The Case of The Horniman Museum How museums can play a crucial part for the contemporary society Agata Wilam November 2003.

The Case of The Horniman Museum

How museums can play a crucial part for the contemporary society

Agata WilamNovember 2003

Setting the stage

• The purpose of the presentation and workshop:– The marketing strategy for The Horniman

Museum, London

• The overview of the presentation:– The general context– The Horniman Museum– The workshop: working out the marketing strategy – Presentation of the marketing strategy carried out by the

museum

The general context• The Past

– European Enlightenment: knowledge is the subject of interest, but it is not accessible for all

– Industry Era: Industry shaped the landscape and the society, the producer is a dictator and workforce gave physical power

• Now and the Future– Rapidly changing economy based on knowledge and creativity

– Power stations and factories turned into museums and galleries

– The age of the customer

– Workforce have skills and knowledge

– Knowledge is accessible and sought after

– Travelling – one of the greatest industries

Key-words of social science and culture

• World citizenship

• Access

• Inclusion

• Education

• Creativity

Challenges for museums

• The source of knowledge for:– professional development– education– broadening horizons

• Creativity, imagination and inspiration• The proposal of „a good day out”• World citizenship• Community centre

What museums are about

„Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society”

Museums Association

„We engage people in dialogue to create meanings from the past, present and future of human ingenuity”

National Museum of Science and Industry

What museums are about

„The Museum of London exists to inspire a passion for London”

The Museum of London

„The V&A mission is to help people to see, to imagine, to learn, to create, to appreciate, to enjoy and to shape the designed world”

The Victoria and Albert Museum

The key-words in the contemporary museum world

Inspiration Learning Enjoyment

Access Engage Dialog Create

Inspire Passion Appreciate Shape

Why marketing is important

Our purpose is to bring people to museums – marketing is the knowledge

about introducing people to products/services

The Horniman Museum – the case study

• Brief history of the museum• Environment• The mission statement then and now• The description of the exhibitions and resources• The overview of the institution• The rules of operation• General objectives• The situation before launching the new marketing

strategy

Brief history of the museum

• Victorian tea trader Frederick John Horniman began collecting specimens and artefacts from around the world in the 1860's.

• He opened part of his family house to the public. As the collections increased, in 1898 Horniman commissioned a new building.

• The Museum opened in 1901 and was dedicated with the surrounding land as a free gift to the people of London by Frederick Horniman forever for their recreation, instruction and enjoyment. The original collections comprised natural history specimens, cultural artefacts and musical instruments.

• Further buildings were added during the course of XX century.

• In 1999 the Centenary Development was launched to create a new extension and several associated spaces. Opened in June 2002.

Environment

• Location:– South East suburbs of London– The borough of Lewisham

• Ethnically diverse

• Socially deprived

– Not easily accessible• Combined means of transport

• About 1 hour journey

• Competition– „must see” places in central London– Gardens and recreation areas in the outskirts

Environment

• The Horniman Museum has got the status of a public institution funded by the government, which obliges it to accomplish government mission and objectives

• The aim of the DCMS:

„To improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities, and to strengthen the creative

industry”• The objectives of the DCMS:

– Work to bring quality and excellence in the fields of culture– Make these available to the many not just a few– Raise the standards of cultural education and training– Help to develop jobs of the future in the creative industries

The mission statement then and now

• Horniman’s mission:

to bring the world to Forest Hill

• The mission of the present organisation:

To use its worldwide collections and the gardens to encourage a wider appreciation of the World, its peoples and their cultures and

environments

The exhibitions and other resources

• 350,000 objects– World Cultures (Ethnography) comprises over 80,000 objects; the

third most significant collection in the UK– Natural History and aquarium, one of the oldest, which survives in

London, comprises over 250,000 specimens– Music with over 7,000 instruments and 1,000 archive documents,

one of the most comprehensive in the UK, important in Europe– Library includes popular works of scientific exposition, specialist

texts of the three disciplines (20,000 volumes), journal titles (250)

• The beautiful gardens around– Hours of walking– exotic plants– places to play with children

The description of organization

• The rules of management:– Managing for development– Project management– Management by objectives

• Funds:– The government grant (the museum operates according to The

Funding Agreement between the DCMS and the Horniman Museum)– National Lottery grant – Fundraising: other grants, donations– Earned money: income from the special events, shop and cafe income

• Monitoring:– Achievements against objectives– Consultation with visitor groups and experts– Measuring the number of visitors

The description of the organization

• How the museum is perceived– Interesting but not first-class– Local– Not well known to the public– Neighbourhood perspective: it is not for us

• Present audience– Affluent, active families from London and surrounding

counties– Other families from the neighbourhood, minority

representing ethnic groups– Visitors with particular interest in music and musical

instruments– Researchers: historians, musicologists, ethnographers,

zoologists– School groups

General objectives

– To ensure that the collections and knowledge about them are safeguarded

– To develop the collections through acquisitions and research– To secure and manage financial and human resources– To provide access to the museum and resources for

study, education and enjoyment– To provide services and facilities for benefit and

enjoyment of visitors– To market the museum and increase public awareness

and use of its resources, services and facilities.

