Museum marketing competing in the global marketplace

Museums have moved from a product to a marketing focus within the last ten years. This has entailed a painful reorientation of approaches to understanding visitors as customers; new ways of fundraising and sponsorship as government funding decreases; and grappling with using the internet for marketing. This book brings the latest in marketing thinking to bear on the museum sector taking into account both the commercial issues and social mission it involves. Carefully structured to be highly accessible the book offers:
* A contemporary and relevant and global approach to museum marketing written by authors in Britain, Australia, the United States, and Asia
* An approach that reflects the particular challenges museums of varying sizes face when seeking to market an experience to a diverse set of stakeholders: audience; funders; sponsors and government.
* A particular focus on museum marketing in the 'Information Age'
* Major case studies at the beginning and end of each section of the book, and smaller case studies within chapters The hugely experienced author team, includes both leading academics and practitioners to ensure the book has broad appeal and is both relevant, innovative and progressive in approach. It will be essential reading for students in museum studies, non-profit marketing, and arts management and marketing. It will also be equally relevant for professionals working in and managing museums and galleries, heritage attractions and ministries of arts.
* The most up-to-date treatment of marketing museums with a global approach
* Blend of academic and practitioner expertise to appeal to students and professionals seeking a contemporary and relevant approach
* Features a range of international case studies that demonstrate the museum experience and draw out the particular challenges that museums and galleries of varying sizes and types face in the global marketplace

Alternative water strategies in public domains : innovative strategies in progress along North Terrace, Adelaide

Water sensitive design on our urban threshold is increasingly becoming topical. In Adelaide it is being driven by stormwater management strategies and economic efficiencies in a city that is beginning to embrace its Mediterranean environment, low water sustainability, and whether our showpiece public domains in Adelaide can afford large expanses of manicured lawns.

This paper reviews four projects in progress along the North Terrace in Adelaide. The first involves a major redesign of First Creek as it traverses Adelaide Botanic Garden to address stormwater management issues. The redesign includes strategies to control flash flooding, to cleanse stream water from pollutants, and to carefully incorporate a wetland system as an integral botanical and horticultural feature of a botanic garden. Further down North Terrace, the University of Adelaide is evaluating a scenario that will totally redesign Goodman Crescent, its picture-postcard promenade lawn. The scenario is to host an integrated water retention and water purification and cleansing system that will service independently of mains water an irrigation system and a waterfall. The proposal draws upon a similar strategy recently adopted by the South Australian Museum to capture and cleanse surface and roof water but place the installation and process on display as part of its overall biodiversity museum display that will unfold over the next five years under director Tim Flannery. The fourth example, in process at present, is to devise an integrated water system that may enable the Government House grounds to remove itself from dependence upon costly mains water to totally sustain its extensive gardens and lawns.

Importantly each project has similar threads: creative water maximization and purification use, and a desire to place these ‘installations’ on display as public statements of their commitment to water sustainability in Adelaide. But radically, here are four prominent cultural institutions readily willing to redefine the notion and traditional visual imagery of a ‘wetland’ on what is the main cultural boulevard of a capital city.

Defining national identity? Visiting the architectural spaces of the Museum of Scotland

National Cultures construct identities by producing meanings about the nation with which we can identify, meanings which are contained in the stories which are told about it, memories which connect its present within its past, and images which are constructed of it. A museum, the repository of a nation’s culture, which connects the past to the present through recounting stories about the artefacts of past cultures is clearly significant in representing the culture of a nation.

This paper explores the architectural spaces of the new Museum of Scotland, which opened in Edinburgh in November 1998. The museum has opened at a crucial time in Scottish history. The Scottish cultural renaissance is manifested in the increase in cultural production and call for Scottish cultural institutions. Parallel to this renaissance are political developments with the re-creation of a Scottish Parliament in 1999. When the idea of ‘Scotland’ is itself in a state of flux, the stories of the nation told in the museum, which attempt to give a sense of location, a connection between the individual and the nation are especially important.

