The project

The Question

In 2009 the Dutch Maritime Museum Foundation let out their wish to create a new website that would attract the public’s attention to their collection, by displaying it in an innovative and interactive manner. The website needed to go live in October 2011 at the same time with the opening of the completely revamped Sheepvaartmuseum, now ranking among the top five attractions in Amsterdam. The bar was set high and expectations were great: the goal was to double the number of museum visitors and to multiply the number of website visits by an even higher factor.

The Challenge

Total Active Media took the case one step further: not having only one 'journey' on the website, but instead giving the chance for everyone to design their own 'journey'. In other words, creating not one virtual museum, but a limitless collection of virtual museums; to build an online experience that would remain sustainably-attractive over time, one that would irrevocably place the 17th-century-anchored Maritime Museum, forward into the 21st century.

The Concept

MijnScheepvaartmuseum: an online-based 3D version of the museum itself, based on the collection items in storage. Visitors are able to virtually assume these objects and add meaning to them by creating their own stories relevant to each collection piece. Their interpretation (or fantasy-explanation) blends together with the actual description of the item into a virtual 'Panorama Mesdag', forming a representation of their experience.

The Added Value

An infinite number of 'MijnScheepvaart' worlds, personally described by people who actually become ambassadors of the Scheepvaartmuseum. They are encouraged to share their personally-created diorama with their friends on social media, or to display it on the digital whiteboard or in the mega-large diorama of 6x12 meters (!) in Kattenburgerplein. The result? Free word-of-mouth, both offline and online.

Mijnscheepvaartmuseum.nl was launched in the autumn of 2011 simultaneously with the opening of the Dutch Maritime Museum. Ever since its launch, around 1500 E-xpos have been uploaded every month on mijnscheepvaartmuseum.nl. This is 'bottom-up' exposure at its best.

Scheepvaart Museum wins NIMA AWARDS

23 November 2012

We are proud to announce that the Maritime Museum just won the NIMA AWARDS for the category 'Marketing turnaround of the year'. The prize was awarded for renewed relevance in the current context, innovation, purpose-driven solutions and distinctive value proposition. We are happy to have helped the Maritime Museum in their new marketing drive and we hope to bring even more energy for future renewals.