The Artemis Project
The History
The moon has long been a source of inspiration and admiration for the human race. Even living in India, one could miss the race to the moon that was engaging between USSR and the US. From sending the first chimp to space to Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps on the Moon, space had since then been expected to be the new frontier. The USA between 1968 to 1972 had sent 9 human missions to the Moon, 6 of which successfully touched down, allowing 12 men to walk on the lunar surface.
The Next Chapter
Nasa has launched an elaborate marketing campaign to revive the sentiments of the people in the next chapter of lunar exploration. The project is called Artemis, it has the task of not going just going to the Moon, to create a long-term human presence on and around it, but also to prepare for ever more complex human missions to Mars. For the time being, we are going to practice complex missions on Moon before we reach for Mars.
The Marketing Campaign
The marketing campaign created by Nasa is wide and expansive. There is enough content to create media for the upcoming few years just on their website. There is a descriptive and wide overview of the entire mission which is released. Along with 4K videos that are explaining and interpreting the mission specifics for the audience. The logo and emblem, along with the narrator’s voice are all designed to generate a fascination with Space. I was immediately transported to faraway planet experiences that I first saw in Star Wars and then in Star Trek. Along with the right color combination to help us relate, the campaign is designed in an informative manner. For instance, it explains how the Orion Crew Module is unveiled in 3 parts and how it prioritizes the crew module as first because of the recognition of human life as the most valuable element in the mix. Along with providing the information that is specific to safety, the campaign also draws upon the efficiency of the new systems that are being privately outsourced.
Along with all this information, NASA has recognized the right marketing strategy by keeping it simple. The campaign is straight to the point when it states that they are making the most powerful rocket ever made. It is lighter than Apollo, fully fueled, it weighs only 6 million pounds, 5.2 million of which is just the fuel. In their promotional video, they simply state ‘Once ignited, there is no stopping what comes next.’
Difficult concepts are easily described through animation and exciting speech keeps the audience thoroughly engaged. Words which we often hear in Sci-Fi movies, seem to be becoming a part of reality with this campaign, when in one of the videos the narrator simply states, ‘With a Go from Mission Control, we are ready for Deep Space Travel.’
The most staggering part of the marketing campaign is the clarity with which they set apart Artemis and Apollo missions. Drawing upon the fact that Artemis will utilize support already transported by private players to the Lunar surface. Artemis project utilizes the collaborative aspect of space travel as an excellent marketing tool to draw upon the importance of the private players entering the market. I believe this is crucial to the eventual success of the entire industry.
The Gateway
Nasa in their marketing campaign successfully also displays the Gateway that will be established in the orbit of the Moon. Drawing upon the collaboration point, it becomes increasingly clear that the marketing strategy is to not develop a campaign for a single launch but to provide the audience with a clear picture of the future of space travel. The gateway is the satellite which can hold a lunar rover, provide communications relay, and has options to expand as private partnerships reach the orbit of the Moon. With Blue Origin, Space X, and other companies that are racing towards the moon, this seems like an excellent opportunity to reach the audience.
The gateway is further linked to the Mars mission and its useful abilities are displayed in the campaign.
The End
The campaign has been designed specifically to display the entire journey for anyone trying to understand the Artemis Project. The campaign has posters, excellent videos, and music which makes anyone enthused about the adventure that space offers to the human race. We are witnessing an age where Moon and Mars are inside marketing campaigns and where private players are developing newer better technologies to get there. I feel that NASA has understood the importance of the right marketing campaign and has effectively managed to choose the elements needed to build their promotional techniques. In my opinion, the marketing campaign provides a clear insight into the Project while engaging the audience to a great extent.
The success of the marketing campaign is visible in the various views and panels that it has generated. As we get closer to the launch date of the project, we can expect more marketing campaigns to be released.
