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THE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS THE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS 2400 Third Avenue South J Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 612/870-3046 J Fax 612/870-3004 www.artsMIA.org A New Audience for a New Century diversity ser vice This project is supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Charitable Trusts, a national and international philanthropy with a special commitment to Philadelphia, support non-profit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy, and religion. Through their grantmaking, The Trusts seek to encourage individual development and personal achievement, cross-disciplinary problem-solving, and innovative, practical approaches to meeting the changing needs of a global community. The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts. comm unity

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T H E M I N N E A P O L I S I N S T I T U T E O F A R T S

T H E M I N N E A P O L I S I N S T I T U T E O F A R T S

2400 Thi rd Avenue South J Minneapol i s , Minnesota 55404612/870-3046 J Fax 612/870-3004

www.ar t sMIA.org

A N e w A u d i e n c e for a N e w C e n t u r y

diversityservice

This project is supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a national and international philanthropy with a special commitment to Philadelphia, support non-profit activities in the areas of culture, education, the

environment, health and human services, public policy, and religion. Through their grantmaking, The Trusts seek to encourage individual development and personal achievement,

cross-disciplinary problem-solving, and innovative, practical approaches to meeting the changing needs of a global community.

The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

community

A NEW AUDIENCE FOR A NEW CENTURYWhy d id we under take th i s p ro j ec t? 4

What had we a l ready done? 6

THE RESEARCH PROCESSWhat d id we want to accompl i sh? 10

QUANTITATIVE STUDIES : SURVEY STATISTICSWhat d id our v i s i to r s th ink about us? 12What d id our members th ink about us? 13

Who wasn’t v i s i t ing the museum? 15

QUALITATIVE STUDIES : FOCUS GROUPS What d id young fami l i e s th ink about v i s i t ing the museum? 20

What d id Af r i can Amer i cans th ink about v i s i t ing the museum? 25

IDEA GENERATION: OFF-S ITE MEETINGS Off - s i t e fo r fami l i e s 30

Off - s i t e fo r Af r i can Amer i cans 34

THE MARKETING PLANObjec t ives 38The p lan 40

A NEW AT TITUDEAl l - s ta f f cus tomer se r v i ce t ra in ing 44

MOVING FORWARDLet t e r f rom the Team 46

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T Sinvolvement

ac c e s s i b i l i t y

integrity

e n j o y m e n t

commitment

attract

visitor-focusedchange

A N e w A u d i e n c e for a N e w C e n t u r y

T H E M I N N E A P O L I S I N S T I T U T E O F A R T S

4 5

A NEW

AUDIENCE

FOR A

NEW CENTURY

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Why did The Minneapolis Institute of Artsundertake this project?

With a grant from The Pew CharitableTrusts, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts hasrecently completed a major campaign to identi-fy underserved audiences and make the muse-um part of their lives. (“Underserved” is definedbroadly here to include considerations of race,gender, age, economic status, and geography.)

The project has involved museum staff,our trustees and volunteers, community andcivic leaders, and professional consultants in acomprehensive effort to move steadily toward acommon goal: to become the nation’s most visi-tor-effective museum. This publication docu-ments that effort.

Through this process, museum staff havelearned much — about our audiences and aboutourselves as an institution. Because we knowthat The Minneapolis Institute of Arts does notstand alone in its mission to serve a broad anddiverse public audience, we are publishing thisreport so that other museum professionals mayreview our experience. We hope that it will pro-vide you with useful ideas about the possibilitiesand process of expanding your institution’s ser-vice to the community.

A New Audience for a New Century: a summary

In June 1995, The Minneapolis Institute ofArts was one of four art museums to receive amajor grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, inthe first year of The Trusts’ Program for ArtMuseums and Communities. (The other grantrecipients included the Mexican Fine Arts

Center Museum of Chicago, the San DiegoMuseum of Contemporary Art at La Jolla, andthe Carnegie Museum of Art.) The purpose ofthe $224,000 grant was to underwrite:

1 A comprehensive assessment of our visi-tors and community in an effort to iden-tify underserved audiences.

2 An implementation plan, rooted in theassessment data, for attracting and serv-ing specific target audiences throughnew marketing initiatives and programs.

A New Audience for a New Century doesnot represent a radical shift for The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts. What was new about the pro-ject, however, was the level of professionalexpertise that informed the process and thedegree to which staff in all functional areas havebeen involved. Has there been a deepenedchange in the museum’s organizational cultureor is it that now we all share a common vocabu-lary? Probably both.

Project implementation

The New Audience project was imple-mented in six stages over a two-year period:

1 In order to discover who was alreadycoming to the museum, the Instituteconducted a comprehensive VisitorSurvey in November 1995. In addition, aMember Survey was conducted via tele-phone in April 1996 to establish baselinedata on member demographics, prefer-ences, and suggestions for improvingmuseum services.

the spring of 1997. Its purpose was tounite the staff in creating an effectiveenvironment for our visitors to see,enjoy, and learn from great works of art.

Why was the timing right for this project?

The past decade has been marked by sig-nificant changes at The Minneapolis Institute ofArts. In 1988, a new director, Dr. Evan M.Maurer, joined the museum. His charge fromthe Board of Trustees was fully congruent withhis own vision for The Minneapolis Institute ofArts as an institution supported by public funds:to reach out to — and effectively involve in themuseum’s artistic programs — the broadest possi-ble public constituency. The Board, the staff,and Dr. Maurer shared the opinion that broad-ening the attendance base was the “right thing”to do. The strategy was not only right in orderto maintain the museum as a vibrant institu-tion; it was also the right thing to do on ethicalgrounds. As Dr. Maurer said, “Why should theopportunity to have spirit-enhancing experi-ences be available to only a few?”

Subsequently, Dr. Maurer engaged themuseum’s trustees, employees, and volunteers inan intensive campaign to identify and eliminatebarriers to full accessibility and enjoyment ofthe Institute. This effort, which included elimi-nation of the general admission charge andexpansion of education and outreach initiatives,was dramatically successful in attracting newaudiences. Since the free admission policy wasimplemented in 1989, Institute attendance hasincreased by 75 percent — to more than 3,000visitors per week.