Thus, issues of identity and ‘self’ are crucially important in understanding the contemporary museum. Within this, the relations between the production of these narratives and their consumption by the public are little understood. The majority of studies have concentrated, although not exclusively, on the production of museum displays, primarily with the "politics and poetics" of display. This paper analyses the relationship between producer and consumer within the Museum of Scotland, attempting to reconnect the forces of production and consumption. In doing so, it focuses primarily on the differing conceptions of the ability of the Museum to be able to narrate the nation.

Based on interviews both with museum staff and with visitors to the museum, it argues that an understanding of the relationship between the museum and Scottish national identity can only be considered through an understanding of the tension between the producers’ intentions and the way in which consumers conceptualise the museum as a space for "telling the nation".

The reflexive museum : opening the door to behind the scenes

In this paper I argue for a shift in conceptualising exhibitions: from products to be presented to processes to be revealed. I will explore how museum theory and practice are inextricably intertwined and can be brought into fruitful dialogue within an exhibition setting. By revealing the processes leading to the definition of categories and the interpretation of identities, and by giving ‘faces’ to decisions made, the ‘reflexive museum’ can become an embodiment of democracy, which does not silence controversies but gives diversity public voices. The ‘reflexive museum’ as I envisage it, by referring to Beck and Bonss’ ‘reflexive modernity’ (2001) is not only self-aware, but confronts, critiques, questions and ultimately transforms itself and invites the visitor to democratically participate in this process.

First, I sketch out recent academic musings on museological approaches. Then I present some examples of exhibitions in Germany in which these theories have been put into practice. I conclude by arguing for a symbiotic relationship between museum theory and practice, enabling the museum to realise its unique potential as a dynamic ‘playground’ located between scholarly thinking and the public.

The reflexive museum - opening the door to behind the scenes

In this paper I argue for a shift in conceptualising exhibitions: from products to be presented to processes to be revealed. I will explore how museum theory and praxis are inextricably intertwined and can be brought into fruitful dialogue within an exhibition setting. By revealing the processes leading to the definition of categories and the interpretation of identities, and by giving faces to decisions made, the ‘reflexive museum’ can become an embodiment of democracy, which does not silence controversies but gives diversity public voices. First, I sketch out recent academic musings on museological approaches. Then I present some examples of exhibitions in Germany in which these theories have been put into praxis. I conclude by arguing for a symbiotic relationship of museum theory and praxis enabling the museum to realise its unique potential as a dynamic ‘playground’ between academia and the public.

Testimony, memory, and art at the Jewish Holocaust museum, Melbourne, Australia

Taking its cue from Charlotte Delbo’s powerful writing about the Holocaust in which she highlights the role of sense memories, this chapter begins with the proposition that sense memories – as distinct from narrative or vicarious forms of memory – are a particularly effective vehicle for the communication of past trauma in the present. The paper explores the potential value of this proposition for the display of objects in a Holocaust museum which are given meaning by the voices of the survivor community and their focus on the importance of testimony. The chapter undertakse an analysis of how the sense memories of survivors animate specific objects on display, exploring the ways in which these objects help the Museum to create a bridge between the survivor community and the wider general public (Auerhahn and Laub, 1990). I argue that built into that process there is a requirement that audiences listen in a manner that makes them a witness to past traumas. This listening process, I want to argue, offers not only an opportunity for healing on the part of survivors but also, following Simon (2005), the exchange of a ‘terrible gift’. That gift, I will suggest, places the visitor as a witness to past traumas and builds an ethical request that they should actively work against future genocides. Central to that possibility, I want to argue, is the way in which the process of witnessing a sense memory is an affective experience for the viewer leading to the potential production of empathy.

