Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
How Can the Oakland Museum Build Its Brand?
(Or don’t hide your light under a bushel)
A Consulting Project of the Harvard Business School
Community Partners
March 24, 2005
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
1. Project Mission and Methodology
2. Branding Overview
3. Survey Results
4. Re-thinking The Museum’s Brand Strategy
5. Running a Branding Campaign – Board Action Items
6. Appendix: Specific Recommendations for the Staff
Agenda
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Project Mission and Methodology
Our Mission:• Engaged by Tony Harris, Dennis Powers, and the Audience
Development Committee• Challenge: Such a terrific place, why is it not better known?• Confine project to the current state of the brand and what could
be done to increase awareness and attendance.
Our Methodology:• A team of six volunteers (many with deep branding experience)
from HBS Community Partners worked on this for 14 weeks• Interviewed staff, board members, and journalists• Analyzed best practices• Make recommendations specific to both staff and board that are
actionable, creative, and true to your mission
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
1. Project Mission and Methodology
2. Branding Overview
3. Survey Results
4. Re-thinking The Museum’s Brand Strategy
5. Running a Branding Campaign – Board Action Items
6. Appendix: Specific Recommendations for the Staff
Agenda
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Branding Overview
What is branding?
Branding is the
emotional and practical relationship
between an
individual and a
company or organization.
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Branding Overview
What is branding?
Examples of emotional and practical relationships
Brand Practical Relationship Emotional Relationship
• Ultra-low prices
• One-stop shopping for everything you could possibly need
• Wal-Mart is on my side, bringing me the best values available
• Great place to discover bargains
• Value-priced designer name brands
• Innovative designs for home
• Target is a cool, hip place for me to shop
• My one stop for Purina Dog Chow and Mossimo jeans
A Test . . . . Where do I go if I want a . . . ?
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Branding Overview
How is branding practiced?
•The Right Concept– At the very least, a brand should be salient,
memorable, and noteworthy
•The Right Standards– Develop a set of brand usage and style guidelines so
the brand is consistent across all channels
•The Right Implementation– Apply the brand in strict accordance with the
guidelines, enabling the brand to become sharper, stronger
Branding is NOT PR – it is all communication (marketing, remodeling, signage, recruiting volunteers, building your collection)
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Branding Overview
How does branding impact nonprofits?
1. Strengthens the relationship between an organization and its stakeholders through targeted, effective, and consistent messages
2. Enhances the integration of marketing communications with other planning processes (capital campaign, remodeling project, volunteer recruitment)
3. Builds the reputation and visibility of an organization in order to attract more funds, volunteers, and other resources to achieve its mission
Your Brand is Your Mission
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Branding Overview
What Does This Mean to the Oakland Museum?
• An effective Brand Can:– Increase attendance (MOMA)
– Enable you to rise above the clutter of thousands of entertainment and cultural options in the Bay Area (The Tech Museum)
– Become a choice for a day’s outing without spending a single dime on advertising or promotion (“Zoo” – no such word – correct name: “scientific zoological garden”)
– Free ride off of related advertising (Disney’s California Adventure, Gov. Schwarzenegger’s passionate speeches about the beauty of California, etc)
• Effectively increase your advertising budget by millions $ per year
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
1. Project Mission and Methodology
2. Branding Overview
3. Survey Results
4. Re-thinking The Museum’s Brand Strategy
5. Running a Branding Campaign – Board Action Items
6. Appendix: Specific Recommendations for the Staff
Agenda
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Good News:Remarkable consensus among the Board of
Directors (one of the first we have ever seen)Passion: about Museum, it’s quality, and its
(potential) benefit to the communityEngaged, Excited – each interview could have
lasted twice as long – You love this place.
Not So Good NewsThe arts and culture editors we surveyed had no
idea who you were, or what we were talking about, or in some instances, clearly had the wrong impression
Points to an acknowledged problem: Lack of awareness of the Museum’s mission.