2 By statistically comparing the VisitorSurvey with 1990 Census data for the seven-county metropolitan area, themuseum identified seven populationsegments that are underserved relative to their representation in the generalpopulation. From this analysis, museumstaff selected two market segments forimmediate attention: families with children ages 5 to 12 and AfricanAmerican adults.

3 For each of the two market segments chosen, the museum conducted a focusgroup study in which people who hadnot visited the museum in the last threeyears participated in pre-visit focus groupsto discuss their general attitudes andbehavior regarding leisure activities; visit-ed the museum; and participated in post-visit focus groups to discuss their museumvisit and make suggestions for change.

4 Museum staff, trustees, and volunteersparticipated in two off-site, half-daymeetings to assess focus group data anddevelop ideas for attracting and servingthe two selected audience segments.

5 The ideas generated in the off-sites provid-ed the foundation for a comprehensivemarketing plan, which was developed bya Marketing Task Force composed of staffand volunteer representatives of themuseum’s functional areas. The museumcurrently seeks funding for various com-ponents of the plan.

6 A customer service training program forthe entire staff was implemented during

diversityAs museum administrators, we can choose to be proactive in creating customer-focused institutions. At The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts, we believe that curators, education specialists, and marketers can collaborate tocreate customer-focused programs that attract new audiences without compromising the valuesmuseum people hold dear.

TONI d. GREEN

CO-TEAM LEADER, A NEW AUDIENCE FOR A NEW CENTURY

DIRECTOR, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION

6 7

A NEW

AUDIENCE

FOR A

NEW CENTURY

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

As early as 12 years ago, museum educators tried usingthe phrase “visitor-centered” to express a more market-drivenapproach to museumservices. It was tooradical then, but it hasbecome essentialtoday.

Kate Johnson

Co-team Leader, ANew Audience for aNew Century

Chair, EducationDivision

What had we already done?

In March of 1995, the trustees of TheMinneapolis Institute of Arts approved a five-year strategic plan, the outcome of which is forthe Institute to become — and to be perceivedas — a dynamic museum that has fully embracedits public. Creating the broadest possible com-munity engagement is a cornerstone goal of the plan.

When the opportunity arose to apply for amajor grant from The Pew Trusts’ Program forArt Museums and Communities, the timingcouldn’t have been better. The concerns out-lined for The Pew Trusts’ programs were conso-nant with the issues defined in the strategic planand with the changes Evan Maurer had beenimplementing since his arrival at the museum.The grant represented an opportunity to consol-idate and build upon the museum’s considerablestrengths and forward momentum.

At The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, theprocess of reaching out began a decade ago, andthe result has been impressive growth. Weremain committed to make the museum a placethat attracts and satisfies all visitors, a placewhere the world’s diverse artistic heritage cantruly come to life for everyone. The NewAudience project has provided a process and aplan that will move us closer toward the goal ofbecoming the nation’s most visitor-effective artmuseum.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Ever since the museum opened its doors in1915, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts hasserved the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitancommunity — and visitors from the world

over — through its outstanding collection ofworld art and an historical commitment to education.

Renowned collections The museum’s interna-tionally recognized permanent collection ofmore than 85,000 works of art spans 4,000 yearsof culture and history in seven curatorial areas:African, Oceanic, and New World Cultures;Asian Art; Decorative Arts, Sculpture, andArchitecture; European and American Paintings;Photography; Prints and Drawings; and Textiles.An eighth curatorial area is dedicated to theexhibition of works by artists who live inMinnesota. The Institute also offers more than20 changing exhibitions each year.

African, Oceanic, and New World Cultures Thecollection of African art at The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts, although relatively small, isrich in early material, including a fine 12th-14th-century Inner Niger Delta equestrian figure inwood and a recently acquired terra-cotta shrinehead of the same period from Ife City, Nigeria.There are also masks and figural sculpture fromwest and central Africa, textiles and decorativearts, and an Ijaw memorial screen, the onlyexample in the United States. The Pacific collec-tion, focused on Melanesia, is strong in SepikRiver and New Ireland material. Pre-Columbianholdings include a Veracruz stone yoke and aMaya stela, as well as Peruvian and westMexican ceramics. The American Indian hold-ings are strongest in Plains and Woodlands art,but also encompass excellent Southwest basketsand one of the largest museum collections ofSouthwest silver. In all areas of the department,our holdings of work by contemporary artistsare growing.

European and American Paintings This interna-tionally acclaimed survey collection of Westernpaintings includes exceptional masterpieces ofEuropean painting from the 14th century to thepresent. Among the strengths of the collectionare a fine representation of 17th-century Dutchand Flemish landscape and marine paintings; afull range of works from the 19th centuryFrench schools, including Barbizon, academic,and Impressionist works; and paintings by themajor German Expressionists. Highlightsinclude works by such artists as Titian,Guercino, Rembrandt, Honthorst, Goya,Poussin, Beckmann, and Monet. The Americancollection includes important paintings byCropsey, West, Sargent, and O’Keeffe.

Photography Begun in 1964, the Institute’scollection of photographs spans the entire histo-ry of the medium as a fine art and presentlyholds approximately 7,500 items. The collectionfocuses on American 20th-century work, butalso includes a smaller group of European and19th-century photographs. Notable among theAmericans are Ansel Adams, Berenice Abbott,Lewis Hine, Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, andWalker Evans. Key European photographers,such as Eugene Atget, August Sander, and HenriCartier-Bresson, are well-represented.

