Marketing is still a dirty word to some in museums. With the term comes images
of used car salesmen and the ‘Disneyfication’ of culture. Is it possible to market
your product successfully without ‘dumbing’ it down? This brief history of
museum marketing, the changes it has undergone, and the approaches taken
in many museums, shows that it is.
It would be nice if museums did not have to worry about marketing. It
would be nice if the money just rolled in by itself. Sadly, new economic realities
mean that cash-strapped museums cannot afford to be complacent about
attracting visitors through the doors to exhibitions. To stay afloat, they need to
attract new audiences as well as keep established ones. Marketing is no longer
an option: it’s a survival tool rather than a dirty word.
What many in museums fear, however, is that in pursuing a larger market
they will be forced to tamper with their product in a way that compromises
its artistic integrity. They are worried their art will suffer at the hands of the
market. Finding the middle ground between complacency and Mickey Mouse
is the tricky part, and the challenge.
