Marketing Exhibitions: Will They Come?

[Pages:49]Marketing Exhibitions: Will They Come?

June 2002

Office of Policy and Analysis Washington DC, 20560-0405

Marketing Exhibitions: Will They Come?

June 2002

Office of Policy and Analysis 900 Jefferson Drive Room 1278 Washington, DC 20560-0405

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. iii Foreword ............................................................................................................................ v Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 Marketing: The Concept .................................................................................................... 3 When Does Marketing Enter the Exhibition Process? ....................................................... 5 Marketing in Museums That Do Not Charge Admission .................................................. 7 The Decision to Visit an Exhibition ................................................................................... 9 The Blockbuster: Special Exhibition Attraction .............................................................. 13 Branding Museums: An Alternative to Special Exhibitions ............................................ 15 Experience Marketing as an Overall Strategy ................................................................. 19 New Directions: Viral and Guerilla Marketing ............................................................... 23 Communications to Target Market Segments .................................................................. 25 Observations .................................................................................................................... 27 Appendices A. Segmenting Museum Audiences ................................................................................. 29 B. The Power of Advertising ........................................................................................... 35 C. Museums and Organizations Contacted ..................................................................... 39 D. References ................................................................................................................... 41

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FOREWORD

This paper is about the marketing of exhibits. It is a paper in a series of publications that focus on exhibits. It should come as no surprise that it is descriptive. There are no prescriptions, explicit or implied, relating to any of the approaches and methods described in this paper. Over the past four months many people, both at the Smithsonian and throughout the United States, cooperated to make these reports possible. Museum staff in many institutions generously assisted the study. They provided information about their institutions, offered suggestions and recommendations for improving practice, and recommended other individuals and sources. We also want to acknowledge the many individuals who took the time to answer our questions and share their experiences and insights. The institutions are listed in Appendix C. In the Office of Policy and Analysis, David A. Karns assumed overall responsibility for the study. Interviews were primarily conducted by Zahava D. Doering, who also assisted David with the writing of this paper. Andrew J. Pekarik reviewed a draft and offered many suggestions. Cynthia Kaufmann assisted with the bibliographic search and paper preparation. Jeff Sutton and Rebecca Riccitello also helped in the production of this effort.

Carole M. P. Neves, Director Office of Policy and Analysis

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Marketing Exhibitions: Will They Come?

Introduction

One exhibition at a mid-sized art museum had 233,000 visitors while a second exhibition at the same art museum had 100,000 visitors and a third had 10,000. Why? A large part of the answer lies in marketing.

The first exhibition was the only regional showing of a collection of Egyptian gold treasures. As part of a joint effort, other local museums and botanical gardens presented IMAX films and exhibitions with the Egyptian theme. More than a quarter of the visitors to the treasures exhibition came from metropolitan areas more than a hundred miles away, all of which have their own art museums. The second exhibition was a traveling exhibition of Impressionist watercolors from a variety of Impressionist artists, mostly minor works. Most of the visitors lived in the local area. The third exhibition displayed a wide range of artworks by African-American artists. The exhibition curator was a well-known, African-American artist; the art was from his personal collection. Another art museum, in a comparable metropolitan area, showed the same African-American artworks. It followed a promotion strategy that included

$300,000 in on-air advertising time and promotion through local LINKS chapters, an African American women's cultural association. A total of 53,000 visitors attended. The three exhibitions described here had different contents, different markets, and used different marketing approaches.

The subject of this paper, one in the Office of Policy and Analysis's (OP&A) series on exhibitions, is a discussion of "marketing" as defined by practices in museums, other not-for-profit organizations, and for-profit organizations. The focus of this paper is on incorporating marketing as an integral part of the exhibition-making process.

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