Prints and Drawings This department, estab-lished in 1916, maintains a collection of 50,000works on paper that is encyclopedic in scopeand comprehensive in medium — prints, mono-types, multiples, artists’ books, drawings, water-

colors, and pastels.Among the highlights areOld Master prints byDürer and Rembrandt; a

Asian Art In 1917, the Institute negotiated itsfirst purchase of Asian art — a remarkableNorthern Chou statue of Kuan-yin, inscribedand dated to the year 571. Thanks to the special-ized interests of a few private collectors, theAsian collections are especially renowned fortheir Chinese archaic bronzes, jade, gold andsilver, monochrome ceramics, and imperial tex-tiles. Chinese furniture and literati objets d’art,Miao textiles, and Southeast Asian ceramics areimportant new collections formed in recentyears. Japanese screens, ukiyo-e prints and paint-ings, and Islamic miniatures also are highlyregarded. In recent years, the collections havebecome increasingly comprehensive, with newlydeveloped holdings of high quality in SoutheastAsian, Indian, Himalayan, and Korean art.

Decorative Arts, Sculpture, and Architecture TheDecorative Arts collection is noted for its ItalianBaroque and Rococo material, including a piertable designed by G.B. Piranesi, and French18th-century furniture and related decorativearts. There are also fine examples of 18th-centuryAmerican furniture from Boston, Newport, NewYork, and Philadelphia. English and Americansilver from the 17th to the 19th centuries is wellrepresented, including Paul de Lamerie’sSutherland wine cistern and Paul Revere’sTempleman tea set. Twentieth-century holdingsare particularly strong in Prairie School andrelated traditions, complemented by a nearbyhouse designed by William Purcell for himselfand donated to the museum in 1985. Eight peri-od rooms in the Institute dis-play English, French, andAmerican decorative arts incontext; three new rooms are planned.

community

8 9

A NEW

AUDIENCE

FOR A

NEW CENTURY

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

rare presentation copy of Goya’s Los Caprichos;19th-century French and British prints; GermanExpressionist prints; the Minnich Collection ofbotanical, zoological, fashion, and ornamentalprints; contemporary American and Europeanprints and drawings; the Vermillion Editions,Ltd. Archive; and an array of works byMinnesota and regional artists.

Textiles The Textile Department is primarilyknown for its distinctive holdings of Europeantapestries, including a complete set of theArtemesia series commissioned by Louis XIII. Awide diversity of cultures and time periods —from Coptic textiles to Bolivian Amarya cloth —is represented as well. Distinguished by a focuson innovation in technique, the collection con-tains superb examples of Bhutanese brocades,Central Asian ikats, Moroccan drawloom weav-ing, and early Italian lace. Another area ofunusual strength is design and fiber art of thelate 20th century, including works by Jack LenorLarsen and Claire Zeisler.

Commitment to education and outreach

The founders of The Minneapolis Instituteof Arts believed that the museum should be aplace for lifelong learning and enjoyment, aswell as the cultural enrichment derived from anexcellent permanent collection and exhibitionprogram. That philosophy has not changed.Today, the Institute is well-known for compre-hensive education and outreach programs,including successful efforts to reach new audi-ences through initiatives such as the popularmonthly “Family Days.” A world leader inapplying new, interactive technologies for deliv-ering educational and interpretive materials, the

Institute is one of just a few art museums withfull-time staff committed to developing neweducational technologies. During the past fiveyears, our Interactive Media Group has receivedsix international awards, and articles describingour leadership in gallery-based multimedia have appeared in The New York Times andBusiness Week.

A visitor-centered museum

Today, the Institute’s strategic plan isfocused on the museum as a “visitor-centered”institution. Attendance has increased significant-ly as a result of our efforts to reach a broaderaudience through education and outreach. Totalattendance has grown from 300,000 in 1986 to569,000 in 1996. Participation in communityoutreach programs increased from 78,000 to175,000 over the same ten-year period. High-lights of current educational and communityefforts are listed below. A recently adopted strate-gic plan for the Education Division includes visitor-focused initiatives, expanded educationalservices, and community outreach programs.Highlights of each area are listed below.

Visitor-focused initiatives

m Free admission (since 1989).

m Interactive video learning centers in thegalleries; six programs are currently inuse, with more in process.

m Museum orientation center providingexhibition previews, gallery informa-tion, tour ideas, and general informa-tion about the Institute from interactivevideo kiosks and volunteers.

related to special exhibitions or featuredworks from the permanent collection.

m Summer programs bringing art intourban parks.

m Community networking through socialservice and neighborhood agencies,churches, and newspapers.

m Community advisory committees toassist educators and curators in programand exhibition development.

m ArtTeam, which provides education andemployment opportunities for at-riskneighborhood youth.

m ArtSmart, which trains high school stu-dents to present art reproductions toarea elementary school students.

Committed to bring art and people together

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is only asvibrant and strong as our commitment “to bringart and people together to discover, enjoy, andunderstand the world’s diverse artistic heritage.”Fufilling this mission necessitates flexibility,receptivity, and the ability to respond to newideas and new perspectives. The museum hasanticipated the need for change through thestrategic planning process. The institutionalassessment made possible by The Pew Trusts —and the implementation plan which hasemerged from that process — are critical both tofulfilling our mission and to consolidating themuseum’s impact as a vital resource for ourcommunity, state, and region.

m A new system of labels, maps, andgallery introductions and didactics.

m “A Closer Look”: exhibitions featuringin-depth examinations of selected worksfrom the permanent collection.

Educational services

m Group, teacher-led, and custom-designed tours of the permanent collec-tions and special exhibitions.

m Art Adventure Program, in which muse-um-trained volunteers (usually parents)use thematically grouped art reproduc-tions in elementary classrooms to pre-pare nearly 100,000 students each yearfor an actual museum tour.

m Classroom materials, including slidesets, videocassettes, and hands-on kits.

m Curriculum materials available on-line,at the Institute’s Web site.

m ArtReach Centers providing free accessto curriculum materials at several sitesthroughout the state.

m A Teacher Advisory Committee, com-posed of 15 elementary, secondary, andcollege-level teachers, to assist museumeducators in developing useful andappropriate program content.

