Background
Ever since Keiko, the famous killer whale from "Free Willy," left, The Oregon Coast Aquarium has pursued different ways of attracting visitors. The aquarium, which opened in 1992, covers about 37 acres just off Highway 101 on the south side of Yaquina Bay across from the city of Newport. The aquarium has a variety of indoor and outdoor exhibits.
On Memorial Day weekend, a new exhibit called "Swampland" is opening. It will run for two years. The following information is from the aquarium's Web site:
Creatures that live in swamps include reptiles, amphibians, fishes, birds and mammals. A 6 foot alligator and a 12 foot anaconda are among the inhabitants of Swampland. Other animals in Swampland include piranhas, red tail boas, a large alligator snapping turtle, and tropical fish that use mangrove roots as nurseries.
Snakes, frogs, an alligator and fish have been arriving and are being acclimated to their new environment. Painting of murals by artist Michael Cole is nearly complete and exhibit cases are being installed. Opening festivities over the three day Memorial Day weekend will include a performance from Radio Disney, "Creature Features" with live animals, dive presentations, face painting, free giveaways and a children's craft handout. The summer season officially gets underway on opening day of Swampland as the Aquarium expands its hours from 9 am to 6 pm daily through Labor Day weekend.
Imperiled wetlands have been in the spotlight recently, with catastrophic events such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane Katrina compromising the integrity of these biologically diverse ecosystems. As scientists look for ways to mitigate the damage of these events, the significance of wetlands to the health of our planet is becoming more evident. The Aquarium hopes that Swampland will inspire awe and understanding of wetlands, highlighting three different types of swamps and the animals that live in them.
An elaborate immersive experience, Swampland reveals swamps as complex ecosystems providing essential habitat for wildlife performing important functions that benefit all living things. The exhibit demonstrates how swamps act as a natural filter, enhancing water quality and absorbing water to help reduce flooding and erosion. Here's a link to the aquarium Web site that provides more information about this exhibit. Swampland Exhibit info
The aquarium is counting on the new exhibit to draw more visitors this summer, particularly from the region. Some market research has shown that a high percentage of people in the region already have visited the aquarium but that the average length of time between visits is more than two years. The board feels that the aquarium's future success will depend on how well it can encourage infrequent visitors to come more often. The primary target, then, is people within a day's drive of Newport.
You need to create an ad that will appear on billboards on major highways within 250 miles of the aquarium encouraging people to see the new exhibit. The board wants to encourage people from the region to visit the aquarium often.
We will be looking to see how well your message makes that point. Remember, it's going to be on a billboard--something that has to be read quickly and understood immediately. The maximum length of the message is 15 words. If you use as many as 15, you'll need to divide the message into two parts--one much larger, like a headline, and one or two smaller lines. The bigger type is more important. That will capture the most attention.
You also need to decide on a visual element--perhaps photos or some other type of illustration to help make the point. What you need to turn in: