Hi, I'm Zack – I work on the Content team here at Skillshare. This project is a social campaign I worked on for the Battleship New Jersey at an ad agency called Masterminds. I'd love to know if it would capture your immediate attention if you came across this content in your Facebook feed, and how you think it could make better use of the triggers you teach in the class.

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

CHALLENGE

America's most decorated Battleship, the U.S.S. New Jersey, was in danger of sinking. The state government slashed this museum's funding from $1.7 million to zero, and we needed to act quickly to gather support.

The real challenge: This campaign couldn't just pluck heartstrings. People are deterred by messages that bring them down (see: every TV commercial for puppy mills). Not to mention, there are hundreds of other causes competing for your attention at once.

BIG IDEA

Give the Battleship New Jersey its own voice — one that evoked a sense of pride and camaraderie for our state's unsung heroes. And allow everyday people to share that voice, and become heroes themselves for helping to save this national treasure.

CAPTURING IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: DISRUPTION TRIGGER

The team at Masterminds started creating this voice for the Battleship through a nostalgic poster campaign entitled, "The Heroes Behind the Heroes." It was an effort to promote a specific City at Sea tour aboard the ship, which celebrated the 'unsung heroes' who served on her for many decades.

This campaign was an effort to capture people's attention using the Disruption trigger, as it violated people's expectations from this style of graphic design. At first glance, you see wartime propaganda, then upon a closer look, you realize it's talking about a mailman, a barber, and a dentist.

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 1 - student project

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 2 - student project

Credit: Pragati Mulani, Chris Holland, Joe Morano, RT Herwig, Joe McDonough, Ryan Leeds, Jen Fink (Masterminds Agency)

SHORT- AND LONG-TERM ATTENTION: ACKNOWLEDGMENT TRIGGER

After capturing people's immediate attention with the Disruption trigger, the team realized that there might be something to this brand voice that could continue to attract customers to the Battleship NJ.

My partner, Bob Cassella and I decided to create the next step of the campaign and attempt to build short-term attention (and eventually, brand loyalty with long-term attention) through the Acknowledgment trigger.

We designed an "SOS" movement on the Battleship New Jersey's Facebook page, which inspired countless stories from those who love and support this national treasure.

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 3 - student project

A lot of people got behind the campaign, and the support of the Battleship NJ came pouring in.

We turned their personal stories and "proud memories" aboard the Battleship into little graphics, which we could post throughout the duration of the campaign and sustain fans' short-term attention and (hopefully) long-term nostalgia.

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 4 - student project

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 5 - student project

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 6 - student project

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 7 - student project

Battleship New Jersey - S.O.S. Facebook campaign - image 8 - student project

This campaign also made use of the Rewards trigger, as their was a prize involved for those who participated in sharing their proud memories with us via the Facebook app. One lucky winner was selected to fire the 50-caliber gun aboard the Battleship.

As a result, there was an outpouring of support from Facebook fans, which turned into ticket purchases, donations and overall brand awareness for the Battleship New Jersey.

Would love your thoughts on what other triggers or tactics we could've implemented!

Thanks,
Zack

Zack Kinslow

Content Manager, Skillshare

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