Community outreach programs

m Family Days: free monthly celebrations ofdiverse cultures, combining thematicentertain-ment andlearning

Mission Statement

The Minneapolis

Institute of Arts is

dedicated to national

leadership in bring-

ing art and people

together to discover,

enjoy, and under-

stand the world’s

diverse artistic

heritage.

As American cities become increasingly diversified, we must look to our schools and cultural institutions as places to gain the mutual

respect necessary for a healthy, cohesive society. As a general art museum that displays and explains art from all periods and cultures, the Institute is uniquely positioned to maintain an important leadership role in

building a more tolerant, understanding, and expressive community.

DR. EVAN M. MAURER

DIRECTOR AND CEOTHE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS

10 11

THE RESEARCH

PROCESS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

What did we want to accomplish?

As outlined in the grant proposal to ThePew Charitable Trusts, the Institute’s initialobjectives for A New Audience for a NewCentury were to:

1 Establish highly reliable quantitative andqualitative baseline demographic datafor general museum visitorship.

2 Use that data to identify underservedconstituencies.

3 Evaluate current programs to determinetheir effectiveness and appeal to poten-tial visitors.

4 Engage consultative and communityexpertise to help us better understandthe needs of specific communities identi-fied as “underserved.”

5 Establish measurable growth goals foreach underserved constituency on a spe-cific timeline.

6 Develop a marketing plan aimed atattracting and satisfying new museumvisitors.

Over the course of the project, staff inputand feedback made it clear that customer servicetraining would be necessary to ensure successfulimplementation of the plan; consequently, thiscomponent was added to the mix.

The project team

The New Audience project team was ledby Education Division Chair Kate Johnson andMarketing Director Toni d. Green, with the assis-tance of Director of Major Gifts and Grants

Francie Nelson. This core project team was sup-plemented by appropriate staff and communityadvisors at various phases of the project. Theirwork was overseen by museum Director Evan M.Maurer and Trustee Bonnie Wallace.

Hiring a consulting firm

The team’s first charge was to engage aconsulting firm with experience in all aspects ofmarket research and a demonstrated ability towork effectively with arts organizations. Projectteam leaders Kate Johnson and Toni Green, whohas a strong corporate marketing backgroundherself, developed a profile which included:

m Marketing track record

m Prior experience with arts organizations

m Qualifications of staff

m Project completion record

m Quality of recommendations/results

m Grasp of the task at hand

m Chemistry

m Cost

By July 1995, Green developed a short listof three firms and solicited proposals, whichwere independently graded (A-C) on each criteri-on by both project leaders. The CincinnatusGroup received twice as many A grades as eitherof the other firms and was subsequentlyengaged.

Cincinnatus is a Minneapolis-based con-sulting firm that provides research and planningsupport for business and non-for-profit organiza-tions. A key facet of the Cincinnatus style is to

doors: Who are they? What drew them here?What will bring them back? We also soughtinformation about and from those who supportthe Institute with their membership dollars.

The Visitor Survey, conducted inNovember 1995, was designed to provide base-line data on the demographic characteristics ofvisitors to The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Wewanted to discover whether or not the demo-graphics of current museum visitors differed sig-nificantly from the Census data of the seven-county metropolitan area, and if there weremeaningful correlations among the variousdemographic variables. We wanted to measurebehavior, including frequency of visits and pre-ferred activities while at the Institute. Additionalsurvey questions explored issues such as visitormotivation, attitudes, and barriers to satisfac-tion. And finally, the survey was designed toidentify any significant relationships betweenthe demographic variables and visitor attitudesand behaviors.

The Member Survey, conducted by tele-phone interview in April 1996, was designed tosolicit information from our members aboutwhat they enjoy and value about the museum,how often they visit, how those visits are struc-tured, and ways in which we might improve ourservices. This survey provided benchmark cus-tomer-satisfaction data which will set a standardof comparison for future studies of member sat-isfaction and attitudes.

help organizations plan for their future throughwell-informed and participatory decision-mak-ing processes.

In September and October 1995, the NewAudience project leaders worked withCincinnatus principals Diane Herman and KevinRyan to design and schedule the information-gathering components of the project. OnNovember 7, 1995, Diane Herman presented anoverview of the New Audience project at an all-staff meeting and explained that every museum employee would be involved at certainpoints in the process.

Project documentation

While The Minneapolis Institute of Artswas one of only four art museums to receive ThePew Trusts grants to study underserved audi-ences and design strategic marketing programsaccordingly, we know that all museums arebeing challenged to do something similar. Thatis why the team decided to document the pro-ject by creating this publication for our museumcolleagues. To that end, we hired a businesswriter with a great deal of non-profit experience,Caroline Hall Otis, to co-author the text withDiane Herman and to coordinate production ofthis report with Laukkonen Design.

Information gathering

In order to determine who wasn’t visitingthe museum, we first had to pinpoint just whowas visiting—and when and why and withwhom. The first stage of the New Audience pro-ject, then, was to gather infor-mation on the people whocome through the museum’s

1 Establishing baseline demographic data for our current visitors.

2 Comparing that information to Census data to identify underserved audiences.

3 Evaluating current museum programs for effectiveness and appeal.

4 Engaging consultants and community expertise to learn more about specific underserved audience segments.

5 Establishing growth goals for these new audiences.

6 Developing a marketing plan aimed at attracting and satisfying new museum visitors.

Initial objectives for A New Audience for a New Century:

THE PROJECT TEAM.

TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: DIRECTOR OF MAJOR GIFTS AND GRANTS FRANCIE NELSON,MARKETING DIRECTOR TONI d. GREEN, EDUCATION DIVISION CHAIR KATE JOHNSON.

BOT TOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: MUSEUM DIRECTOR EVAN M. MAURER

AND TRUSTEE BONNIE WALLACE.

12 13

QUANTITATIVE

STUDIES:

SURVEY

STATISTICS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

What did our visitors think about us?