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Survey Results
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Priorities for the board are clear:
Top priority:Fundraising 57%Strategy and planning 29%Outreach 14%
Among the top three priorities:Fundraising 100%Strategy and planning 80%Outreach 80%
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Survey of the Board of Directors
% Surveyed
Agreement
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Your “quick description” of the museum emphasizes “California” and the “three museums in one” concepts:
California 62%Multiple collection approach 30%Unique facility and grounds 8%
These are also your perceived differentiators:
California 47%Multiple collection approach 39%Reflects the community 7%Unique facility and grounds 7%
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Concepts and Differentiators
% Surveyed
Agreement
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The perceived impact of the remodeling is generally positive, but the primary benefits cited vary widely (representative comments cited):
“New modern look inside and out”“Easier and more welcoming to navigate”“More space for community events”“Better integration of museum offerings”“More interactive exhibits”“Opportunity to initiate or renew visitor interest”“Not much”
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Benefits of Remodeling
Not in Agreement
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You believe the visitor count should be increased markedly over the current 150,000 per year.
250,000+ 100%
300,000+ 91%400,000+ 52% (equals 1999)500,000+ 30%1,000,000+ 9%
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Post-Remodeling Goals – Attendance
% Surveyed
Agreement
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
You see greater potential in the Museum’s future and that the remodel will enhance the Museum experience (representative excerpts cited):
“Exciting” “Can’t Wait to Return” “Memorable” “Stimulating” “Wonderful” “Refreshing” “Impressive” “Wow”“Convenient” “Safe”“Quality” “Can’t Wait to Join” “Unique” “Cutting Edge” “Professional” “Educational” “Enlightening” “Fresh”“Bright” “Exceedingly Relevant” “Entertaining” “Dynamic”
Post-Remodeling Goals – Visitor Impressions
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Specifically, you want visitors to take away…
• A greater appreciation of California and its art, history and ecology (69%)
• An active experience and high interest response to the quality of content available (22%)
• A deeper understanding of the community (9%)
The Museum’s Lasting Impact
Agreement
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You have strong agreement regarding what your brand should connote:
Rank 1Rank 1-3
California 85%100%
Art, History & Nat. History 10%100%
Oakland 5%25%
Local Community 5%25%
Museum Emphasis and Orientation
Agreement
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• Equated to an automobile, the museum is generally regarded as an older model, sometimes classy, sometimes not:
• 3 Respondents: “Camry”
• 2 Respondents: “Station wagon”
• 2 Respondents: “Chevy”
• 2 Respondents: “Mercedes”
• Other respondents: “1972 Oldsmobile” “1956 Buick Sedan” “1950’s Ford” “Saab” “2005 American Hybrid”
• Collectively speaking, these impressions are all over the map
The Board’s Current Brand Feelings
Partial Agreement
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You believe the primary barriers to increased visitation are not facility related:
1. Lack of awareness 30%2. Lack of compelling content 22%3. Negative image of Oakland 17%4. Disadvantageous location 13%5. Facility is not attractive 9%6. Modern “busy” lifestyles 9%
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Items Impeding Attendance
% Surveyed
Revealing: The remodeling project and the perceived benefits of remodeling will NOT solve 5 of the 6 barriers to attendance
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Surveyed 5 Bay Area Arts and Culture Editors/ Museum Reporters
Chronicle, Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, Guardian, Mercury News
STOPPED! The survey process5 of 5 said they had visited the Museum
5 of 5 were aware of particular exhibits
1 of 5 knew the Museum was about California3 of 5 said the Museum was about Oakland and Oakland’s History0 of 5 knew it was one of the largest museums in the Bay Area
(by budget, collection, and square footage)
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Survey of Arts/Culture Editors
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Agreement among Board about:MissionMessagePrioritiesProblems
Agreement among Board and outsiders:Lack of Awareness
Goal: You Must Tell the World What You Do and Why It is Exciting
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Summary
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
1. Project Mission and Methodology
2. Branding Overview
3. Survey Results
4. Re-thinking The Museum’s Brand Strategy
5. Running a Branding Campaign – Board Action Items
6. Appendix: Specific Recommendations for the Staff
Agenda
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Branding Overview
What is a good brand?
