Note - Occasionally I write on topics unrelated to the museum sector.  This is an article about banking and brand equity.   One of an organizations most valuable assets is its brand equity.  It takes years for a brand to build a level of trust, loyalty, and community...

So, you claim that you want to shake things up, come up with new ideas, implement true out-of-the-box innovations.  One of the most important steps toward this goal is creating a team that will drive discussions that take you far from the current perceptions driving your museum.  Regardless if we are talking about employees, board members, donors, or influencers, one think is universally true – THE SAME VOICES CREATE THE SAME DISCUSSIONS, AND THE SAME RESULTS. 

In late 2021, Dollar Tree ended over 35 years of offering everything in the store for $1 per item.  Bowing to increase logistic and labor costs, the Fortune 500 firm increased the price of every single item in their stores at all 15,000 locations.  Most items were increased to $1.25.  Since making the price increases, Dollar Tree has been met with outrage from their core audience.   

As museums, the way we operate on a daily basis is familiar and comfortable. We have done it over and over, there is little operational risk, we have deep knowledge of the process, and we have years of experience. We feel safe repeating core business practices that have provided us historic success. Unfortunately, even excellently implemented, our core business engines will not overcome the external forces of today’s competitive environment.

One of the hottest topics in the museum space is the great resignation.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 8 million US employees quit their jobs in August and September.  Over 10 million jobs are currently available in the US.  While the museum sector has not seen the level of employee resignations that some other industries have, we are not immune to the trend.

As organizations in the tourism space, we spend a lot of time creating materials designed to capture people’s attention and convince them to spend their limited time at our facility. This is time well spent, as the battle for people’s attention is as competitive as ever, but it’s only one step toward ultimately getting people to your museum.

We have all been in THAT meeting.  Your team is bouncing around ideas, and someone comes up with something that sounds promising.  Less than ten seconds later someone says, "We've tried that before, and it didn't work." Language like this carries a heavyweight as we...

As we all deal with varying degrees of decreased visitor numbers, it is more important than ever to increase current supporter involvement and gain new supporters through efforts beyond physical visitation.  In today’s article, I will discuss the importance of using email marketing segmentation and automation functionality to increase current supporter engagement and take people new to your museum from awareness to brand knowledge and involvement.

Over the last six months, I have been excited to see the new digital programs implemented by museums worldwide. I’m excited about the creativity and ingenuity that has gone into truly unique new offerings that have gone from concept to launch amazingly fast in response to the pandemic.    

Whenever we launch programs outside of historical perceptions of what is possible, there are always influencers who do not believe the new offerings will work.  Every innovation comes with its own naysayer.  It just comes with the territory.  In this article, I will talk about one of the most common traps organizations run into while in the early stages of launching something great. 

As we all struggle with revenue shortfalls, many museums are reducing the price of core offerings as an effort to bring in short-term dollars. Before cutting the price on your core offerings, consider a few fundamental pricing principles in order to maintain your brand and programming long-term value.