The 1995 Visitor Survey was designed tomeasure basic demographic characteristics, atti-tudes, and behaviors of visitors who walkthrough the doors of The Minneapolis Instituteof Arts. Visitors were intercepted at random dur-ing a two-week period from November 3-19,1995. Half of the final sample of 522 visitors wasintercepted upon entering the museum and halfupon leaving. Visitors under age 18 and thosewho were part of a structured group or club wereexcluded from the survey.

Mid-November was chosen for the surveyperiod because it is considered to be “typical.”The study was scheduled to avoid the first twoweeks after the opening of a well-publicizedexhibition. The sampling plan was based on his-torical visiting patterns for all times of day anddays of the week, including Thursday evening,when access to special exhibitions is free ofcharge.

Respondents completed a written question-naire and returned it to the researchers, whogave them a small gift for their participation.Throughout the study, researchers observed avery high level of cooperation among museumvisitors.

In addition to the random sample of 522visitors, the study utilized the technique of“oversampling” to generate an additional sam-ple of people of color. Previous museum researchhad revealed that visitors of racial minoritygroups are relatively rare. Thus, we oversampledby 30 in order to produce a subsample sufficientto identify differences through statistical testing.

Key findings

Demographics

m 78 percent of visitors live in the seven-county metropolitan area ofMinneapolis, St. Paul, and surroundingsuburbs, the museum’s major market.

m 29 percent of visitors are Institute mem-bers; 71 percent are not members.

Visitor behavior

m Most visitors are repeat visitors; only 14 percent are visiting for the first time.

m More than half of visitors come to themuseum at least every six months.

m Most come with friends or family; only21 percent come alone.

m Visitors engage in more than one activi-ty per visit; the average is 2.2 activities.(Activities on the questionnaire includ-ed the galleries, special exhibitions,museum shop, restaurant, and touch-screen videos.)

m Visitors are most likely to find out aboutmuseum activities via newspaper articlesor reviews. Other sources of information

ing and sculpture, and slightly less satis-fied by their visit.

m Membership in the museum is animportant factor, too. Unsurprisingly,Institute members visit more frequentlythan do non-members. In addition,members are more likely to be older,affluent, better-educated, and married.

m Several demographic variables are relat-ed to the frequency of visits. The bestpredictors of visitor frequency are muse-um membership, age (older), income(higher), education (more), and locationof residence (urban versus suburban).

What did our members think about us?

In April 1996, Cincinnatus conducted atelephone survey of a random sample of 375members drawn from the museum’s 17,000-member base (as of March 1996). The samplewas stratified to reflect the proportion of mem-bers in various membership categories, includ-ing individual, household, and other member-ships beyond the basic level. At the beginning ofthe interview, the interviewer asked to speak tothe person in the household “most involvedwith the museum.” Overall, interviewers

observed a very high level ofcooperation among respon-dents, including their will-ingness to complete alengthy interview and offercandid suggestions forimprovement.

include visits to the museum, word ofmouth from family and friends, themuseum’s membership magazine, andprint ads.

Visitor attitudes

m Most visitors say they are “extremelysatisfied” or “very satisfied.”

m The most frequent motivation for visit-ing the museum is entertainment/enjoyment or to see an exhibit.

m Most visitors say they are most interest-ed in European painting and sculpture.

m The most frequent barriers to visiting arelack of time, distance from home, anddesire for different exhibits (“somethingthat is interesting to me, personally”).

Segmentation

m Age is an important variable. Older visi-tors visit more frequently, are more satis-fied, and are more likely to be members.

m Race is another important variable. Inselecting among multiple-choiceanswers on the survey, people of colorsaid they are more likely to visit themuseum to find out “what kind of art isthere?” or to com-plete a classassignment.People of colorwho visit also tendto be younger (55percent under age35), less interestedin European paint-

Frequency of visits

Frequent visitor53%

Visitor behavior

Infrequent visitor29%

Very infrequent18%

What and why: The 1995 Visitor Survey

Purpose:

To determine the demographic characteristics of people who nowvisit the museum. This providedbaseline data from which to gaugethe success of future efforts to attractnew audiences.

Major research questions:

J What are the demographic charac-teristics of the people who nowvisit the museum? Are the demo-graphic characteristics of current

museum visitors significantly dif-ferent from the Census data of themetropolitan area?

J Are there significant relationshipsbetween the various demographicvariables?

Minor research questions:

J What are the expectations and/ormotivations of people visiting themuseum?

J Are there significant relationshipsbetween selected demographic vari-

ables and the expectations andmotivations of people visiting themuseum?

J What were the experiences and lev-els of satisfaction of people leavingthe museum?

J Are there significant relationshipsbetween selected demographic vari-ables and the experiences and lev-els of satisfaction of people leavingthe museum?

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE

STATISTICAL VALIDITY?

The sample sizewas statistically deter-mined based on an esti-mate of the total numberof adult museum visitorsduring the year, anassumed error rate, and adesire to draw compar-isons between White andminority visitors via over-sampling. The re-searchers wanted to be95 percent sure that theresults do not exceed theerror rate. Because previ-ous research had shownthat minority visitorsconstituted less than 6 percent of total adultvisitors, the researchersused an oversamplingtechnique to supplementthe core sample withenough minority respon-dents to enable a compar-ison between White andminority respondents.Quotas for the core sam-ple and for the oversam-pling were calculated foreach day of the weekbased on the historicaldistribution of visitors.

The 1996 Member Survey data represents a gold mineof suggestions for managing the membership pro-gram and improving member satisfaction.

Examples include:

J Improve Arts Magazine, the museum’s most frequentlyused benefit and a key membership-building tool.

J Address the “no time” barrier to visiting by marketingmini-tours and/or tours at more convenient hours.

J Address the “distance” barrier by exploring tie-ins withsuburban community art centers, libraries, shoppingmalls, or fitness clubs.