The most important part of a branding process is the
core brand message:
1. Is it simple and clear enough?2. Does it differentiate your organization in the
marketplace?3. Is it true?4. Is it relevant?5. Is it consistent with the organization’s core values?
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Testing the Current Brand
“The Oakland Museum of California”
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Testing “The Oakland Museum of California”1. Is it simple and clear enough?
• Often gets truncated to “Oakland Museum”• Not sure if focus is on “Oakland” or “California”• The Title of This Presentation• Web address: oaklandmuseum.org
2. Does it differentiate your organization in the marketplace?• Sort of, but why the Oakland Museum of California? Is there
another Museum of California in Los Angeles or San Diego?
3. Is it true?• Partially: true to California but not adequately true to Oakland
4. Is it relevant?• Relevant to California, relevant to Oakland in location only
5. Is it consistent with the organization’s core values?• It somewhat complicates the values, which are: “Our mission is to
be the ‘museum of California’” (2002 Mission Statement)
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Harvard Business School Community Partners
Simplify the Message
Given that it doesn’t entirely pass the test, we recommend changing your name to:
“The California Museum”
A thriving, unique, dynamic, renowned cultural center In the heart of Oakland
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Harvard Business School Community Partners
Testing “The California Museum”
1. Is it simple and clear enough?• Yes – three words, no ambiguity
2. Does it differentiate your organization in the marketplace?• Yes – it’s THE one and only California Museum
3. Is it true?• Yes
4. Is it relevant?• Yes
5. Is it consistent with the organization’s core values?• Yes
Solves the Biggest Problem: How to Tell the Bay Area What You Do
We also thought about “The Museum of California” decided against it considering:
• Passive
• Four words instead of three: Possibility of getting truncated to “Museum of CA” in print and web
• Conjures image of history only – not art and nature
• Sounds a bit stuffy for such a friendly, community-minded organization
•With “The California Museum” we believe that:
• Active
• Says what it does, does what it says
• Differentiated and succinct: three words! More “blink” appeal
• Strong emotional attributes: “California,” which has extremely strong, universally-appealing brand attributes, comes first
• Much easier to link art, history and nature together as part of California “experience”
• Indefinite article “The” gives weight of authority – and many potentially exciting branding campaigns in the future
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“Of” versus “The”
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36 years of work –you can deliver on this
promise of being“A Museum’s
Museum”
#1 priority for the next 5 years – (Practical
Relationship) let people know what you
do
Next branding campaign attributes:
Hip, friendly, etc(Emotional
Relationship)Operations – Are you doing a good
job? Is this a place
accessible to all?
Vision - Are you representing all of
California? Are you fulfilling your
mission
Brand, Status as a cultural Institution
– Are you meaningful?
