Download - Marketing Methods for Museums
Prepared for PRAM Mid-Atlantic Summit
May 31, 2012
Research Methods for Museums
Research MethodsGoals Method
Branding/Image Focus groups
Building membership Focus groups, IDIs, Mail, Online
Interest in upcoming exhibitions Online
Profile of current visitors Onsite intercepts
Looking for potential visitors Phone/Online panels
Tomorrow’s visitors Facebook
Economic Impact Visitor and institutional data gathering
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National Museum of American Jewish History
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Branding/Image
• Prior to the visioning sessions (MetStrategies; Tsang/Seymour), ARA conducted focus groups in Philadelphia and New York to understand the identity and image of the museum.
• The overall objective was to see how the museum was perceived by Jewish and non-Jewish audiences locally and nationally.
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Methodology• Six groups were conducted with nine
respondents in each two-hour group.
• NYC chosen because it was the #1 feeder market; two million Jews living in the New York Metropolitan Area
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Philadelphia New York City
NMAJH Members Jewish visitors to Philadelphia who had not visited NMAJH and were active NY museumgoers
NMAJH Non-Member Visitors Non-Jewish visitors to Philadelphia who had not visited NMAJH and were active NY museumgoers
Jewish Non-Visitors
Non-Jewish Non-Visitors
Research Objectives• Members and Visitors: Explore reasons for visiting /
becoming a member and understanding the Museum experience
• Among non-Visitors: Understand awareness/ familiarity of the Museum, gauge perceptions of the Museum as well as who the typical visitor is, assess interest in attending and why
• All groups: understand equity value of current Freedom identify, review response to the current mission statement and marketing materials, and gauge awareness of and interest in public programs
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Findings to Build Upon
• Museum had universal appeal, not just Jews• Story of Jews in America was largely unknown• Drill down on which exhibits resonated • Identified with stories of everyday life • More than one visit required to see everything• Good place to take out of town guests• Challenge to get the word out to other cities
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92nd Street Y
• Understand perceptions and images of the 92nd Street Y and its Westside facility Makor.
• Explore the strength of the brand.• Learn if the name Makor had brand equity, and if its
new downtown home should be branded as part of the 92nd Street Y.
• Eight groups, one patron and one non-patron in each of four categories– Young families– Younger boomers– 20s & 30s– Older boomers
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92nd Street Y and Makor became
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Membership• Focus groups to explore:
– Preferred format for publications– Desired benefits– Motivations of new members
• Online/mail questionnaires to test findings– Motivations for joining– Membership benefits– Evaluate experience, service, value
• IDIs among patrons
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Interest in Upcoming Exhibitions
• In-person: intercept current visitors to show descriptions and images.
• Online: more time to show multiple images.• Use rating scales to test interest.• Analyze results among members, frequent
visitors, age, gender, geography.
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Testing a Museum Concept• Theatre Museum Canada currently exists only in
virtual form. www.theatremuseumcanda.ca • After a Visioning session (John Vollmer
Associates), we arrived at three possible scenarios for a physical space.
• Used online panel to show descriptions and images for each concept.
• We used a ten-point rating scale to test interest in visiting.
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Question asked:
• Theatre Museum Canada is considering different concepts for the design and operation of a permanent facility in the entertainment area of the Toronto Theatre District. Please read each description and view the accompanying images. Then rate how likely you would be in visiting on a scale from “1” to “10” where “1” means not at all likely and “10” means extremely likely.
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Traditional Museum
• A museum with an emphasis on theatre collections and related programming. Permanent exhibitions would survey Canada’s theatre heritage from the 17th century to the present. Temporary exhibitions might feature in-depth examinations of playwrights, actors, designers, and theatre companies. Some exhibitions would focus on other aspects of performing arts. All exhibitions would include two and three dimensional archival and contemporary materials, as well as multimedia and interactive media.
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Temporary Exhibition
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Experience Centre• An experience centre with programs and activities that
emphasize audience interaction and learning by doing. Activities would recreate the experience of being on stage, backstage, and in the wings. It would feature demonstrations and participation in direction and blocking, and equipment such as a computer light board. Programmed activities would include readings, panel discussions, interviews, and demonstrations of make-up, costuming and wigs.