J Create and implement new member retention strategiesin order to maintain member involvement during thosekey in-between years.14 15

QUANTITATIVE

STUDIES:

SURVEY

STATISTICS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Key findings: member satisfaction

The Member Survey was conducted in orderto provide the museum with benchmark satisfac-tion data, which will later be used to measurechanges in member attitudes. Overall, membersof The Minneapolis Institute of Arts are highlysatisfied with their memberships, with three outof four respondents reporting that they are“extremely” or “very” satisfied. The highest satis-faction levels were reported among longer-termmembers and people holding memberships abovethe basic individual or household categories.

Member benefitsm Free admission to special exhibitions

and films is the cornerstone of memberbenefits, ranking highest in both impor-tance (55 percent said it is “extremelyimportant”) and satisfaction (73 percentare “extremely satisfied.”) Members takeadvantage of the free admission privi-lege three times a year, on average.

m The museum’s membership magazine,Arts, is the benefit used most often (anaverage of nine times per year) and bythe largest percentage of members (97percent). There is room for improve-ment, though, since only 38 percent ofrespondents said that they are “extreme-ly satisfied” with the magazine.

m Members-only events drew more thanhalf of our members at least once in thepast year.

m Discounts on products and classes ranklast in terms of usage and importance.Among those who use the discounts,however, satisfaction ranks relatively high.

Motivation to join and renew According to this survey, most members

are motivated to join the museum and renewtheir memberships due to their personal interestin art (44 percent) or their desire to support acommunity institution (37 percent). Only asmall minority joined the museum to takeadvantage of member discounts and members-only events.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is fortu-nate to have an excellent balance of new andlonger-term members. Twenty percent ofrespondents have been members for less than ayear, 25 percent for more than ten years, andthe rest somewhere in-between. Newer membersreported higher satisfaction levels than those inthe middle, suggesting that the museum isdoing a good job of attracting new membersand that additional focus on member retentionstrategies may be helpful.

Visiting behaviorm Members report visiting the Institute fre-

quently. Sixty-eight percent said theyhad visited within the past threemonths. Newer members and longer-term members visit most often.

m Visiting behavior is clearly driven byspecial exhibitions.

m Reported barriers to visiting more oftenincluded lack of time (68 percent), distance from home (30 percent), muse-um hours (18 percent), exhibit content(18 percent), and parking (18 percent).

m Museum members tend to visit othermuseums as well, which suggests thatwell-developed marketing tie-ins with

m Income: 61 percent of members havehousehold incomes of $50,000 or more.

m Race: The museum’s membership is pre-ponderantly White (97.1 percent).

Who wasn’t visiting the museum?

When the Visitor Survey process was com-plete, the information about those who visit themuseum was compared with 1990 U.S. Censusdata for residents of the seven-county metroarea. Our aim was to identify underserved audi-

ence segments in the muse-um’s service area.

Census data comparison

As we compared the data, anumber of trends emerged.Few were surprising. Forexample, it came as no sur-prise that the Institute welcomes more city-dwellersthan suburbanites, morewomen than men, more col-lege graduates than not.

Whether or not the study uncovered “new”information, however, it clarified the fact thatthere are a number of market segments withinour prime geography that currently are notserved by the museum as well as they could be.This translates into very real opportunity for thisinstitution.

Note: Totals may not sum to 100 percent due torounding, and minor differences (less than 1 percent)exist in how Hispanic respondents reported their racialbackgrounds in the visitor survey and the Census.

other institutions may be attractive tomembers.

Member demographics

m Gender: 83 percent of those who identi-fied themselves as “most involved withthe museum” were women. This figuremay be skewed by the simple fact thatwomen tend to handle more familysocial decisions; nonetheless, womenprobably play a major role in mattersrelated to museum membership.

m Geography: 89 percentof museum membersreside in the seven-county Twin Citiesmetro area, with halfresiding in the corecities of Minneapolisand St. Paul and theother half residing inthe suburbs.

m Household type:Museum members arerelatively diverse in their living arrange-ments, with 36 percent living as marriedcouples without children, 30 percent liv-ing alone, and 27 percent living inhouseholds with children under 18.

m Education: The museum’s membershipis very well-educated, with 78 percentholding a bachelor’s degree or higher.More than a third have advanceddegrees.

Members vs Non-membersamong current visitors

Non-members71%

Member Demographics

Members29%

Suggestion Box

Members told us:

“I’m an elderly person and it’s hard forme to get around. Maybe [the museumcould] havesome kind oftransport ser-vice for theelderly.”

“I would like to see more in-depth

information about coming events.”

“It would be nice if they stayed open later and offered a larger variety of classes.”

“I would like more exhibits for children. Thelast exhibit I saw had a lot of nudity...”

“I would like tosee morebenches andchairs as weage.”

“[The museum} is kind offar away from our home.So whatever is there has toreally catch our attentionfor us to drive there.”

“The events that hap-

pen during the week

should also be offered

during weekend or

evening hours to pro-

vide opportunities for

people who work.”

“THE GIFT SHOP DOESN’T HAVE ENOUGH DIVERSE MERCHANDISE. “

16 17

QUANTITATIVE

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STATISTICS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Urban versus suburban

Museum visitors are predominantly city-dwellers. While the Census shows that 71 per-cent of metro area residents live in the suburbs

and only 29percent residewithin the citylimits ofMinneapolisand St. Paul,fully half thevisitors to theInstitute arecity-dwellers.

Gender

Males areunder-repre-sented amongmuseum visi-tors. TheCensus showsthat 48 percentof metro area

residents are males, yet males represent just 30percent of museum visitors.

Income

Museum visitors are more likely to havehousehold incomes above $100,000 and below$10,000 (students) — and less likely to haveincomes in the upper middle range ($35,000-$49,999). The variances were not huge, however,leading to the conclusion that education is astronger determinant of visiting behavior than ismoney.

Education

According to the Census, 19 percent of areaadults are college graduates and 7 percent ofthem have post-graduate degrees. In contrast,those muse-um visitorswho weresurveyedincluded 40percent col-lege gradu-ates and 28percent withadvanceddegrees.

