merit
66% of millennials, and 74% of Gen Z, think in-real-life experiences are more important than digital ones.
The Escape the Algorithm campaign positions PEM as an alternative to digital, screen-based experiences. But it also dares to go farther.
In this campaign, we boldly state that PEM is more than just an alternative: It’s a powerful antidote to the sameness and predictability of the algorithmically determined, artificially generated digital feeds that devour our time and energy.
PEM is a real, shared, sensory, human experience. In today’s world, that makes it the escape we all need.
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) was trying to reach new audiences and entice them to come to Salem, Mass., for a non-witch-related experience. They came to HATCH for an awareness campaign, but we saw a bigger opportunity — to stake a claim about what makes them different from other museums with a multichannel brand platform.
We introduced a new PEM brand platform with a campaign that puts the PEM experience in direct opposition to the endless scroll: ESCAPE THE ALGORITHM. Eye-catching imagery paired real people and art from the PEM collection with headlines that compare how real experiences like taking a stroll through a museum are greater than digital ones. The brand platform came to life across advertising (yes, including digital and social), engagement-driving activities, and museum experiences.
In market from July to December 2024, the campaign drove remarkable increases in awareness and participation. The number of website sessions went up by almost 50% and the number of new website visitors went up by almost 75%. Even though the campaign goals were awareness-based, it also brought in 145 website purchases, leading to an unexpected revenue stream.
This is the first awards show we are entering this work into.