Mana Taonga and the public sphere: a dialogue between indigenous practice and Western theory

Recent re-conceptualizations of the ‘public sphere’ facilitated a much needed shift in thinking about identity politics ‘from a substance … to a movement’ (Weibel and Latour, 2007). This laid the foundation for dissolving the ‘emanatist vision’ (Bourdieu, 1990) of self-explanatory and perpetual systems and structures towards the interrogation of actions and performances that simultaneously constitute and are affected by such wider socio-political realities. Most academic contributions, however, remain on a normative or theoretical level without offering empirical insights.

This article introduces Mana Taonga as an Indigenous Māori concept of cultural politics embedded in current museum practice at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa). It creates a dialogue between Indigenous Māori practice and Western theory leading to a refined understanding of performative democracy within a museum as forum, or public sphere. The authors argue that a specific museum offers a particular place, space and empirical reality to interrogate seemingly universal concepts such as ‘culture’ and ‘politics’ by blending theoretical notions with an awareness of institutional contexts and practices.

Bushfire catastrophe in Victoria, Australia : public record, accountability, commemoration, memorialization and heritage protection

In Australia, 7 February 2009 has become known as ‘Black Saturday’ because of the bushfire catastrophe that took 173 lives and devastated communities in the central parts of the State of Victoria. The paper considers how the 2009 fires have been recorded, how the issue of accountability has been dealt with, particularly in relation to the State and its agencies but also individual residents in the fire-devastated areas, and how bushfire deaths and other losses have been commemorated through remembrance events and museum collection projects and memorialized through the creation of new monuments and the protection of remaining physical structures as official heritage. Despite the major impact of bushfires on the State, to date few bushfire-related places have been protected. The former Cockatoo Kindergarten, which acted as a community refuge during an earlier catastrophic Victorian bushfire on Ash Wednesday, 16 February 1983, is an exception. Inscribed in 2012, the former kindergarten is the only bushfire-related place inscribed on the Victorian Heritage Register, in this case for its historical and social value as a place resonating with other communities affected by other bushfires and helping the broader Victorian public to come to terms with bushfire catastrophe. But, while bushfire commemoration activities and physical memorials, like those relating to war, help many societies remember individual and community pain and suffering, they can divert attention from the more fundamental questions of why they were there in the first place and what must be done to ensure the same catastrophe does not recur in the future. In this regard, the paper questions the oft-cited claim that bushfires are embedded in the Australian psyche, seeing links between the rhetoric around bushfire survival and Australian myth-making and nation-building.

Cultural pedagogies in the museum: walking, listening and feeling

Pedagogy is often glossed as the ‘art and science of teaching’ but this focus typically ties it to the instructional practices of formalised schooling. Like the emerging work on ‘public pedagogies’, the notion of cultural pedagogies signals the importance of the pedagogic in realms other than institutionalised education, but goes beyond the notion of public pedagogies in two ways: it includes spaces which are not so public, and it includes an emphasis on material and non-human actors. This collection foregrounds this broader understanding of pedagogy by framing enquiry through a series of questions and across a range of settings. How, for example, are the processes of ‘teaching’ and ‘learning’ realised within and across the pedagogic processes specific to various social sites? What ensembles of people, things and practices are brought together in specific institutional and everyday settings to accomplish these processes? This collection brings together researchers whose work across the interdisciplinary nexus of cultural studies, sociology, media studies, education and museology offers significant insights into these ‘cultural pedagogies’ – the practices and relations through which cumulative changes in how we act, feel and think occur. Cultural Pedagogies and Human Conduct opens up debate across disciplines, theoretical perspectives and empirical foci to explore both what is pedagogical about culture and what is cultural about pedagogy.

