Australian Museum launches new 200 Treasures campaign via Therese Leuver + 303 MullenLowe

The Australian Museum has celebrated its 190th year with the official opening of one of the greatest collections of treasures in the nation’s history, in the newly-restored Westpac Long Gallery. The campaign creative is jointly produced by Therese Leuver/303 Mullenlowe and the Australian Museum design team, and integrates outdoor and print ads, including large format billboards at Sydney airport and other prominent city locations.

News Corp and Fairfax Media capitalised on the landmark opening of the new permanent exhibition, 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum, by producing full-paper wraps of the event across the weekend of October 14 and 15.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s editorial coverage features some of the most significant items in the exhibition, such as a feathered cape given to Captain Cook on his third Pacific voyage and a skeleton horse and its rider. The Sunday Telegraph’s wrap, sponsored by Westpac, highlights the exhibition’s selection of the people who have helped shape the nation through contributions to history, science, nature or culture, such as Cathy Freeman, Professor Fred Hollows and Kylie Minogue.

The opening of the exhibition in the Australian Museum’s newly-restored Westpac Long Gallery attracted widespread media coverage across print, television, radio and online, including primetime news on all national television networks, weekend features on ABC News Breakfast and Channel Seven’s Sunrise, plus ABC and commercial radio segments such as ABC Radio Sydney with Robbie Buck, 2GB with Alan Jones and ABC Radio National’s PM with Linda Mottram.

The restoration of the Westpac Long Gallery and 200 Treasures exhibition represent the Australian Museum’s single-largest corporate partnership and one of the most significant for a major cultural institution in recent years. The historic partnership between Westpac, Australia’s first bank, and the Australian Museum, the nation’s first museum, demonstrates the museum’s commitment to developing collaborative and sustainable financial models.

The $9 million restoration and new permanent exhibition were funded in equal partnership between Westpac, the NSW Government and the Australian Museum Foundation.

An extensive marketing, advertising and PR campaign has been rolled out around the official opening of 200 Treasures on October 13 by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer, NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin and some of the treasured Australians who feature in the exhibition, including broadcaster Ita Buttrose, film director George Miller and architect Glenn Murcutt.

Says Kim McKay, director and CEO, The Australian Museum: “It is the largest marketing and communications campaign undertaken by the AM in recent history.

“This gallery and exhibition is a game-changer for Sydney and the AM and the campaign creative reflects the significance of the Museum in our cultural landscape.”

Sydney’s CBD is awash with striking street flags promoting the exhibition’s tag line “Uncover Hidden Stories” – along with images of crystals, skeletons and fossils – to entice local and international visitors inside the Australian Museum.

In celebration of the exhibition opening, Westpac has also sponsored 200 Treasures Up in Lights, a giant animated projection and light show designed and produced by AGB Events and its director Anthony Bastic, curator of the internationally-celebrated Vivid Light walk, for Vivid Sydney. The 20-metre high, 19th century sandstone façade of the Australian Museum is being transformed after dark for 10 nights from October 13 through to October 22, from sunset to 11pm.

Illuminated images of the treasured objects and people who have helped shape the nation, including crystals, creatures and skeletons several storeys tall are projected as part of the light show, which stretches 42 metres by 11 metres (larger than the size of a basketball court), near the corners of William and College streets in the CBD. Thousands of passersby are expected to share the experience using #200Treasures.