21st Century Museum Marketing: Engaging Audiences, Creating Relevancy,

and Boosting Earned Income

The Entrepreneurial MuseumNovember 2012

600,000 annual visitors to galleries, performances, film screenings, public programs, and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Walker Campus

The Future of Museum MarketingShifting from Marketing Programs

to Audience Engagement

Evolution of Museum MarketingAdapted from Andrew McIntyre

1970s 1980s 1990s TODAY

Product-Focused Selling-Focused Marketing-Focused Audience-Focused

Source: Andrew McIntyre, Understanding audiences. Building audiences. Morris Hargraeve McIntyre Consultancy and Research. Adapted by Ryan French.

Evolution of Museum MarketingAdapted from Andrew McIntyre

1970s 1980s 1990s TODAY

Product-Focused Selling-Focused Marketing-Focused Audience-Focused

Source: Andrew McIntyre, Understanding audiences. Building audiences. Morris Hargraeve McIntyre Consultancy and Research. Adapted by Ryan French.

Evolution of Museum MarketingAdapted from Andrew McIntyre

1970s 1980s 1990s TODAY

Product-Focused Selling-Focused Marketing-Focused Audience-Focused

Source: Andrew McIntyre, Understanding audiences. Building audiences. Morris Hargraeve McIntyre Consultancy and Research. Adapted by Ryan French.

Evolution of Museum MarketingAdapted from Andrew McIntyre

1970s 1980s 1990s TODAY

Product-Focused Selling-Focused Marketing-Focused Audience-Focused

Source: Andrew McIntyre, Understanding audiences. Building audiences. Morris Hargraeve McIntyre Consultancy and Research. Adapted by Ryan French.

Evolution of Museum MarketingAdapted from Andrew McIntyre

1970s 1980s 1990s TODAYPRODUCT-LED VISION-LED

Product-Focused Selling-Focused Marketing-Focused Audience-Focused

Source: Andrew McIntyre, Understanding audiences. Building audiences. Morris Hargraeve McIntyre Consultancy and Research. Adapted by Ryan French.

Evolution of Museum MarketingAdapted from Andrew McIntyre

1970s 1980s 1990s TODAYPRODUCT-LED VISION-LED

Product-Focused Selling-Focused Marketing-Focused Audience-Focused

Source: Andrew McIntyre, Understanding audiences. Building audiences. Morris Hargraeve McIntyre Consultancy and Research. Adapted by Ryan French.

Walker Art Center

Why engagement? Why now?

• Changes in:o Artist-as-sole-creatoro Audience-as-sole-receivero Curator-as-institutional-gatekeeper

• These changes align with cultural shifts in the practice of art making and in society at large.

• A desire to shift in the Walker’s interactions with audiences from “transactional” to “relational.”

Three Experiments in Engagement

1. Inside: Participatory Exhibitions

2. Outside: Open Field

3. Online: Walker website

Inside: Participatory Exhibitions

Benches and Binoculars

50/50: Audience and Experts Curate the Paper Collection

Outside: Open Field

In summer 2009 we imagined how the Walker’s large adjacent green space could be a setting for new ways of working with artists and the public.

Public

ArtistsInstitution

Open FieldDesign Charrette

• Identified steps to construct a social space.

Before

Spring 2010 construction

After

…and a large Open Field

Food, shade, and seating…

Open FieldTool Shed and Drawing Club

Swedish Song Session in the Turrell

The public is invited to program their own activities

Online: Walker Website

Content, content, content

Is it working?

• Insideo Visitor experience changes (e.g., photo policy, guard’s choice,

scavenger hunts, free Wi-Fi)o Curators and educators are changing practices

• Outsideo Animated campuso Engaged artist community and neighborhood

• Onlineo 40% more online visitors since launcho Referrals from social media up 150%o 21% more “engagement” (3+ minutes, 3+ pageviews)

Challenges remain

• Bringing the magic of outdoors to the indoors: Truly embracing the spirit of engagement with our internal programming.

• From free to paid: Converting people from outside to the inside.

• Content, content, content or “feeding the beast”: How can we continue to create content for the website?

Making real institutional change

• Control v ownershipo Organizational charts are not as important as working styles. o Open-minded and broad skilled staff members needed—

create a spirit of collaboration.

• Experiment, learn, adapt… repeato There are already a lot of variables once the audience is

engaged, don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

• Commitment from the top is criticalo Audience engagement is sometimes difficult to measure.

Institutional leaders need to be committed to your efforts for the long term.

Thank you!

Ryan French@french_rlinkedin.com/in/ryanfrench