Visual communication design as a form of public pedagogy

This paper identifies visual communication design as a form of public pedagogy. Communication design practices aim to achieve the successful transmission of a message to a recipient in a visual mode. Understanding the theories and practices of visual communication design can assist in enhancing the reception of the communication, as these practices become a tool to increase the effectiveness of learning in a public space. To demonstrate this, I will use the example of museums as an informal place of public learning, and argue design, and in particular visual communication design strategies, are extremely important in the creation of successful learning. If participants are not engaged or entertained, their capacity for learning will diminish. Engagement depends on the representation of the information and the successful interpretation of that information by the visitor. Further, this paper will emphasize the vital role communication design plays in all forms of public pedagogy, not just within the museum context. However, non-designers create many public learning environments and although this paper argues the benefits of communication design to increasing the effectiveness of learning, it recognizes the narrow opportunities of applying this knowledge.

“PROVINCIALISM, PICKING SIDES AND BIAS: EFFECTS OF GEOGRAPHY ON MEDIA COVERAGE OF CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, 2005-10.”

The development of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton has prompted diverse coverage from print and online media. This investigation looked at trends in news stories and commentary from 2005-10 to show how the location of a medium affected coverage. Through the author’s own observations and interviews with journalists and other interested parties, several trends emerged. Media outlets outside Arkansas portrayed the museum as trying to plunder the cultural heritage of local communities and relied partly on the museum’s association with Wal-Mart and stereotypes of Arkansas to frame coverage. Arkansas media, faced with limited cooperation from the museum’s public relations apparatus, typically played a cheerleader role, at times overemphasizing the importance of the collection in the art world and showcasing few critical voices in stories about acquisitions and other areas of the museum’s development.

Museum Schwab. Eine Sammlung, eine Idee und steter Wandel

1865, vier Jahre vor seinem Tod, schenkt der Bieler Sammler Friedrich Schwab seine archäologischen Objekte der Stadt. Er möchte damit den Bewohnern Biels, vor allem der Jugend, einen reichen Fundus zur Verfügung stellen, der einen Einblick in den Alltag der prähistorischen Bewohner der Region bietet. Bis heute ist die Sammlung Schwab ein Studienobjekt für Archäologen geblieben und inspiriert Öffentlichkeit und Schulklassen: So sieht Friedrich Schwab seinen Willen auch nach bald 150 Jahren noch immer erfüllt. Die vorliegende Publikation erläutert die wechselvolle Geschichte des Museums Schwab und bietet gleichzeitig einen Überblick über die archäologische Erforschung der Drei-Seen-Region: von der Entdeckung der ersten Pfahlbausiedlungen bis zu ihrer Aufnahme in das UNESCO Welterbe. Sie folgt den Sammlungen eines Universalmuseums auf ihrer Odyssee, weist auf Details einer einmaligen Architektur hin und zeigt die Zusammenhänge zwischen Kulturpolitik und der aktuellen Bieler Museumslandschaft auf.

Evaluation of a pilot diabetes educational intervention using the American Diabetes Association's Risk Assessment form with the patrons of The Health Museum, Houston Texas

Diabetes Mellitus is not a disease, but a group of diseases. Common to all types of diabetes is high levels of blood glucose produced from a variety of causes. In 2006, the American Diabetes Association ranked diabetes as the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. The complications and consequences are serious and include nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, heart disease, amputations, pregnancy complications, sexual dysfunction, biochemical imbalances, susceptibility and sensitivity to many other diseases and in some cases death. ^ The serious nature of diabetes mellitus and its complications has compelled researchers to devise new strategies to reach population segments at high risk. Various avenues of outreach have been attempted. This pilot program is not unique in using a health museum as a point of outreach. However health museums have not been a major source of interventions, either. Little information was available regarding health museum visitor demographics, visitation patterns, companion status and museum trust levels prior to this pilot intervention. This visitor information will improve planning for further interventions and studies. ^ This thesis also examined prevalence data in a temporal context, the populations at risk for diabetes, the collecting agencies, and other relevant collected data. The prevalence of diabetes has been rapidly increasing. The increase is partially explained by refinement of the definition of diabetes as the etiology has become better understood. Increasing obesity and sedentary lifestyles have contributed to the increase, as well as the burdensome increase on minority populations. ^ Treatment options are complex and have had limited effectiveness. This would lead one to conclude that prevention and early diagnosis are preferable. However, the general public has insufficient awareness and education regarding diabetes symptoms and the serious risks and complications the disease can cause. Reaching high risk, high prevalence, populations is challenging for any intervention. During its “free family Thursdays” The Health Museum (Houston, Texas) has attracted a variety of ethnic patrons; similar to the Houston and Harris County demographics. This research project explored the effectiveness of a pilot diabetes educational intervention in a health museum setting where people chose to visit. ^

