Hatch Urges People to ‘Escape the Algorithm’
A Boston-based agency known as Hatch has come up with a tagline for a local museum’s campaign that may well be a healthy approach to life itself: “Escape the algorithm.”
For the purposes of this local outdoor campaign, which began its run in the greater Boston area in 2024, the work is in support of the Peabody Essex Museum, the agency’s first work with this client.
The campaign for the museum, located in Salem, Mass., focuses more on the experiential aspects of its offering.
The work ran OOH on billboards, transit stations, malls, and online across the web and social media through June, and another campaign run in planned for late summer. Even though the objective of the campaign was simply to build awareness, the agency said the work delivered strong results in other areas.
For example, website sessions increased by nearly 50 percent, new website visitors grew by almost 75 percent, and those web visitors accounted for 191 unexpected website purchases in the form of donations and tickets, creating an unplanned revenue stream.
Some of the copy on the ads are plays on words regarding real life versus online life, such as “Stroll > Scroll,” “Scenes > Screens,” and “Touch > Screen.”
Hatch Creative and Brand Director Doug Murphy sat down with StreetFight to discuss the thinking behind the tagline.
What sparked the idea for the tagline “Escape the Algorithm?”
Our campaign is not “anti-digital” but “anti-algorithm” as the algorithm has become pervasive in all of our lives. It’s incredibly powerful at keeping us “engaged” by feeding us more of what it knows will keep us watching and scrolling based on huge amounts of data. But not much of that content is anything new, inspiring, or thought-provoking. Increasingly, it’s not even created by a person.
It occurred to us that the way PEM curates real, human experiences is the opposite of our algorithmically generated feeds and streams. At PEM, you’re going to experience things you’ve never seen before that spark complex emotions and inspire deep thoughts. A visit to PEM is the antidote to the algorithm. Who doesn’t need that these days?
Why did you think OOH was the strongest channel for such a campaign?
OOH gave us a big, attention-grabbing canvas for the stunning PEM artwork and bold photography featured in the campaign. It also gave us a chance to prove to people that PEM could make them look up from their screens and see something memorable and striking, even in an ad. We did, of course, hit the algorithm where it lives by running digital and social ads as well.
What kind of a museum is the Peabody Essex Museum and what aspects of it were featured in the campaign?
PEM is an art and culture museum in Salem, Mass. It is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, founded in 1799.
What we found most unique about PEM is that it is a human-centered institution and ultimately, this is the driving force behind the campaign. Rather than specializing in just one type of art, historical period, or part of the world, they focus on creating experiences. We worked closely with the PEM team to deliberately choose the pieces from their collection we featured in each ad to give viewers a bit of the experience they will have in the museum.
Which agency bought the media?
Norbella. We have a great, collaborative relationship and work together frequently. Like Hatch, they are a women-owned, Boston-based agency.
Whom were you trying to target as potential visitors?
“Escape the Algorithm” was designed to introduce PEM to younger, more diverse audiences who are looking for new, real-life experiences to share with their friends and family.
The goal of this campaign was awareness but generated 191 unexpected website purchases. What did people buy?
As far as tracking purchases, we actually track conversions. Conversions represent any transactions on the site. This could be ticket sales or philanthropic giving.
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