. On "D Day” the unsuspecting visitor entered the museum. Over hundred employees were lined-up anxiously ready to welcome the 10 millionth visitor.
Only one thing was really important: the surprise had to be real! This once in a lifetime opportunity had to radiate the Rijksmuseum’s exclusive image as “the surprising place to be”. The 10 millionth visitor turned out to be our ideal candidate, whose relevant background and professed love of the arts made him the perfect visitor.
INSIGHTS
With eight hidden camera-positions we followed the 10 millionth visitor during his special stay and flawlessly recorded everything. Through the night a touching and intriguing edit was created, to have all footage on time for TV, internet and social media.
This event was featured in a wide range of national media, with 41 articles and an appearance in RTL Late Night. Internationally, it was the subject of 36 articles, from the New York Times to The Huffington Post, The Observer and Le Parisien. And in 7 days 31.007.482 social followers were reached! This event, based on a simple and very cost-effective idea, with an impeccable execution, resulted in an event that marked the momentum, created humongous impact, as well as relevant content for the (Rijksmuseum) brand. With more than 31.000.000 touch points for approximately 14.000 euro (the cost per single contact was less than 0.00045 eurocent) we can state that this production had a very high impact with a low budget. All Rijksmuseum colleagues felt truly proud during and after the event which you can obviously see in the after movie.
By giving this specific visitor a once in a lifetime experience, we did not only surprise the main person, but people all over the world who were confronted with this stunning experience and the Rijksmuseum, being the surprising place to be!
Three years after its reopening, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was due to receive its 10 millionth visitor. The Rijksmuseum asked the agency (us) to find a prominent and distinctive way to celebrate this unique milestone in the museum’s history.
The primary goal was to generate free publicity in an extremely cost-effective way, which would also confirm the brand promise as the ideal place where every single visitor can “be surprised” at every moment of the day. National attention was seen as a ‘must have’. The secondary goal, international attention, as a ‘nice to have’. The third objective was to engage all colleagues working at the Rijksmuseum. The feeling of proudness had to be emphasized.
The target audience of the event was the (inter)national cultural population and media.