Staged Brand Strategy: Mission = Message
The California Museum
The California Museum – Art, History, Nature
We went through many possibilities:• The museum of the California Experience• The California Museum of Art, History and Ecology• California’s Art, History and Environment• California Art, History, Environment, and Culture
The driving need to get your message out compels us to recommend the simplest
• As a tag line, it can change and evolve over time
You have such a unique experience you must educate before you can excite
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Tag Line
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
1. Project Mission and Methodology
2. Branding Overview
3. Survey Results
4. Re-thinking The Museum’s Brand Strategy
5. Running a Branding Campaign – Board Action Items
6. Appendix: Specific Recommendations for the Staff
Agenda
Branding is a continuous process
1. Clearly communicate your brand• Balance creativity and discipline
2. Choose and train leaders3. Take on board level projects
• Internal projects• External projects• Support & guide staff
4. Set realistic time table• This is a 5 year process
5. Start now
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General Operating Principals
Branding is a continuous process
1. Clearly communicate the brand • Develop message in terms that energize and engage a mass audience
• Three word description• Six word description • one-sentence description• one-paragraph description• Once approved, implement -- use consistently for a minimum of five years in
every communication, pamphlet, interview, and public engagement
• Provide every stakeholder with universal talking points
2. Set simple branding standards• At first, just one: Be consistent
3. Rigorously enforce brand standards • Appoint person to approve all communications to ensure compliance with
branding standards – Brand Czar
• Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
4. Guide and set expectations for Staff• See appendix for suggested staff projects
• Don’t micro manage
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The Basics: Communicate and Guide
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Balance Creativity and Discipline
You Can Deliver on Your Core Promise – Flaunt it!• Make your museum relevant
Have Fun• 4 ½ city blocks of exhibits
• 1.5 million items in collection
• Largest Museum of its type in the US
• Three Museums under one roof
• Covered Parking, Places for the Kids, Beautiful Gardens
But be consistent:• Example of current literature
Every Board member and staff member is a leader
1. Provide universal talking points
2. Assign roles• Press/editorial meetings
• Bay Area cultural events
• Local constituencies (including City Council)
3. Take on new projects – external & internal
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Train Leadership
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Board Projects – Think Big
Undertake Board-Level (ie: BIG) Branding Projects
• Rename BART station to “The California Museum”
• Obtain more directional signage on freeway exits and city streets
• Large Architectural Feature -- light tower
• Celebrity Spokespeople
• Alliances with Corporations, other Non-Profits
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External Emphasis – The Central Brand
All actions should reinforce the central brand• Minimum: “The California Museum Presents . . .”
• Better: “The California Museum Presents an Exhibit on Events relating to California.”
• Best: “The California Museum Presents A Unique Experience About California That Reminds Us All Why We Find This Place So Fascinating.”
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The Museum is the Story
Enlist Pro Bono PR firm for media communications – story pitching and expert spokespeople placement:
1. Do not pitch on name change – it is a non-event2. Go outside Exhibits to pitch stories
• Is the Oakland / East Bay overtaking San Francisco as an art & cultural center?
• Which city has more Latino art – LA or Oakland?• Did California benefit from the Viet Nam war?• The difficulty of properly reconstructing the ocean flows of the bay• Which brought more immigrants to California: The Gold Rush or the
Silicon Rush?• Hanging gardens of Babylon in Oakland?
3. Human interest profiles• Affordable collector’s gallery –best kept secret in the Bay Area• The Museum’s World-Class Refurbishing Experts – How to Fumigate a
Wurlitzer Organ
4. Newsworthy Events• All-star, crowd-pleasing events such as the day of the dead
5. Use your experts – PRWeb.com – including Board members
Focus on driving traffic to the museum to carry the message
Set “allowance” for staff for “2-for-1’s” and “free admits” (We suggest 100,000 for first year)
Suggest Target audiences based on desirability (coalition of interests):
– Every California Tourism, Booster, and Business Council – Every history teacher, history grad student, and history undergraduate
major in the Bay Area– Every leader of environmental and conservation non-profits– Every artist in Oakland
Reinforce your brand INSIDE the MuseumTell ‘em what they are going to see; Tell ‘em what they are seeing;
Tell ‘em what they saw
Signage is criticalWe need to say this twice: Signage is critical
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Internal Branding – Enlist Your Visitors
• Your MIssion is Your Brand: The California Museum – Art, History, Nature
• Primary goal: tell people what you do• Board focus on high-impact branding projects
• Set message, guidelines & universal talking points• Strategic campaign for each interest group• Set timeline• Assign leadership roles (spokespeople, government and foundation liaisons,
brand czar, etc)• Form committees to take on big board projects - BART station renaming,
architectural feature, couponing allowances; find pro bono PR firm; change internal signage
• Support and guide staff • Fund increased visitorship initiatives• Ensure consistency
• Have fun – you can deliver on your mission – Flaunt it!• Start Now
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Summary
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Harvard Business School Community Partners
1. Project Mission and Methodology
2. Branding Overview
3. Survey Results
4. Re-thinking The Museum’s Brand Strategy
5. Running a Branding Campaign – Board Action Items
6. Appendix: Specific Recommendations for the Staff
Agenda
Harvard Business School Community Partners
Recommendations for Staff
High-Impact, Low Effort Initiatives• Designing a message• Public Relations Guidelines (Remember:
Branding is much more than PR)• Media and Web Initiatives• Special Exhibits vs. General Marketing• Signage• Direct Marketing
Develop master descriptions of the museum in terms that energize & engage a mass potential audience.
