IOWA ROI Case Study

The Battleship IOWA is the West Coast’s only battleship open to the public, welcoming thousands of visitors a year through regular and group ticket sales. Before October 2015, this interactive naval museum had no audio tour, and its volunteer-led tours were offered in English only. The battleship and Guru partnered to create an audio tour and add a fun, interactive digital layer to the IOWA experience. Three months after the IOWA launched its Guru-powered app, the battleship significantly increased its revenue and number of visitors through group tour sales.

The challenge

In July 2015, the Battleship IOWA faced a problem: it lacked any type of guided audio tour, and in two months the IOWA was hosting the annual convention of the Historic Naval Ships Association. When the IOWA team looked into using a standard audio tour company that included hardware, they were told it would be six to ten months until their tour was ready.

The solution

Six weeks later, Guru delivered the IOWA app: more than 150 original audio overviews, 93 videos, 6 tours (including one for children), and an augmented reality feature that allows the user to see the dormant 16-inch guns fire. In addition to the tours in English, Guru added Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese to the app—instantly making the ship accessible to non-English speaking visitors and opening group tour sales to a whole new market.

The results

• Added Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese to the audio tour

• Increased the number of visitors through group tours by 21%

• Generated a 63% increase in group tour revenue

On this project Guru charged nothing up front and carried the initial financial risk, with the licence fee paid per admission once the app was approved. Commercial terms have changed since 2015 and vary by project; we set ours out when we scope.

Wondering what an audio tour could do for your institution? Take a look at our approach to museum audio tours, or hear from more of our partners on our testimonials page.