The Starfleet Academy Experience

To promote the world premiere of Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience at Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Acart Communications developed an immersive campaign using multiple tactics. It began with a mysterious, unbranded, “UFO” video that was featured on local TV news, and argued over on Reddit, and on Social Media. Next, the museum released an “intercepted transmission” of a Starfleet Shuttle in trouble. At the same time, an experiential installation of a crashed shuttle nacelle appeared in various locations, with two Starfleet science officers examining it with tricorders and two security officers guarding it. (Those curious enough to ask about it were handed metal cards with the campaign URL, joinstarfleetacademy.ca.) This scene was the subject of a “paid” front-page takeover on Metro Ottawa, with a news story entirely in Klingon (which one Redditor successfully translated). Next, a replica of Kirk’s Captain’s Chair toured malls and events, allowing the public to don a captain’s uniform and read authentic Kirk lines into a moderated Twitter feed, https://twitter.com/jimmykirk2370. Finally, the main campaign creative was released on street-level posters and bus wraps. All creative was approved by the Star Trek intellectual property owner, CBS. Integrated advertisement created by Acart, Canada for Canada Aviation and Space Museum, within the categories: Education, Hospitality, Tourism.