Park’s hidden beauties ‘bannered’ in Boston

The Boston Harbor Islands National Park hosts unspoiled beaches, lighthouse tours, historic sites and hiking trails—all within ten miles of downtown Boston. The Boston Harbor Island Alliance (BHIA) wanted tourists and residents walking the waterfront to be encouraged to hop the next ferry and visit the park’s 34 islands and 35 miles of undeveloped ocean shoreline.

Hull Creative Group, Brookline, Mass., gave visitors something to talk about in May: a series of colorful banners from Christopher Columbus Park to Boston’s Long Wharf to the Moakley Federal Courthouse promoting the Boston Harbor Islands with the slogan “Minutes away. Worlds apart.” The BHIA secured funding for a three-year marketing campaign involving newspaper ads, subway and bus ads, brochures and radio promotions. The banner series invited visitors touring the city to discover the islands Mayor Tom Menino calls “the hidden jewels of Boston” and take time to breathe, enjoy and escape the urban bustle. “The project can serve as a model of how a cultural institution can inexpensively promote itself,” says Carol Thistle, BHIA marketing director.