Making Dinosaur Spots on a Skeleton Budget

RDW Ads for Roger Williams Zoo Tout Prehistoric Exhibit
BOSTON–Walt Disney Co.’s hit movie Dinosaur has thrust the prehistoric creatures back into the spotlight, but the fascination extends beyond Hollywood–all the way, in fact, to Rhode Island.
RDW Group has launched a campaign for the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Providence, R.I., promoting the client’s exhibit detailing the dinosaurs’ journey to extinction. The exhibit features a selection of mechanized monsters.
With a total budget in the five-figure range, RDW created two 30-second spots. One commercial, “Trash,” shows a boy darting from his house to take out the trash, and hurrying back to safety with his family screaming for him to “run”; presumably raptors could give chase at any moment.
Another spot, “Tank,” features an army tank rolling up in front of a house. An arm pops up from the vehicle’s hatch and tosses a newspaper onto the doorstep. The tagline is, “Dinosaurs. It’s a good thing they’re extinct.”
“Our strategy was to let people know that the dinosaurs are back,” said Dan Madole, an art director at RDW, Providence. “We felt that animation wouldn’t do it justice and we couldn’t afford it; and a guy walking around in a dinosaur outfit had already been done.”
Ads target mothers, with a secondary audience of children ages 5 to 15. “Moms are the major decision makers among the day-trip kind of consumers,” said RDW senior vice president Josh Fenton.
Since nearly one-half of the zoo’s attendees come from the metro Boston area, ads are appearing in Boston and Rhode Island.
In addition to the TV spots, RDW created two outdoor boards and radio ads. Outdoor ads are appearing in Providence and Boston, while radio spots are running on Citadel Communication stations. Print ads are appearing in AAA Tourbook, Boston Globe Brochure Pages, RI Monthly Guest Guide, and other publications. K