The situation - access to the collections and resources

• No entrance fee• Lack of space – objects are cramped and just part of

them are exhibited• Hampered access for wheelchairs and pushchairs• Poor knowledge of existence of library and archive (due

to location in the administration block; the access restricted)

• Poor knowledge of existence of gardens • Partly computerised database of objects• Difficult and time consuming access from the city centre

The situation - services and facilities provided

– Cooperation with schools: lessons in the museum; – Limited activities programme; the museum seeks innovative

ways to continue the education service for adults and children

– The small shop with souvenirs – 40% of visitors spend money there

– The small coffee shop on the premises where coffee, tea and small selection of cakes are served

– No special facilities for disabled visitors– No special facilities for visitors with children and babies– No special facilities for educational purpose

The situation - marketing

– General survey on existing audience– There is no visitor profile representative for the South

London community – Cooperation with surrounding Local Authorities, other public

bodies and community centres on a random basis – Booklets and leaflets available from the museum, some

tourist information offices and sent on request– Home website –old-fashioned and not enough informative– Information about exhibition and events sent to magazines

and newspapers regularly

Questions

• What massage about the museum should be sent to the future visitors?

• Who are the non-visitors to be attracted to the museum?

• How can the museum develop the existing audience and encourage non-visitors to visit?

The new face of the Horniman

The mission is:

To use the worldwide collections and the gardens to encourage a wider appreciation of the world, its peoples and their cultures and its environments

The objectives are:• Wide access to the museum• Services and facilities for benefit and

enjoyment of visitors• Increase the public awareness and use of the

museum’s resources

The new face - action

• To gain better knowledge of who the visitors are• Segmentation: to distinguish different groups of

visitors• Positioning: to define the position among other

visitors’ attractions and the proposal for audience• Marketing Mix; action to be undertaken to attract

target audience

Who is the visitor – how to gain the knowledge

– Questionnaire in the museum– Research in places attended by possible audience– Research on socio-economic and ethnic structure

of the local community in order to prepare the local community visitor profile

• local authorities, community centres, schools

– Comparing data of the museum and other cultural institutions and exchanging experiences

Who is the visitor – what we want to know

– The level of knowledge of the subjects• Advanced, basic, none

– Motive of the visit• Curiosity, special interest in particular subjects, spending time with

family, to give children the opportunity to learn, good day out– Visiting pattern

• Destination, casual („Morning decision”)– Geography

• Local, London, surrounding counties, UK, abroad– Ethnicity

• White British, White-non-British, Black, Asian, etc.– Age– Free-time pattern

• Self-development, leisure, learning and enjoyment

Segmentation

• Attenders (they just come)• Intenders (they come, if ...)• Indifferents (they do not consider coming)• Hostiles (they do not want to come)

Target audiences

• Intenders– Families with children, who want children to learn– Active adult Londoners, curious and improving general knowledge– Visitors from UK and abroad visiting London again– School groups

• Indifferents– Families and adults from London and surrounding counties who

are not museum-goers, but look for enjoyable places to go– Community groups

• Hostiles– Families and adults from neighbourhood, who consider the place

to be not for them– Teenagers and young adults from the neighbourhood

Target audience - summary

• Family audience• Adults• Local communities

– Teenagers and young adults– Older people– Families– adults

Positioning

The Horniman Museum offers its many audiences the chance to embark on an informative, fun and fascinating journey through space and time.

• Learning, fun, adventure• A lot of different things to see• A lot of different things to do• Excellent day out

Marketing Mix – Product• Thorough change in expositions

– Consider the visitors, with basic knowledge and expectations of fun and information alongside

– Access for young visitors: objects at child height, hands on activities

• Temporary exhibitions– Chance to display more objects from storage– Putting objects in a new light

• Musical exhibition– the best of its kind in the UK– You cannot touch instruments, touch the screen instead

Marketing Mix - Product

• Events and activities for each segment of audience– Courses (i.e. African dance, African drumming, creative writing) – Hands on activities (family sessions on different theme each week)– Performances (puppet performances, world music live)– Art and craft workshops for different age groups– Family storytelling

• The library modernized and transferred to the museum• Excellent selection of souvenirs and books in the shop• The museum and gardens linked together• Pleasant cafe, attractive to drop in during a day

Marketing Mix – Place

Very friendly and welcome• Gallery staff transferred from Collection Section to

Marketing and Development

– Accessible with all needed facilities• Wheelchair and pushchair access• Baby care facilities

– A centre for lifelong learning• Two education centres with special equipment

– The gardens make it a good place for a one day outing

– The place to drop for cofee if you are around

Marketing Mix - price

– To keep entrance free– To keep free access to all activities and library– Well calculated prices for shop items– Well calculated prices for commercial events

Marketing Mix - promotion

Different messages for different segments• Families: introduction to the wonders of the

world cultures and the animal kingdom• Community groups (families, older people,

teenagers): get involved• Adults: exceptional musical collection; the

one and only collection of its kind in London, the best in the UK, among the best in Europe

Marketing Mix - means of promotion– Leaflets, booklets and posters

• Cross promotion with other visitor’s attractions• Community centres and community places• Schools

– Magazines• Listings and coverage in relevant magazines and

newspapers• Local newspapers

– Travel guides• Guides for Londoners (London For Children)• English guides• Foreign guides

– Websites• Home website• General sites with information for visitors

– Word of mouth

Achievements

• Increase in the number of visitors by 25% during one season (200,000 to 250,000)

• Rapid increase in family audience (children comprise one third of total audience)

• The highiest percentage of visitors from ethnic minorities (20% comparing to 5% in other museums)

• Strong local community involved in different activities• Recognition as one of the most child-friendly

museums in the UK