Last October, the Louisiana State Museum opened a new $7.5 million hurricane exhibit at the Presbytere on Jackson Square in New Orleans. Peter Mayer’s public relations team promoted the exhibit’s opening with a six-month media relations campaign that generated nearly 200 million consumer impressions and $5.5 million in advertising equivalency value.

The Museum has posted some eye-popping results since the exhibit opened, as illustrated by a comparison of visitation and admission revenues for November 2010-March 2011 and the same period one year earlier. Museum visitation jumped 191 percent, from 14,638 to 42,593, and ticket revenues rose from $58,945 to $202,066 over the same time period, an increase of 243 percent.

These impressive results can be attributed to the quality of the exhibit and to the strategic, targeted public relations work that supported its launch. The numbers speak for themselves:

Month-by Month Visitation Comparison (PDF)
Month-by Month Revenue Comparison (PDF)