Digital signage application : developing a public venue multimedia touch-screen

La señalización digital o digital signage es una tecnología de comunicaciones digital que se está usando en los últimos años para reemplazar a la antigua publicidad impresa. Esta tecnología mejora la presentación y promoción de los productos anunciados, así como facilita el intercambio de información gracias a su colocación en lugares públicos o al aire libre. Las aplicaciones con las que cuenta este nuevo método de publicidad son muy variadas, ya que pueden variar desde ambientes privados en empresas, hasta lugares públicos como centros comerciales. Aunque la primera y principal utilidad de la señalización digital es la publicidad para que el usuario sienta una necesidad de adquirir productos, también la posibilidad de ofrecer más información sobre determinados artículos a través de las nuevas tecnologías es muy importante en este campo. La aplicación realizada en este proyecto es el desarrollo de un programa en Adobe Flash a través de lenguaje de programación XML. A través de una pantalla táctil, el usuario de un museo puede interactivamente acceder a un menú en el que aparecen los diferentes estilos de arte en un determinado tiempo de la historia. A través de una línea de tiempo se puede acceder a información sobre cada objeto que esté expuesto en la exhibición. Además se pueden observar imágenes de los detalles más importantes del objeto que no pueden ser vistos a simple vista, ya que no está permitido manipularlos. El empleo de la pantalla interactiva sirve para el usuario de la exhibición como una herramienta extra para recabar información sobre lo que está viendo, a través de una tecnología nueva y fácil de usar para todo el mundo, ya que solo se necesita usar las propias manos. La facilidad de manejo en aplicaciones como estas es muy importante, ya que el usuario final puede no tener conocimientos tecnológicos por lo que la información debe darse claramente. Como conclusión, se puede decir que digital signage es un mercado que está en expansión y que las empresas deben invertir en el desarrollo de contenidos, ya que las tecnologías avanzan aunque el digital signage no lo haga, y este sector podría ser muy útil en un futuro no muy lejano, ya que la información que es capaz de transmitir al espectador en todos los lugares es mucho más válida y útil que la proporcionada por un simple póster impreso en una valla publicitaria. Abstract The Digital signage is a digital communications technology being used in recent years to replace the old advertising printed. This technology improves the presentation and promotion of the advertised products, and makes easy the exchange of information with its placement in public places or outdoors. The applications that account this new method of advertising are several; they can range from private rooms in companies, to public places like malls. Although the first major utility of Digital signage is the advertising that makes the user feel and need of purchasing products. In addition, the chance of providing more information about certain items through new technologies is very important in this field. The application made in this project is the development of a program in Adobe Flash via XML programming language. Through a touch-screen, a museum user can interactively access a menu in which different styles of art in a particular time in history appears. Through a timeline you can access to information about each object that is exposed on display. Also you can see pictures of the most important details of the object that can not be seen with the naked eye, since it is not allowed to manipulate it. The use of the interactive screen serves to the user exhibition as an extra tool to gather information about what is seeing through a new technology and easy to use for everyone, since only need to use one’s own hands. The ease of handling in applications such as this is very important as the end user may not have expertise technology so the information should be clearly. As conclusion, one can say digital signage is an expansion market and companies must invest in content development, as although digital technologies advance digital signage does not, and this sector could be very useful in a near future, because information that is able of transmitting the everywhere viewer is much more valid and useful than that provided by a simple printed poster on a billboard.