Tourists
- Family travelers
- Weekend visitors
- Business and event travelers
Audubon
Nature Institute
Marketing Architecture
New Orleans, LA
Engagement began in 2023
The Opportunity
In 2023, Audubon Nature Institute prepared to reopen the renovated Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium.
The opportunity: reintroduce a flagship cultural asset into a competitive, seasonal market and convert that moment into sustained attendance and revenue.
Audubon partnered with us to build the system to do it.
The Problem
Audubon had reach.
It lacked structure.
Before new leadership joined and our engagement began in 2023, paid media wasn’t aligned to seasonality or audience behavior. Offline channels, including broadcast and out-of-home, were active but largely isolated and didn’t run in a full 12-month cycle. Messaging also wasn’t coordinated across audiences or the visitor journey.
The result: marketing that worked in pieces, but not as a whole. Demand was being generated and not fully captured.
This wasn’t a volume problem. It was an architecture problem.
The Solution
A full, structured,
multi-channel
marketing system.
We designed and implemented a full, structured, multi-channel marketing system with defined logic and continuous feedback.
Between Projects led strategy end-to-end: defining the architecture, assembling the creative team, and maintaining accountability to performance throughout.
The system covered:
- Segmentation — mapping distinct audiences by behavior and intent
- Customer Journey — mapping audience segmentation to contextual behavior to drive conversion
- Media planning — aligning channels to timing, context, and demand
- Measurement + optimization — baselines established, iterated continuously
Two objectives anchored the work:
- Drive sustained demand around reopening
- Deliver measurable revenue growth across all properties
Marketing Architecture
1. Studies
Before strategy or creative, we study: audience behavior, competitive landscape, performance data, and market dynamics.
For Audubon, this included:
- Paid media alignment to seasonality and audience behavior
- Offline channel performance; broadcast, out-of-home, consistency gaps
- Messaging coordination across audiences and visitor journey stages
- Competitive positioning in a seasonal, tourism-driven market
The finding was clear: marketing generated demand but didn’t fully capture it. The pieces were active but weren’t connected.
Marketing Architecture
2. Blueprint
We started by mapping the market contextually as it actually behaves. Distinct audiences required distinct strategies: different entry points, different motivations, and different timing.
Audience Segmentation
Local Residents
- Native New Orleanians
- New city transplants
Near-Local / Drive Market
- Gulf South visitors
- Day-trippers and weekend visitors
- Returning New Orleans travelers
Each segment received its own journey map, messaging strategy, and media mix.
Segmentation wasn’t cosmetic — it determined how and where the system operated.
Marketing Architecture
3. Design / Build
With the architecture in place, we built the campaign platform.
Working with the Audubon team led by SVP and CMO Alicia Bunnell, we developed campaign materials that positioned Audubon as a distinct part of New Orleans, rooting the brand in place.
Audubon isn’t interchangeable with other aquariums or zoos. It’s specific to New Orleans; its ecology, its culture, its character. The campaigns made that specificity the center of gravity.
Execution followed the same logic as the system:
- Channels coordinated, not siloed
- Messaging sequenced across the day and the visit lifecycle
- Creative adapted by the audience and proximity
The result was a unified presence across digital, broadcast, and OOH — each channel reinforcing the others.
Marketing Architecture
4. Optimization
From launch, the system operated as a feedback loop.
- Performance tracked against revenue, ROAS, and attendance
- Budget shifted dynamically across channels and segments
- Creative iterated on real response, not assumptions
Engagement was extended twice over two years. The system kept improving and kept performing.
Results
Highest visitation revenue
in Audubon’s history.
+70%
Aquarium admission revenue vs. target
Multi-million dollar surplus in year one
+25%
Year-over-year admission revenue
Aquarium, Insectarium, and Zoo all exceeded goals — highest visitation revenue in Audubon’s history
+23%
Total revenue increase
Compared to the 2022 baseline
What This Demonstrates
Marketing performance
depends on structure.
Consistent execution follows from clear architecture. Relevance follows from real segmentation. Impact compounds when channels work together. And a system that measures itself gets better over time.
When those pieces are in place, the results follow and hold.
Credits
- SVP, CMO + Campaign Strategy
- Alicia Bunnell
- Marketing Strategy + Architecture
- Between Projects
- Agency of Record
- Search Influence
- Creative Direction
- Julie Dorman (Wonder Here)Craig Moyer (Reconnect with Nature)
- Production
- Countertake (Wonder Here)Tempt Films (Reconnect with Nature)
- In-House Production
- Heather Stanley