Occupation

Museum visitors are more likely to work inprofessional specialties and management, andless likely to work in blue-collar and service jobsas compared to the public at large. While only25 percent of area residents are not in the workforce, 36 percent of museum visitors are notemployed, identifying themselves as retired, students, and homemakers.

Race

Like the population of Minnesota, visitorsto The Minneapolis Institute of Arts are over-whelmingly White, and African Americans visitless than expected based on Census comparisons;whereas 3.1 percent of metro-area residents areAfrican American, only 1.0 percent of museumvisitors are African American. In contrast, NativeAmericans, Hispanic Americans, and AsianAmericans all visit in proportions closer to theirrepresentation in the metro population.

Summary: potential new audiences

The comparison of Visitor Survey datawith 1990 Census results and State demographicprojections revealed that the following TwinCities population segments are underserved rela-tive to population distribution patterns:

m Males.m Adults ages 25-44 (later Baby Boomers).m Married couples with children under

age 18.m Blue-collar, service, technical, and sales

workers.m People with lower education levels.m African Americans.m Residents of the suburbs.

Age

When survey data was compared to theMinnesota State demographer’s current popula-tion projections for the seven-county metroarea, wefoundthatmuseumvisitorsare morelikely tobe ages45 to 54and lesslikely tobe ages25 to 44,in con-trast tothe gen-eral pop-ulation.

Household type

Survey and Census comparisons revealedthat museum visitors are less likely to live asmarried couples with children under 18 andmore likely to live in single person householdsthan is the general public. Married couples withchildren represented just 19 percent of museumvisitors, as compared to 32 percent of the generalpopulation.

1990 Census (7-County Area)

Mpls/St. Paul29%

Suburbs71%

Mpls/St. Paul50%

Suburbs50%

Museum Visitors(7-County Area)

UrBan vS Suburban

0102030405060708090

100

6%

1990 census vs museum visitors(7-County Area)

Income

<$10,000 $10-34,999 $35-49,999 $50-99,999 $100,000>

9%

32% 34%

23%16%

32% 31%

7% 11%

1990 CensusMuseum Visitors

MN state demographer's projections (7-County Area)

Age

Museum visitors(7-County Area)

25-44 years old48% 45-54 years old

17%

18-24 years old12%

55+ years old24%

25-44 years old40%

45-54 years old21%

18-24 years old14%

55+ years old26%

1990 Census (7-County Area)

Museum Visitors(7-County Area)

Education

High school or less42%

Bachelors degree or higher

26%

Some college32%

High school or less

3%

Bachelors degree or higher

68%

Some college29%

1990 Census (7-County Area)

WhiteAsian/Pacific IslanderAmerican IndianBlack/African AmericanAny Hispanic*Other

93.4%2.1%0.9%3.1%1.1%0.5%

museum visitors(7-County Area)

WhiteAsian/Pacific IslanderAmerican IndianBlack/African AmericanAny Hispanic*Other

94.8%1.2%0.7%1.0%0.7%1.5%

race

*Term/phrase used by the Census Bureau to encompass a wide-range of peoples including those from South American countries, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

1990 Census (7-County Area)

Museum VisitorS(7-County Area)

Household type

Single personhousehold

19%

Other49%

Married couplewith children

32%

Single personhousehold

26%

Other55%

Married couplewith children

19%

Graphs developed by Toshiko Yamada-Nevells

18 19

QUANTITATIVE

STUDIES:

SURVEY

STATISTICS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

The challenge: defining the target markets

Clearly, The Minneapolis Institute of Artslacks the marketing resources to “swing at everypitch.” In order to enhance our chances ofattracting and retaining new audience segments, we decided to narrow the sevenpotential markets down to two. The projectteam developed the following criteria for decid-ing which segments would be most promisingfor cultivation. Selected markets, the team decid-ed, needed to be:

m Large enough to justify the expenditureof marketing resources.

m Specific enough to define and describeeasily.

m Reachable through existing or easy-to-create marketing channels.

m Underserved as compared to generalpopulation data and defined by our statistical analysis.

m Potential long-term visitors — peoplewho will visit the museum again andagain.

Other considerations that figured into thechoice of audience segments included:

m The potential for attracting programsponsorship support.

m The potential for growth in the museum’smembership and donor base.

m The potential to create solutions to ben-efit the art museum industry as a whole.

Based on the above criteria, two marketsegments emerged as the most logical to pursue.The first, families with children ages 5 through12, actually encompasses aspects of most of the

underserved audience segments as defined bythe Visitors Survey. For example, parents ofyoung children tend to be ages 25-44, reside inthe suburbs, and represent a broad range ofincome and education levels. In addition, half ofthose parents are males! The other market iden-tified for study and development was AfricanAmericans, the largest minority group in theTwin Cities metropolitan region, and one that isgrowing by 12 percent every two years.

Now, let’s take a look at how these two mar-ket segments met the team’s selection criteria.

Why families with children?

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts hasalways been interested in attracting families. Inrecent years, we have developed a highly suc-cessful Family Days program and have formulat-ed a number of ways to reach and serve familiesmore effectively. This experience, along with thefocus group study, provides an excellent founda-tion for continuing this important work.

The families segment is large and defin-able. As of the 1990 Census, there were 657,000adults living in families with children under 18in the Twin Cities area, or 39 percent of allmetro-area adults. Families are heavily concen-trated in the suburbs, where 77 percent of themlive, thus addressing another underserved audi-ence segment. And numerous marketing chan-nels are already in place for families, including(among others) specialized media, schools, and abroad range of not-for-profit organizations.

The families market is clearly underserved:While adults living with children account for 39percent of the general population, they onlyaccounted for 23 percent of museum visitors

serving more families may seem difficult toattain. Nevertheless, we believe that developingeffective strategies to serve more families shouldreap significant rewards in the long term.

Why African Americans?

