Missouri Historical Society, CGPR Partnership Hits the Right Note

The Missouri Historical Society (MHS) had big expectations for the broad and diverse audience that St. Louis Sound, a new special exhibit at the Missouri History Museum, would attract. With nearly 200 artifacts from music legends who come from or are connected to the Gateway to the West, including Ike and Tina Turner, Chuck Berry, Nelly, Josephine Baker, Scott Joplin, Miles Davis, Clark Terry, Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and more, the 6,000-square-foot exhibit aimed to prove why St. Louis is vital to the story of popular music in America.

For MHS, St. Louis Sound was also a unique opportunity to welcome the community back to the Missouri History Museum following the COVID-19 pandemic. As people began planning social activities again, MHS wanted to ensure the History Museum – and St. Louis Sound in particular – was at the top of their lists.

MHS partnered with Common Ground Public Relations in June 2021 not only to promote the grand opening of the exhibit on Aug. 28, but also to drive people to discover why St. Louis is one of the most important places for musical invention and enjoyment in the world. Together with MHS’ internal communications team, CGPR was tasked with garnering local, regional and national press coverage as well as spreading the word about the exhibit to social media influencers. Leading up to the grand opening, the CGPR and MHS teams collaborated on a variety of activities, including:

• Creating highly targeted pitches, press releases and media alerts to pique the interest of St. Louis media outlets, travel and tourism magazines and websites, and music and history reporters across the country.
• Delivering swag bags containing St. Louis Sound promotional items and important exhibit information to dozens of media outlets and live music venues.
• Working with LP Creative Studio to develop a video containing b-roll and interviews with key MHS staff members as well as a sizzle reel for MHS’ website and social media pages (watch the video below!).
• Identifying and collaborating with prominent musicians to encourage them to visit the exhibit and share content, including materials from a grassroots share kit, on their social media pages.
• Offering exhibit tours to local music and history professors and their students during the fall 2021 semester.

Through our media and influencer relations efforts, we secured more than 100 online, print, broadcast and social media placements amounting to nearly 41 million impressions. Notable placements include Southern Living, Living Blues Magazine, InPark Magazine and multiple segments on local TV and radio stations such as Fox 2, KSDK and St. Louis Public Radio.

In total, more than 3,000 people attended the opening weekend of St. Louis Sound, making it one of the most well-attended grand openings in recent years. In addition to the exploring the exhibit, visitors enjoyed a ribbon cutting, children’s activities, keynote presentations and performances from Grammy Award-winning rapper Murphy Lee, Funky Butt Brass Band and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Through this highly collaborative partnership, MHS and CGPR were able to raise a loud voice about our city’s important contributions to American popular music on display at St. Louis Sound.