Self-marketing and the visual artist

This paper presents the findings of a research study, the overall objective of which investigate the applicability and usefulness of the concept of self-marketing for artist, and explores the links between marketing models with a customer driven focus general marketing literature and one which is product driven, perhaps more suited qualitative approach, the study itself used in-depth interviews with 14 prominent visual state of Tasmania, Australia as the data source. The study sought to gain insight into plays in an artist‘s practice, the extent to which artists utilise self-marketing, and to that influence the extent to which individual artists utilise self-marketing, if at all

Museums and marketing in an electronic age

It is widely acknowledged that the days of museums solely being places of contemplation for the educated, with a concentration on collecting, conservation and research, have now passed. The challenge for the modern museum is that, in addition to these traditional roles which still remain, they are now also expected to inform, educate and entertain, and to provide a ‘value’ museum experience within a competitive marketplace. Central to this challenge is the changing nature of the public, and how their expectations as informed and technologically aware consumers can shape museum activities. There are, then, significant social, economic and cultural changes that have affected the way museums need to operate and how they see themselves and their audiences. One response to this can be seen in the rise of marketing as a vital component of museum management. Such a marketing emphasis means museums actively seek to communicate with their publics. In order to do this, given the changes in the dynamics of the museums’ marketplace, there is now the necessity to use electronic media within integrated marketing communication strategies. This use of electronic marketing as a strategy within the museum sector has received little attention in the academic literature. The position taken here is that the developments seen in the museum sector are best viewed by adopting a narrative approach to the structure of the thesis. Each chapter builds on the preceding, but each then carries the narrative forward, from the genesis of the modern museum, to the subsequent analysis of Australia’s state museums. Within this context, this study takes a qualitative and interpretivist approach to the overall research aim, which is to investigate the factors that influence the extent to which the Australian state museums incorporate electronic marketing strategies into their overall marketing activities. It uses a multi-case method, with data drawn from interviews with operational- and strategic-level staff, extensive field visits and analysis of annual reports, marketing collateral and websites from the six Australian state museums. The thesis subsequently analyses the case study museums from a ‘marketing perspective’, using secondary data to compare and contrast each museum’s strategies. It also seeks to reveal a ‘museum perspective’ by reporting and critically analysing the data drawn from interviews with staff from the Australian state museums. These perspectives are synthesised in a concluding chapter which also considers the research questions in light of the findings. In addition, this chapter addresses the extent to which the research has provided insight into the overall research aim. The thesis makes a significant contribution to museum marketing research by suggesting likely relationships between the use of electronic marketing in Australia’s state museums, and the various internal factors and external forces evident both in the literature and in the findings presented here

Poetry in (photo)motion

There is a temptation when viewing Jenimaro’s Tasdancing work to categorise it as ‘dance photography’ and simply enjoy the experience that such work can bring. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with that – it is dance photography

Car names: A survey of buyer opinions - Report to industry

In an exploratory study of naming in the car industry in 2004 it became apparent to me that there was considerable scope for research into buyer perceptions of brand names. While many in the field agreed that the brand name was a fundamentally important choice, there seemed to be little research in the area of product naming. Though there were some notable exceptions, generally what work that was being done on product naming was more in the way of ‘how to’ manuals. It seemed that an investigation into product naming, using the Australian car industry as a case study, would be timely. There were several questions deserving of further research: What is it that car names symbolise or mean to the potential buyer? What role does the name of a product play in the buyer’s perception of brand image? And, is the perception of the manufacturer’s brand more significant than that for the model or type? In short, what do the consumers who actually purchased the product think? Seeking support from industry then seemed a logical step in a research project with such clear practical outcomes. With this in mind I approached the Toyota Motor Corporation of Australia. Using a Small Research Grant from the Faculty of Business at the University of Tasmania I travelled to Sydney to meet with Toyota executives to negotiate access to their customer database to conduct a survey. Toyota not only agreed to allow access, with confidentiality provisos, but also offered to contribute to the funding of the project. In September 2006 the survey, ‘Car Names: A Survey of Buyer Opinions’, was mailed by Toyota to a list of approximately 10,000 randomly generated addresses of people that had purchased a new Toyota car. Subsequent data from the returned surveys have been entered and analysed. The wealth of information now available has the potential to contribute significantly to the academic literature. Importantly though, it will also provide valuable insight into how buyers feel about the naming of products, which perhaps can then be used by industry to better tailor its products to meet buyer needs

Investigating the role of marketing in museum management: Australia's state museums

Museums have been slow to consider marketing in an operational sense, with the term ‘marketing’ not appearing in the UK museum sector until the late 1980s (Kawashima, 1997). However, as Rentschler (2002) has noted, over the last 25 years museums have responded to an increased interest in their visitors by incorporating marketing into their organisational strategies. During this period marketing moved from the periphery to take a more central role in museum management. This is not to say that marketing has been universally accepted by the museum profession. There is still some scepticism about the usefulness of marketing in cultural organisations such as museums (Kolb, 2000), and confusion within the profession about the marketing concept itself (Neilson, 2003). Nonetheless, marketing does now appear to be part of the discourse of the museum sector

Corporate museums in Japan: institutionalising a culture of industry and technology

Corporate museums are situated at a complex juncture between the profit-oriented business world and the more traditional realm of the public museum. Corporate museums are taken here as referring to museums with managed collections which are situated within for-profit organisations. In this paper, the nature of the corporate museum in Japan is explored through the use of observation techniques in five such establishments on the main island of Honshū. The museums chosen operated across different industrial sectors and differed markedly in their scale, collections and focus. A major theme emerging from the data related to how the museums reflect and institutionalise aspects of industry and technology. This is considered at three scales: that of the firm, the industry, and broader Japanese society. In summary, further research into the corporate museum phenomenon is recommended, both in Japan and in other national contexts

Corporate visual identity in local government: The use of the logo

Within corporate visual identity research, the logo has been highlighted as a key element which can represent the organisation to internal and external stakeholders. This paper investigates the role of the logo as part of corporate visual identity in a not-for-profit context. The focus of the research is local government. As part of an exploratory piece of work, content analysis of all the logos used by local councils in Tasmania, Australia, took place. A typology is drawn up which highlights the elements present within logos. The occurrence of these elements, and the consequences of this for logo design and corporate visual identity, is also discussed. It is shown that various commonalities and differences can be observed within the units of analysis. The implications of this piece of work for practitioners are set out. Further research is suggested which builds on this visual audit and uncovers the perceptions held by those that are employed in local government and their various constituencies

The development of a hedonistic experience brand: Australia’s MONA

The case of Australia’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is unusual in many respects. It is privately owned and funded by millionaire David Walsh. It is located in Hobart, the capital city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia, a long way from the art capitals of the world. More significantly MONA is the umbrella brand for a range of products that are aimed at the luxury brand consumer, the consumer that will think little of travelling half way around the world for an unusual and memorable experience. Moreover, the MONA product range—wine, beer, art, accommodation, and music—is clearly aimed at those consumers seeking a hedonistic experience. This paper provides an overview of how MONA is developing, given that the art museum at the core of the umbrella brand has yet to open, and that some of the other products are a legacy from a former organisation. It also discussed the role and philosophy of David Walsh as the vision behind the brand. The research for this case is drawn from a longitudinal project that is tracking MONA from its early stages, through to its opening, and on to a review once it has been operating for a year

Logo findings to go global

Two University of Tasmania academics will present their findings from an unusual study on the success of Tasmanian council logos to an international conference, in Portugal, next month. Management School academics Kim Lehman and John Byrom wanted to test whether local government council logos were just as important as logos used by big corporations like McDonalds in promoting their image and identification