The Romanian Kitsch Museum

A brand new and hip museum, with an innovative theme, opens in the old center of Bucharest. Five months later into the campaign, the Romanian Kitsch Museum became one of the most popular destinations in Bucharest. We resorted to a non-conventional PR campaign inspired by the identity of the museum. The launch consisted of two actions: a tour for the media in the morning and a kitsch party in the evening.

Over 40 Romanian and foreign journalists visited the museum. In the evening, we organized an event for KOLs and bloggers, one that was completely different. The host was the owner of the museum, disguised as a cocalar, and the event was attended by KOLs such as Lucian Mândruță, Cristina Cioran, Vladimir Drăghia, Corina Băcanu, and Kinga Varga. The launch of the museum was followed by intensive media pitching: One month after the launch, Cristian Lică was invited in over 10 TV shows in order to state his opinion on kitsch artifacts.

On the 16th of July, a statue of a golden lion was stolen from the Romanian Kitsch Museum. We did not file an official complaint with the police, but we pitched the subject to the media. The owner of the museum received a message on Facebook from the thief, who apologized for his deed and asked to be left alone. Once the statue was returned, we resumed our pitching. Both topics were covered by more than 80 media outlets.

Three months after the launch, the Romanian Kitsch Museum came up with another initiative: finding the most relevant Romanian kitsch artifacts. A jury made up of influencers from the urban culture area nominated “the contestants” and 10.000 persons voted the most relevant Romanian kitsch artifacts in five categories. The results of the contest were sent to the press. For those who desire thrilling experiences, we put up the Romanian Kitsch Museum on Airbnb and communicated that, which quickly went viral.

With 0 budget, the results were spectacular, setting new records: Over 350 generated news on TV, print media and online. Out of these, over 70 articles were in the international press (e.g. Reuters, AP, AFP, Daily Mail, Washington Times, The Guardian, Euronews, Lonely Planet News). International coverage included European, North American (including Metro News –Toronto), Asian (Taiwan News) and Arab media outlets (Kuwait Times). Number of customers in the week after the launch: 435; the total number of clients so far: 8300, out of which 62% tourists.