 
A strategic and well thought-out "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West" campaign will not only create huge word-of-mouth during opening weekends in your market, but will help sustain recognition throughout the entire run of engagement. As you know, it is extremely important to exploit every local opportunity to maximize the film's potential!
Some ideas may include:
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE LEWIS & CLARK BICENTENNIAL
To learn more about how you can participate in the commemoration of the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, please contact us at www.lewisandclark200.org. Fifteen National Heritage Events will occur from January 2003 through September 2006. For more information, please contact:
Karen Goering, Executive Director, executive@lewisandclark200.org
National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial
PO Box 11940
Saint Louis, MO 63112-0040888-999-1803
Website: www.lewisandclark200.org
CONTESTS
Tie in with a local newspaper, travel company and sporting store (or Eddie Bauer) where readers go to register to win a trip along the Lewis & Clark trail or a river rafting trip. This may not cost you anything if the newspapers were invited to an advance screening and the retail outlet paid for (co-op'ed) the ad.
Enter-to-win contest for kids to win National Geographic prizes: Peace Medals, books, T-shirts etc. Entrants can answer questions such as: what would you take with you on a 3-year expedition to uncharted land? Name a new animal or plant that Lewis & Clark saw for the first time and recorded it for science? How did Lewis & Clark meet?
CROSS PROMOTIONS
Tie in with a local bank. Have them put a poster display in their lobby, having them buy the cost of the Sacagawea Coin ($1 gold coin) and 50 tickets. They could then run a promotion: "The first 50 people to open a new account/new mortgage/retirement plan, etc. at X Bank will receive two free tickets to Lewis & Clark Great Journey West and a Sacagawea coin."
Tie in with local or statewide groups that are celebrating the bicentennial of Lewis & Clark. For example, the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry tied in with their local children's theater, who won a national grant to produce a show about Sacagawea, and they were able to work together to cross promote events.
FURTHER EDDIE BAUER RELATIONS
Further enhance the Eddie Bauer sponsorship by working directly with local Eddie Bauer retailers to build a promotion. Example: Bounce-Back Coupons (if geographically convenient)
- Take your movie ticket stub in to Eddie Bauer and receive 10% off your entire purchase. Bring your Eddie Bauer receipt to the theater for a free popcorn when you see "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West."
- Use Eddie Bauer stores as ticket pick-up locations for print/radio promotions. Ads could read something like: "Visit the Eddie Bauer store on First Street to get a free advance screening ticket to National Geographic's new large-format film: 'Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West,' now showing only at the X-Theater".
ON-SITE PROMOTIONS
We recommend you consider the following on-site ideas:
- Monthly Guest Speaker Program. Historians can come in and talk about the expedition, the era or the factors confronting Lewis & Clark.
- Invitations to community leaders to come in to speak and introduce the film.
- Play on the themes of patriotism, heroism and "putting self before country. Carry the theme throughout with expedition-like props i.e. canoes, paddles, crates, maps, etc. Re-name your concession area "The Trading Post" - offer a combination of large popcorn and large soda as "Lewis and Clark Expedition Rations"
- Encourage the staff to wear buckskins, exhibition or period apparel with "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West" buttons. Plan incentives for these personnel.
- Play the soundtrack in the background for in-theater schedule announcements and schedule recordings.
- If there is a monitor in your lobby, run a continuous loop of the half-hour, "Making of Lewis & Clark" National Geographic Explorer special and trailer. This was originally aired on MSNBC. (DCI can supply upon request).
- Create a display in December suggesting the perfect Lewis & Clark holiday gift -- a book on the expedition, other Lewis & Clark merchandise and tickets to see the film. If the theater is in a museum, a gift membership could also be included.
STUDENT REVIEW
Work with a school and a TV station in your market to have a 5th or 6th grade student review the film. This will help to kick off the film since it's a topic kids that age are taught in schools anyway. This is a helpful idea on an on-going basis to bolster the interest in large-format films to the "teen" audience.
EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT
Send out a mailing of the Lewis & Clark Map/Timeline (created by National Geographic and DCI) to area teachers urging them to use these as an aid to teaching the topic and to contact you for group sales information. Get a teacher who may have a particular interest in this topic to see the film who would then be a champion for the film.
The National Geographic Teacher's Guides are a great resource. The teacher mentioned above could have a seminar on "teaching the topic of Lewis & Clark", using the film as a tool, of course. You might also host a teacher's screening prior to, or on the heals of, your opening. National Geographic is eager to assist in this endeavor any way they can.
SCREENINGS
Host an advance screening for targeted groups and members of the community to get the good buzz going. Those invited could be educators, boy and girl scout troupes, historians, senior groups, community leaders/politicians, press, nature and environmental groups, adult education centers, public radio memberships, etc. You might also arrange an advertised/promotional advance screening of the film that is free to anyone named "Lewis" or "Clark". Proof of ID should be required.
MEDIA PROMOTIONS
Radio, TV, and print promotions are important to the media mix as they deliver both reach and frequency of the message. To maximize their effectiveness, consider the following:
- Ask the promotional partner to help brainstorm traffic-building ideas such as giveaways, program sponsorship, news/weather sponsorship (i.e. "the KXYZ weather is sponsored by the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry - now showing the new National Geographic film, "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West"), live remotes from theater, etc.
- Call-in contests - i.e. the morning drive topic is "best personal exploring story". The person who calls in with the best story of how they achieved an unexpected goal by exploration gets a family 4-pack to see the film.
- "Find Lewis & Clark" contest. Have life-sized cardboard cutouts of Lewis & Clark show up around the community. The first person to call in to the radio station to announce they found Lewis & Clark wins.
- Offer local television stations to buy out a showing of "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West" for a station promotion. They could then offer the tickets through a retailer or a website register-to-win contest for a viewer appreciation night.
WEBSITE PROMOTIONS
Use your Web site to promote the film by creating contests and offering added-value coupons, i.e. to drive traffic to specific off-peak times like daytime and twilight shows. Media websites are generally high traffic stops on the Internet. Tie-in with sites such as www.bigmoviezone.com, local newspaper, TV and radio partners to get website links. Other ideas can include:
- Run interesting interactive trivia contests to promote "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West" at the theater.
- Collect names and addresses from your Web site visitors to use later for a direct mail programs promoting "Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West" and the theater.
- Link a banner or web address on your media partner's Web site to generate traffic to your local theater site. This can ultimately help sell tickets.
If you have a specific application for which we have not provided a design and would like assistance, please let us know. We will work with our marketing agency to do our best to provide you with a solution.
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