21st Century Museum Marketing: 21st Century Museum Marketing: Engaging Audiences, Creating Relevancy, Engaging Audiences, Creating Relevancy,
and Boosting Earned Incomeand Boosting Earned Income
The Entrepreneurial MuseumThe Entrepreneurial Museum
November 2012November 2012
600,000 annual visitors to 600,000 annual visitors to galleries, performances, galleries, performances, film screenings, public film screenings, public programs, and the programs, and the Minneapolis Sculpture Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.Garden.
Walker Campus
The Future of Museum MarketingThe Future of Museum MarketingShifting from Marketing Programs Shifting from Marketing Programs
to Audience Engagementto 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 TODAY
PRODUCT‐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 TODAY
PRODUCT‐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: Inside: Participatory ExhibitionsParticipatory Exhibitions
Benches and Binoculars
50/50: Audience and Experts Curate the Paper Collection
Outside: Outside: Open FieldOpen 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.
Open FieldDesign Charrette
•• Identified Identified steps to steps to construct a construct a social space.social space.
Before
Spring 2010 Spring 2010 constructionconstruction
After
……and a large and a large Open FieldOpen Field
Food, shade, and seatingFood, shade, and seating……
Open FieldTool Shed and Drawing Club
Swedish Song Session in the Turrell
The public is invited to The public is invited to program their own program their own activitiesactivities
Online: Online: Walker WebsiteWalker 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!Thank you!
Ryan FrenchRyan French@french_r@french_rlinkedin.com/in/ryanfrenchlinkedin.com/in/ryanfrench