• Write a one-sentence description• Write a one-paragraph description• Generate fascinating “factoids” list based on your superior knowledge
of what the museum has to offer• Recommend polished wording to Museum board• Once approved, implement -- use consistently for a minimum of five
years in every communication, pamphlet, interview, and public engagement
Replicate message inside museum– Signage
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Develop Messaging Once
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PR – The Museum Is the Story
General:25 Media Outlets. Ensure general coverage and listings with each of them in
accordance with their listing policies. Apparently, doing a great job.
Specialized:Enlist Pro Bono PR firm for media communications – story pitching and expert
spokespeople placement:
1. Do not pitch on name change – it is a non-event2. Go outside Exhibits to pitch stories
• Is the Oakland / East Bay overtaking San Francisco as an art & cultural center?• Which city has more Latino art – LA or Oakland?• Did California benefit from the Viet Nam war?• The difficulty of properly reconstructing the ocean flows of the bay• Which brought more immigrants to California: The Gold Rush or the Silicon Rush?• Hanging gardens of Babylon in Oakland?
3. Human interest profiles• Affordable collector’s gallery –best kept secret in the Bay Area• The Museum’s World-Class Refurbishing Experts – How to Fumigate a Wurlitzer
Organ
4. Newsworthy Events• All-star, crowd-pleasing events such as the day of the dead
5. Use your experts – PRWeb.com
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Web and Guidebook Initiatives
Keep leading with enthusiasm, doing the good things you’re doing while implementing the new brand
• Look for the best in ANY media opportunity • Update information in local newspaper, arts and entertainment
listings• SF Chronicle’s walking tour of downtown Oakland does not
mention the Museum• Google “Oakland Museum of California” – have intern correct
name and description of top 400 hits. Offer webmasters who change the listing a free pass.
• Update information in Oakland and Bay Area visitor guides, travel books, and travel websites
• Update website, using new URLs such as calmuseum.org or calmuseum.com
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Special Exhibits vs General Marketing
Any money spent on marketing must reinforce the central brand
Minimum: “The California Museum Presents . . .”
Better: “The California Museum Presents an Exhibit on Events relating to California.”
Best: “The California Museum Presents A Unique Experience About California That Reminds Us All Why We Find This Place So Fascinating.”
Drive traffic to the museum by “couponing” first-time visitors -- offering discounts or two-for-one promotions through the following channels:
• Outreach through tourist & local business councils• Birthday parties• Sporting venues• Area corporations with 1,000+ employees• Bounce-back family 4 pack tickets for all students who visit
via a school field trip• Contact schools outside current area • Tickets for members to pass out – use to bring their friends • Get connected to other Bay Area institutions such as Gen Art
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Direct Marketing Initiatives
• Make good use of all the non-verbal ways of communication - color, shape, form, texture
– Logo, signage, materials• Use language consistently• Avoid overload - Resist the temptation to tell too much• Know your audience - Don't bore people, talk down to them or lose them by assuming that they know what you know.• Use signage to lead visitors from one area to another
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The Brand is in Your Hands