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Learning by Doing
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Social Centre• A theatre arts hub that would be an actual and virtual
interactive hub for the performing arts in Canada. One area would function as an evening club where there might be readings of new works and current productions, short interviews, and music, as well as a place to exchange ideas and meet people. At other times, the space would be programmed for groups and targeted audiences featuring behind the scenes access to processes in the performing arts, panel discussions, interviews and events. There would also be an information centre and resource people.
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Pub-like Atmosphere
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Profile of Current Visitors
• Onsite intercepts are comprehensive• Incentive recommended• Translations where appropriate• Cover representative hours and days• Seasonal waves• Link entrance and exit questionnaires to tie
experience to visitor profile
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Topics for Incoming Questionnaire
• Demographics and geography• Sources of information• Are they reading newspapers in print or online• Visiting with including children under 18• Have they visited your website? How have
they used it?• Using social media? Following you?• Media habits, prior visits, frequency, etc.
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Topics for Exit Questionnaire
• Exhibits visited• Other activities participated in• Satisfaction with staff, services, store, café • Did they share experience on social media• Likelihood to recommend to others
– Why?/Why not?
• Rate the value received from your visit• Duration of visit (time stamp incoming & exit)
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Useful Findings
• At one major art museum, we found that ¾ of the visitors did not live in the NY Metro Area.
• At another, 75% knew the exhibit sponsor.• We found that 60% needed to ask for help during
their visit at one large museum.• For a museum needing to relocate, we identified
preferences for different neighborhoods.• While 5 out of 6 knew about the special exhibitions,
only 1 in 7 were aware of family programs.
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Looking for New VisitorsQuantitative Research
• Need to go beyond pool of current visitors• Short-cut: conduct intercepts at other similar
types of museums– Assess awareness of your museum– Gauge prior attendance– Evaluate interest among non-visitors
• Market studies– Telephone samples– Online panels
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Telephone Study
• Kimbell Museum of Art– Surveyed 500 museumgoers in six North Texas
counties in anticipation of Renzo Piano expansion to Louis Kahn building
– Qualified by visiting at least one museum in past 12 months (31% qualified; mean age of 47; 62% female)
– Included landline and cell phone numbers– Identified person in household who made decision
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Evaluating Data
Museum (2009)
(Percent Museumgoers)
Visited Past
12 Months
Visited
Previously
Heard of
Only
Not
Heard of
Dallas Museum of Art 57 18 20 5
Dallas Museum of Natural History 23 34 31 12
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Online Study
• Newark Museum Signature Project: used a panel of residents in northern NJ counties/Manhattan – Far more cost-effective than phone– Large metropolitan area with more panel members– Qualified in NJ by visiting at least one major NY/NJ
museum in past 12 months• 28% incidence in NJ• 33% in Manhattan based on at least two museum visits
and recent travel to NJ
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If We Build It, Will They Come
• Three target groups– Current visitors – increase in frequency– Former visitors – would they return and how often– New visitors
• Aware of Newark Museum but never visited• Not aware of Newark Museum• Beyond N. NJ (Manhattan)
• Projected total future visitor count based on likelihood to visit and expected frequency
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Good NewsTraveling to Newark Compared to Five Years Ago (2008)(Percent non-Newark residents)
Six Core NJ Counties
13-County NJ Area
Manhattan
Just as comfortable 53 56 66
More 28 24 21
Less 18 20 13
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Younger Visitors
• More ethnically diverse• Far more likely to read publications online• More likely to be first time visitors• More likely to:
– Visit the museum website– Use a social media network– Follow the museum on a social media channel– Share experience on a smartphone
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Facebook Wisdom*
• Web built around people instead of content• The online world catching up with offline• People have consistent conversations with
between 7 and 15 people– Most conversations are with 5 strongest ties– These small groups of friends are more influential
than “opinion-leaders”
• Move from interruption to permission model
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From “Grouped” by Paul Adams
Facebook Audience
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Incidence of Museum Interest
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Preliminary Findings for Whitney Museum FB Survey
• After submitting their answers, 93% shared that they took the survey on their newsfeed
• 74% said FB was the main way they received information about the Whitney
• 75% said following content on the FB page inspired them to visit the museum
• 71% had visited the Whitney in-person• 88% followed other museums on FB
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Economic Impact• Measures the impact your institution and its
visitors has on the local economy• Includes all local spending of the museum and
non-local visitors whose primary reason for being there was to come to the museum
• Study for MoMA in 1998 estimated $2 billion impact from the expansion
• ARA is currently conducting an economic impact study of the 9/11 Memorial
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