posted 10-19-2013 11:01 PM               

In July 1969, ninety-four percent of American televisions were tuned to coverage of Apollo 11's mission to the moon. How did space exploration, once the purview of rocket scientists, reach a larger audience than My Three Sons? Why did a government program whose standard operating procedure had been secrecy turn its greatest achievement into a communal experience? In Marketing the Moon, David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek tell the story of one of the most successful marketing and public relations campaigns in history: the selling of the Apollo program.

Primed by science fiction, magazine articles, and appearances by Wernher von Braun on the "Tomorrowland" segments of the Disneyland prime time television show, Americans were a receptive audience for NASA's pioneering "brand journalism." Scott and Jurek describe sophisticated efforts by NASA and its many contractors to market the facts about space travel -- through press releases, bylined articles, lavishly detailed background materials, and fully produced radio and television features -- rather than push an agenda. American astronauts, who signed exclusive agreements with Life magazine, became the heroic and patriotic faces of the program. And there was some judicious product placement: Hasselblad was the "first camera on the moon"; Sony cassette recorders and supplies of Tang were on board the capsule; and astronauts were equipped with the Exer-Genie personal exerciser. Everyone wanted a place on the bandwagon.

Generously illustrated with vintage photographs, artwork, and advertisements, many never published before, Marketing the Moon shows that when Neil Armstrong took that giant leap for mankind, it was a triumph not just for American engineering and rocketry but for American marketing and public relations.

• Hardcover: 144 pages
  
• Publisher: The MIT Press (February 28, 2014)
  
• ISBN-10: 0262026961
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0262026963

posted 10-20-2013 04:30 AM               

Rich and I have been working on this project for some three years. The marketing aspects of the Apollo program is a fascinating topic for both of us as we are both professional marketers, both authors (I have 8 other books on marketing and Rich writes about marketing for magazines) and we are both passionate space collectors (as many here know).

But the Apollo marketing story had never been told in the way we thought it should. There are so many aspects where the marketing story is untold and even some where the record is just plain wrong.

We interviewed dozens of Apollo-era astronauts, NASA PAO officers, contractor public relations people, and journalists who covered the program. And we drew from our collections of Apollo materials so that many of the 300+ color illustrations have never been published before.

We're working with MIT Press on the final edits now and the book is scheduled for publication in very early March, 2014.

posted 10-20-2013 07:43 AM               

We met so many fascinating and critical behind the scenes folks, and we learned a lot from them about how the story of Apollo was told through the media, and marketed via business and the contractors. The combination of original interviews, along with all the illustrations and sidebar captions, we think will appeal to both enthusiasts and collectors as well.

Many of the illustrations and original artifacts in the book have never been published before... so there will be (or should be) something new for just about everyone when they pick up the book.

I also want to publicly thank David for bringing me along for the ride on this book. It was his idea, and he brought me under the tent at an ASF event many years ago. As we discussed it over the years, and chatted with many astronauts about the subject of PR/Marketing during their time in the space program, it became more and more real (and urgent) for us to write this book.

posted 10-22-2013 09:55 AM               

I try to limit myself now on the books and DVDs I buy on space history (otherwise my bookcase will explode along with my wife when the credit card bill comes). I now only buy books that cover topics that aren't already in books I own.

posted 10-22-2013 11:23 AM               

Four years ago, Rich and I were at an ASF show lamenting about how the marketing aspects of Apollo were either not known or worse, mis-represented. We said we wanted a book on this topic.

After bitching about it for a while, we decided that we needed to set the record straight by writing the book we wanted to read.

posted 11-04-2013 09:15 AM               

"Don't think for a moment that NASA masterminded a PR campaign that brought the Apollo missions into our living rooms. Just like everything else about the moon program, how — and how much — to share Apollo with the public was a learn-as-you-go affair that involved not only NASA's public affairs office but top NASA managers and even astronauts. As this excellent and informative book details, even the idea of live television from the moon was a matter of heated debate, and there were moments when it might've gone the other way. Thank heaven it didn't: When humans first voyaged to the moon, they took the world along." — Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon

"To call the Apollo Program the greatest marketing exploit of the 20th century is not hyperbole, but, as David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek show us, simply a statement of fact. Thanks to this thorough and detailed account, we can better understand not just the talent and dedication of the Mad-Men-era professionals who sold the Moon to a global public, but also the larger transformation of statecraft into stagecraft, and the enduring and irreversible transformation of the public sphere into an enterprise of image creation, and manipulation." — Nicholas de Monchaux, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo

"We have long known that NASA mobilized a broad public relations campaign supporting the Apollo program of the 1960s. We have not known until now with the publication of Marketing the Moon by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek the details of this public relations campaign. Scott and Jurek offer a compelling account of these great efforts, informed by interviews with many of the participants, and well-illustrated by unique imagery and documents." — Roger Launius, Senior Curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

"President Kennedy hoped the nation would succeed in sending a man into space and landing on the moon. Though he did not live to see it happen, his dream was fulfilled. David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek's Marketing the Moon shows us in vivid detail what it took to make this happen. This is one of the great stories of the twentieth century." — Alan Brinkley, Allan Nevins Professor of American History, Columbia University

"Marketing the Moon is a fascinating look at how NASA and its partners brought the Moon to the world's living rooms. Apollo's revered place in the collective imagination stems, in large part, from the efforts detailed in this book." — Fritz Johnston, Vice President, Brand and Advertising, The Boeing Company

posted 01-21-2014 10:31 AM               

It will obviously take a little longer for the book to reach other parts of the world.

posted 02-11-2014 07:33 AM               

Multi-tasking as a producer, director, writer, editor and cameraman, he has over the last 25 years developed a steady international reputation with a range of unique and critically acclaimed feature-documentaries about American history, pop-culture, the mass media and the environment.

Robert has had four films premiered at Sundance and an Academy Award nomination for Radio Bikini as best documentary film. He is passionate about space exploration and made Satellite Sky and Earth Days both featuring space themes.

Robert's latest film, Pandora’s Promise (2013) premiered at Sundance and is getting great buzz.

posted 02-11-2014 09:17 AM               

We have also launched a microsite for the book, and reviews are starting to come in.

posted 02-12-2014 09:52 AM               

And if you like the article, please do help us spread the word and tweet, facebook, et al it out to your circle...

posted 02-28-2014 09:19 AM               

In the meantime, this newest review points out a lot of the key lessons from the book from a marketing and PR perspective -- messages underscored by our interviews with the NASA PAO and contractor marketers.

This great review is worth a read if you are still curious about the depth of content in the book.