In the US, outside of specific categories, branded entertainment is largely self-regulated. Our category of travel and entertainment, especially for nonprofits like our client, does not have any regulations worth mentioning.

Pima Air and Space Museum (PASM) had a problem – their core audience (older men in their 60’s and 70’s) was shrinking. PASM needed to do something fast to reinvigorate interest for a new generation of aviation fans.Our challenge was to get a younger generation to understand that aviation isn’t just about flying – it teaches lessons in physics, math, design, and engineering in far more engaging ways than any textbook could. This insight guided our mission: find a way to transform PASM from a historical institution to a dynamic classroom.The aspect of the museum we chose to highlight was its hands-on approach to aviation. Instead of placing the aircraft behind velvet ropes, PASM allows visitors to actually touch these aviation relics. Because we couldn’t take up every child in a B-29, we did the next best thing – host a paper airplane competition.In order to get the museum on the map and capture the attention of parents and their children who might not already be into aviation, we knew that we needed to do more than the standard folding and flight of an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper. So we did. The winner of the paper airplane competition got the chance to help build a 45-foot giant paper airplane based on their winning design. After heated competition among 150 budding Howard Hughes wannabes, a winner emerged. Arturo Valdenegro joined forces with our team of engineers to spend an intensive 6 weeks designing, testing, and ultimately building a 45-foot long paper airplane.On March 21, 2012, ‘Arturo’s Desert Eagle’ emerged from the hanger for its maiden voyage. Lifted to a height of 2,700 feet by a Sikorsky S58 helicopter, the aircraft flew for over 3 miles with speeds up to 98 mph!

Pima Air and Space Museum is basically a vast warehouse of historical content – every airplane and every exhibit holds a wealth of stories. We knew there was no way to do those stories justice, or to even pick one and get national attention – so we created a new story that we hoped would capture the spirit of innovation and heroism that was at the heart of the museum. Also, on a shoestring budget, we knew that it had to be broadly compelling to get the attention of media outlets that would help us carry the message.

Within 3 weeks of launching our historic 45-foot plane, we were able to achieve over 123m media impressions, including 225 unique news outlets and our story was picked up in 9 different countries.

In 1 month, we garnered 53,310 unique website visitors – the site has consistently averaged at 1,500 unique and the teaser video got over 861,000 views.Our real success; however, was felt when we were picked up by a children's blog called DOGO news. Kids continue to read and comment such as "I wish I could make one. I mean that is just so super cool!" – rnstata.