Being effective at what we do as interpretive professionals requires a foundation in marketing and public relations. We can create the best product/experience for our visitors but how do we ensure we continually grow & expand our visitorship and build the awareness of new and enhanced offerings. We cannot be satisfied with the same visitors returning again and again or to sit on our laurels and hope the visitors come flocking by.
No, we need to actively reach out in more targeted ways. If you have a “marketing person” on your staff, then you need to be working with them and talking to them about what you have found out about your present key publics. Tailoring a communication program to be effective for more “of those similar visitor types” is a first step to growing attendance and gaining support quickly (just one step but a critical one for success).
Photo credit : Bill Reynolds
When I was asked to grow a continuing education program at a nature centre, I decided to attend a three-day symposium at the New York Botanical Gardens titled “How to Run a Successful and Profitable Continuing Education Program in a Cultural Institution” and 40 years later I realize it was one of the best investments I made after I had completed my MSC in Interpretive Services.
Not only was this course chock full of learnings about the 7C’s of communication and the 6P’s of marketing, it also sent me down a new guerilla marketing learning path that expanded my horizons concerning the design of effective messages and images for people to help grab people’s attention. One course item that stood out was the tactical use of direct mail. It was key emphasis to getting your message into the hands and heads of your prospective visitor.
At that time, in the 80’s, we, of course, used letters in envelopes and the postal service with actual names (not “Occupant”) to targeted neighbourhoods. It worked! We doubled our registrants every season. Fast forward to present day: now we have e-mail which is free - bonus! However, direct mail can still work!
How many new prospective visitors is your park or centre talking to directly through a typed message delivered in front of their eyes in their inbox in a season or in a year? I am not talking about advertising or new web site contacts, I am talking about invitations you send to actual individuals. This can work for growing visitorship as well as for expanding that base.
Photo credit : Bill Reynolds
Expanding visitor types is topic for another time, although I have one tidbit to share from that course that is still relevant. If you have a symphony perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at your park then market through the symphony outlets not just through the park’s normal public relations department. That will accomplish market expansion.
Why this journey down memory lane? Well, it was triggered by an interview with a creative director, who had several mindshifting perspectives about branding that I wanted to share with you. I read this in a magazine about innovative businesses around the world, called “Fast Company.” It started with this line:
“How do you measure real impressions and create campaigns with cut-through?” Just ask Aurelia Rauch, creative director at Bergos, a Zurich-based bank. Two things immediately come to mind:
1) I believe interpreters should be called their site’s creative directors and because of that they should be called in whenever there is a design decision being made that impacts the visitor experience. Don’t discredit the information because it relates to a bank and you are a heritage institution. It is about raising awareness among a social media saturated audience and achieving cut-through.
Raising eyebrows and cut-through for a washroom sign (photo credit: Bill Reynolds)
In this case, Aurelia, the creative director, is responsible for shaping their branding, communications, marketing and advertising strategy. She is quoted as saying, “Brand campaigns that raise eyebrows can be a good thing!!” Knowing what is topical in your area and incorporating that into your messaging helps to make you relevant. Aurelia gave this example of a mini-storage company who explained, “What we do is in our name. We don’t need to explain it. You either need storage or you don’t.”
In another PR campaign hey wanted to do something good during the lead-up to the vote to legalize same-sex marriage. Renting space on a giant billboard they raised a few eyebrows by dislaying “If you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get gay married.” Interesting tactic of being seen or being known for doing something good, especially if your facility is in between blockbuster exhibits.
2) Now for something completely different: Aurelia says they focus completely on text ads and don’t use imagery. “Text has a magic to it as you just hear your own voice in your head.” She goes on to point out, “We also don’t have a physical product to sell, so the written word works best. A bold typeface gets the message across in such an immediate and resonant way.” Interesting countertake on “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Bottom line: consider your approach — is it time to try something a little different? Do you have a physical product or are we talking about an experience? Can it be conveyed best with an image, words or with both?
Credit: Bill Reynolds The power of bold text
Aurelia talked about admiring a painting by the Venetian Renaissance painter Titian that showed Mary being carried up to heaven. “The motivation behind it was that the Church wanted to inspire you to change your behaviour. When it came to motivating people to aspire to something, the Church did that extremely well. And that is what good branding does.”
Hadn’t thought about the church in that way before. Maybe we need to more observant and notice who does effective motivation and borrow those techniques for our heritage facilities. After all, isn’t our mission-related experiences really about changes in behaviour and attitudes and feelings. What changes are necessary to implement these new behaviours? In this case it is a strong image that accomplishes the targeted feeling that Aurelia expresses as “This is it – whatever it takes, I want that.”
Depending on the visitor type and the place image, words, or both should be considered. Effectiveness is in the eye and/or mind of the beholder. Make sure YOUR creative direction is being heard.