Rubber Duck Project

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust was creating its third installment of the International Festival of Firsts with one 40-foot, yellow addition – Studio Florentijn Hoffman’s The Rubber Duck Project. The festival itself featured the U.S. premieres of an eclectic mix of theater, dance, music, and visual arts from around the globe, all staged in Downtown Pittsburght.

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust brought on the Markowitz Communications team to ensure ample media coverage and promotion to inflate The Rubber Duck Project’s presence and exposure.

Insights
What’s so special about a giant rubber duck? That simple question was our challenge–and raise awareness of the duck’s arrival, while keeping it associated with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the 2013 International Festival of Firsts.

Groundwork
Setting Studio Florentijn Hoffman’s The Rubber Duck Project up for success began before the duck was first inflated in Pittsburgh. With our expertise in media relations, we suggested and assisted the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s PR Director Shaunda Miles in arranging a teaser press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, to announce the arrival of the duck. The event, which included the Dutch artist himself, prompted massive media coverage. We reached out to all of our media contacts–the list is almost as giant as the duck.

The 40-foot duck came floating into town on Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, with flocks of media keeping a “Duck Watch,” as the giant bath toy approached the Roberto Clemente Bridge for its Welcome Bridge Party. Helicopters flew overhead from each major network affiliate to document the moment with 100,000+ people lining the river to catch a glimpse of the action.

Our team remained in constant contact with the media from Day One, providing a prime location along the river to capture the duck during its official arrival. Our team also assisted two local production companies with shooting a video news release that was sent out nationally the following day.

During the course of the duck’s stay in Pittsburgh, we kept in touch with local, regional, and national media to keep the duck relevant, hatching a plethora of stories across the U.S., world, and web.

Strategy
As the end of our yellow friend’s stay was drawing to an end, the MC team knew the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust had to put a final feather in its cap to reiterate its key messaging, and connect its success to the International Festival of Firsts in Pittsburgh.

After much discussion with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, we were able to convince them to hold a farewell press conference on Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, to thank everyone who visited the duck and brag about the economic boost it brought to the area. The media turnout was just as large as the teaser press conference and launched a new batch of articles – people even began petitioning to keep the duck in Pittsburgh indefinitely.

ROI
From local to national coverage, the Studio Florentijn Hoffman’s The Rubber Duck Project became a Pittsburgh phenomenon. It appeared on Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, CNN, Aljazeera America, and Today in addition to numerous local reports from KDKA, WTAE, and WPXI. Studio Florentijn Hoffman’s The Rubber Duck Project U.S. premiere in Pittsburgh also went viral on a variety of websites, including the Associated Press, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, Wired, Huffington Post, and Newsday.

All of these stories resulted in 322.5 million impressions across the globe, with more than 274 million potential viewers online, splashing the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s name from the United States to Australia.

Aside from all the media impressions, more than a million people visited the duck – vastly exceeding expectations and giving an impressive boost to the Pittsburgh economy, estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

Pittsburgh City Council declared Tuesday, October 29, 2013, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Day, encouraging all citizens to support and attend the Cultural District’s diverse events and programs all because of the success and revenue generated from a certain 40-foot yellow duck.

With Pittsburghers taking ownership of Studio Florentijn Hoffman’s The Rubber Duck Project–some citing it as the reason for the Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 winning streak – our giant, yellow friend may be gone from the river, but he most certainly won’t be forgotten.