CLIENT

Frontier Texas is an interactive museum and visitors center in downtown Abilene, TX. Exhibits use state-of-the-art technology and allow visitors to relive the Old West. The museum's mission includes education and many primary school groups regularly experience frontier history through museum visits. A desire to extend the education mission to college students led to Morris+Mitchell.

OPPORTUNITY

In 2012, the client approached us with the goal of reaching more college students. The expectation was that we would deliver a social media campaign and some on-campus traditional media.

As members of their target audience, we understand the difference between engagement and expensive background noise. We came back to Frontier Texas with an idea designed to generate real involvement and solid media coverage: a frontier-style pageant the likes of which the West has never seen.

OBJECTIVES

• Increase awareness of Frontier Texas among students at three area universities
• Attract college students to visit the museum

SOLUTION

Develop, promote and produce a large-scale event, a pageant that was named "Miss Frontier Texas" and given the fitting tagline, Not Your Mama's Beauty Pageant. Our implementation included the following deliverables:

1. Brand image development
2. Website
3. Sponsorship solicitation
4. Promotional materials
5. Contestant recruitment
6. Social media
7. Digital media
8. Event planning
9. Photography and videography
10. Event production
11. Media relations

The pageant featured local college students in a series of events that would ultimately decide who was the "most frontier-tough" of the group. Contestants competed in survival activities that involved a buffalo gun target challenge, a chicken chase and an overnight campout that included cooking over an open fire, all in the hopes of winning a scholarship prize and the title of Miss Frontier Texas.

RESULTS

The inaugural year was an overwhelming success with over 30 participants. A fellow student walked away with the trophy, and we walked away with two American Advertising Awards, including a special judges award that named this the Best Big Idea.

We continue to partner with Frontier Texas and produce the pageant each year.