The New England Aquarium (NEAQ), beloved for its marine life exhibits, sought to reposition itself as a leader in ocean conservation while retaining its appeal as a tourist destination. Proverb’s objective was to help NEAQ bring its vital conservation mission to the forefront, shifting public perceptions and driving engagement through innovative branding and impactful storytelling. Specific goals included increasing awareness of NEAQ’s conservation work, fostering stronger donor and member connections, and ensuring that audiences viewed NEAQ as a critical advocate for ocean preservation.
Proverb’s approach began with comprehensive research, including surveys conducted in partnership with Heart and Mind Strategies. This helped us understand audience perceptions and the impact of ocean conservation messaging on engagement, fundraising, and membership. We learned that 68% of respondents saw NEAQ as primarily an aquarium, not a conservation leader, and the research affirmed that emphasizing ocean conservation would drive engagement and donation behavior.
Based on these insights, we developed the Dive Deeper campaign, a play on words inviting people to explore beyond the surface of the aquarium’s offerings. It encouraged deeper engagement with exhibits, programs, and conservation efforts while referencing the essential diving work of the aquarium’s staff and scientists to care for and study marine life. The campaign highlighted NEAQ’s core conservation pillars—research, animal protection, and policy advocacy—underscoring its commitment to ocean preservation. A simple yet powerful tagline, “The aquarium is who we are, conservation is what we do,” reinforced this mission.
Our media team developed a fully integrated media plan incorporating out-of-home, transit ads, CTV, social media, and Google Display targeting both first-party data and interest-based audiences. The campaign targeted audiences who are most likely to be interested in the NEAq efforts -- including scientists, philanthropists, marine enthusiasts, caregivers, and families -- whose zip codes were inside I-95 Loop.
Despite the challenges of communicating a complex conservation mission, we created a clear and engaging campaign that connected with both tourists and locals, making the message accessible and effective.
The first wave of the Dive Deeper campaign delivered strong results, generating over 8 million impressions, 3.9 million video views, and driving more than 16,000 site visits. To measure its impact, we conducted brand lift studies on Meta and YouTube, revealing a 9.3-point increase in favorability toward NEAQ—far exceeding the industry benchmark of 1.6 points. Additionally, the likelihood of recommending the aquarium rose by 7.0 points (benchmark: 2.2 points), highlighting a meaningful shift in audience perception. Although the campaign’s goal was to increase awareness rather than drive donations, it was so effective in shifting perceptions of the aquarium—from a tourist destination to a conservation organization—that it led to 748 unexpected donations.
The campaign not only achieved its goals but also strengthened NEAQ’s connection with its audience, demonstrating the power of research-driven insights and impactful storytelling. It successfully elevated NEAQ’s conservation efforts and laid the groundwork for ongoing engagement and action in ocean conservation.
