Childhood memories of Omaha Children’s Museum run deep for many here at Phenomblue—the grocery store with over a hundred items to place in your mini-cart, the television anchor desk where you could watch yourself read the news on a real-life TV screen, and the Richman-Gordman Zooland model animals, which after too long in the wild, recently crawled, swam, swung and winged their way back for the Bring Back the Pack initiative. Today, Omaha Children’s Museum is Nebraska’s second highest-attended arts and cultural institution. It’s still that special place where children ignite their imaginations, explore the world around them and discover countless new experiences through the art of play.
So when they asked us to collaborate, Phenomblue jumped at the opportunity to create the museum’s newest permanent addition: Fantastic Future Me.
Fantastic Future Me is an interactive exhibit designed to foster social interaction, fun learning experiences and the inspiration for children to bring their futures to life. With the help of large touchscreens and cameras, children mix and match their interests and dreams to create a truly one-of-a-kind Future Me. Then they share their Future Me’s with friends and family through email, Facebook and Twitter.
The application has been a huge success. In its first three months, over 16,000 children have interacted with the experience and shared almost 10,000 Future Me’s with the most important people in their lives. In fact, our analytics show they’re enjoying the exhibit at least once every 81 seconds—wow!
Our inspiration for innovation emerged from the museum’s work with Dr. Shane Lopez, Gallup Senior Scientist and architect of the Gallup Student Poll. “Investing in the future pays off today,” Dr. Lopez said. “That’s what parents will notice when their kids find hope in Fantastic Future Me.” Lopez is the leading authority on the psychology of hope. He has worked with Omaha Children’s Museum for years, infusing exhibits and program concepts with positive psychology, a discipline that seeks to build thriving children, families and individuals.
To roll out the exhibit, numerous local celebrities shared their own Future Me’s on television and social media. We even had a shout-out from Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. Children enjoyed seeing grown-ups get silly with Fantastic Future Me, because when it comes to the future, we all want to be fantastic.
Fantastic Future Me is another great example of Phenomblue’s commitment to meaningful interaction between brands and people. Other agencies call innovation a strategy. We call it a business model. It’s not just something we do—it’s what we are. For more, check out our Omaha Children’s Museum Work page.