Client Brief: Total Museum Marketing — A Centennial Challenge
Background:
Not every organization reaches the ultimate milestone of celebrating its centennial — a perfect opportunity to increase business, build membership and develop stature among other art museums. This museum had everything going for it — a proud and successful history, wonderful and aggressive list of exhibits, plans for a three day centennial celebration event, centennial ball, education programs and other centennial-related projects. Everything, that is, except for marketing, which was floundering in the absence of a department leader.
Challenges:
- A chaotic marketing environment where staff was diligently trying to support centennial — each following their own agenda
- No teamwork, no integration — each member working individually with various members of senior staff
- Plans and initiatives in peoples' minds but not on paper
- No formal marketing plan documents
- A significant research report in place at considerable cost — recommendations not being considered
Solutions developed by Maestro Strategic Marketing:
- Provide leadership for the marketing department and re-structure the department into cohesive units: Graphic Design, Event Planning, Administrative, Communications, and Public Relations; mandate staff accountability to director
- Hire a public relations manager
- Develop marketing plans for each and every centennial initiative — ensure that they are comprehensive and strategies are integrated to attract the largest possible audiences for programs; include relevant research recommendations
- Ensure that marketing objectives and strategies are executed and results tracked
- Build a solid and aggressive public relations strategy to ensure broad exposure for all exhibits and programs