Museum that is rich in both human and material resources without patronage is not an ideal museum. The existence of any museum is to collect, preserve and exhibit the cultural heritage of the people for the purpose of education and enjoyment. If the public lack awareness about the museum, how will patronage take place? This paper treats the strategies through which awareness is made about the museum.
Museum marketing
Museum marketing is different from other marketing. It is not about selling stuff to people that they do not really need, or even about creating demand. It’s about communicating the unique and valuable offers that you have to those who are ready to listen. Essentially, it is about letting your existing and potential audience know what great things you are doing.
Marketing connect a consumer who is ready to buy a product that is suited to his or her needs. It is really about communication.
Marketing objectives
The main objectives of museum marketing are to increase visitor number, increase public awareness of services and events, increase revenue through temporary exhibitions, sales in craftshops, publication, events and museum kitchen and attract new audiences.
Marketing mix
This is also known as the four Ps, which are the four key elements used to implement marketing strategy: Product, Place, Price and Promotion.
Product
Other marketers different from museum have product, museum just like one of them have its product like wise. Museum products include:
Museum Exhibition: Objects acquired, conserved and documented, needs to be display systematically to arouse the viewers interest.
Museum Membership: Museum has association/club e.g. American Museum of Natural History, British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Nigeria, we have Museum Society, Children Saturday Art Club.
Public programmes: These are museum programmes which include seminars, workshops, lectures to schools, Immigration Officers, Police Officers, Military Officers etc.
Museum Collections: These are objects on display or in the store that are useful for researchers.
Shops: This varies from craft shops where visitors can buy art works as souvenir, museum kitchen where traditional dishes and drinks (Palm wine) are sold.
Infrastructural Facilities: Purposely built museum where all categories of visitors will be put into consideration. An ideal space for galleries, stores and open space, children play ground, rest rooms for visitors and lots.
Place
Location of museum is very important as it must be accessible to visitors, good road, and should be at the centre of the town.
Price
Entrance fee should be moderate and price of their commodities too should be moderate.
Promotion
This aspect of the marketing mix represents the possible tools used to communicate with and attract the target audiences.
Museum consumers
Museum consumers are the beneficiaries of museum products. They are museum audience which could be categorized into four; Children, Youth, Adult and Physically Challenged.
The needs of
museum consumers
Museum consumers have needs that must be met. The needs are to see an interesting exhibit, i.e. the object on display, to have their children learn about something (children programmes), to carry out research (documented objects), to have a conducive environment for recreation (leisure) to be warmly welcomed (hospitality) to be well secured (security of life and properties). Meeting theses needs should be paramount to the museum.
How can we market museum?
Satisfying the Need of the Society
The main strategy of marketing museum is giving individual member of the public what they want rather than what is good to the museum. For museum to be well patronized, it must ensure that the exhibition on display meet the needs of the society or the targeted audience. An implication of increased market awareness is the adaptation of the product to satisfy the requirements of the user. (Middleton 1985:20-25)
In planning an ideal exhibition, the first stage of the planning is the feasibility studies which should take place at the very beginning of the exhibition to evaluate possible benefits of implementing an idea or system. It often involves knowledge of both the environment where exhibition is to be mounted, the need of the people and the expected out come to be derived from the exhibition.
Feasibility methods include; stakeholder interview, visitor survey, staff interview, data and reporting. Having known the need of the targeted audience other process of exhibition can continue. If an exhibition is well packaged, patronage is guaranteed.
Documentation System:
Apart from services to ordinary visitors, there are increasing demands for scholarly and specialist services provided by the museum. Hence museums should of necessity continue to examine the way in which they handle enquires and quality of their “documentation system, in short, all aspects of their work which provide access to their collections. An implication of increased market awakeness is the adaptation of the product to satisfy the requirements of the user”. (Middleton 1985:20-25)
Proper Guiding
Museum visitors have less or no knowledge about museum collections: such visitors acquire rapidly the knowledge of the collections from the nature of displays and the quality of information provided. Following from the above therefore most visitors to the museums need to be guided through the exhibit and rooms, which route to follow when there are several floors or more than one building, which best for children and so on. “Efforts should be made by museums to have well-trained and reliable guides because “successful guiding must be a highly relevant input to a rewarding visit”.
Conclusion
Marketing museum helps in meeting the goals and objectives of National Commission for museums and monuments. It helps attract visitors, and by identifying and meeting their needs, ensuring they have a satisfying experience. For patronage to take place in the museum, the museum product must be well packaged such as its’ exhibitions, museum membership, public programmes, museum collections, museum shops, building and ideal space for gallery, store and open space.
The major challenge to this important function is inadequate funding. There are great numbers of programmes to be carried out by the museum to promote its existence but funding has been a barrier. In addition to the above mentioned, lack of professionals in the field of museum marketing is another barrier.
I recommend that special allocation should be made for museum activates, also seminars and workshops should be organized frequently for museum professionals.
Moreover, there should be a marketing department and press office in the Commission. A new directorate should be formed to handle the public affairs, who should act as a public voice for the Commission, communicating with many different audiences, including fourists, diverse, communities, journalists and press, sponsors. All for the aim of promoting museum.
- Mrs Jolayemi is Chief Museum Education Officer, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Ilorin, Kwara State