This market is large and readily defined.The population of the Twin Cities seven-countyarea is becoming more racially diverse. Between1980 and 1990, the area’s population of colorgrew by 81 percent and now numbers morethan 75,000 adults. This population is heavilyconcentrated, with 77 percent living in the corecities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

African Americans were the only racial orethnic segment identified as significantly under-served, accounting for 1.0 percent of the muse-um’s visitors in contrast to 3.1 percent of theadults in the general population. There are well-developed marketing channels for the AfricanAmerican population, including Black-orientednewspapers, radio stations, churches, schools,and a broad range of community, social, andprofessional organizations.

It is important to note that several industrystudies related to race and the arts have docu-mented relatively low art museum participationrates for Blacks in general. Therefore, if TheMinneapolis Institute of Arts can develop effec-tive programs and services for this audience seg-ment, we will be creating a valuable template forother institutions to mold to their own uniqueneeds. In addition, our effort to attract and satis-fy African American visitors sends a visible andimportant message that this museum is commit-ted to inclusiveness.

during the study period. Additionally, only 10 percent of visitors said they were visiting themuseum with their children.

Among many reasons for selecting familiesas a target audience is the potential to build theInstitute’s visitor and member base for the longterm. Industry studies have documented thatchildren who engage in activities with their families are much more likely to do so again asadults — and to bring their own children withthem. Further, a strategy aimed at families hasthe potential to reach more middle-incomehouseholds and adults from a broader educationspectrum.

Families with young children fulfilledother selection criteria as follows:

m Opportunity for leveraged marketing: Afamily visit results in multiple buys — inthe museum shop, in the restaurant,and in special exhibitions.

m Interest to the field: Numerous industrystudies report low participation in muse-um visits by families nationwide. If theInstitute succeeds, it will be creating amodel that other museums may follow.

m Potential for corporate sponsorships:Families with young children are a high-ly desirable consumer market and cor-porations may choose to reach this mar-ket via sponsorships.

It should be noted that The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts does not stand alone in the lackof success in reaching more families. Numerousstudies have documented the fact that familiesare less likely to participate in art museums thanin other cultural organizations such as zoos andscience museums. Consequently, the goal of

long-termJ Large enough to justify the expenditure ofmarketing resources.

J Specific enough to define and describe easily.

J Reachable through existing or easy-to-create marketing channels.

J Underserved as compared to general population data.

J Potential long-term visitors—people whowill visit the museum again and again.

Other considerations that figured into the choice ofmarkets included:

J The potential for attracting corporate spon-sorship support.

J The potential for long-term growth in themuseum’s membership and donor base.

J The potential to create solutions to benefitthe art museum industry as a whole.

The project team and consultants developed the following criteria for decidingwhich of the underserved audiences held the mostpromise. Selected markets, the team decided, needed to be:SELECTING TARGET MARKETS:

the criteria

20 21

QUALITATIVE

STUDIES:

FOCUS

GROUPS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

The museum’s objective for the qualitativeresearch phase of the New Audience project wasto obtain sufficient information via focus groupsto create strategic marketing plans for the twoaudience segments chosen. Focus groups are awidely used qualitative research tool in the busi-ness world. They are particularly helpful forunderstanding the complex and subtle relation-ships between consumers and products. Unlikequantitative research — such as the VisitorSurvey— the results of focus groups may not beprojected statistically to represent the views of alarger population. Rather, these focus groupswere intended to provide a rich source of in-depth information on perceptions of the muse-um and suggestions that may help the Institutebecome a more desirable destination.

What did young families think about visitingthe museum?

The Institute’s study of families was con-ducted in April and May of 1996 in the focusgroup facilities of our consulting firm, theCincinnatus Group. The study had three stages:

1 Respondents attended a focus group inwhich they discussed their general atti-tudes and behaviors regarding familyactivities. (The identity of theMinneapolis Institute of Arts asstudy sponsor was not revealed until late in the meeting.)

3 Next, respondents visited theInstitute with at least one childbetween the ages of 5 and 12(although children of other agesmay have accompanied them) andfilled out a brief survey upon exitingthe museum.

3 Finally, respondents re-convened to dis-cuss their reactions and suggestions.

Via telephone, Cincinnatus recruited focusgroup participants at random from throughoutthe suburban metro area, offering a $100 respon-dent fee as an incentive to participate. (In addi-tion, participants received a small gift from themuseum shop.) In all, there were 24 participantsin the pre-visit focus groups. A total of 22 moth-ers and one lone father completed all study ele-ments. Each respondent fit the following crite-ria:

m He/she is most responsible for planningfamily social activities.

m A least one child in the household isbetween the ages of 5 and 12.

m The family has visited at least one cul-tural organization in the past threeyears.

m The family has not visited TheMinneapolis Institute of Arts in the pastthree years.

m No family member is employed by amarket research or advertising firm.

m No family mem-ber is employedby or volunteersregularly for alocal culturalorganization.

General findings

The results of thestudy suggest thatThe Minneapolis

marketing effort may bring more fami-lies to the museum, but it won’t neces-sarily bring them back for repeat visits.Respondent’ suggestions for changesincluded:

b More interpretation and usefulinformation about the art, includ-ing information that is appropri-ate for children of varying ages.

b More active, hands-on activities.

b More helpful, welcoming museumstaff.

b Better information about museumhighlights for families.

b Clearer maps and gallery labels.

b A more “child-friendly” environ-ment overall.

Participants in this study were not aware of how the museum has improved its services inrecent years. Nor did they notice many of theexisting services that might have made theirexperience more enjoyable. The goal of thisfocus group research, however, was to under-stand their perceptions — not to correct theirmisperceptions. As far as they are concerned,perceptions are reality — and their version ofreality is the starting point for change.

Specific findings: pre-visit focus groups

The Twin Cities’ reputation as a culturalmecca is deserved. Consequently, there is con-siderable competition when it comes to familyactivities. When asked what cultural organiza-tions they had visited or considered visiting as a family during the past year, each of the two

Institute of Arts will need to make significantchanges if we hope to attract and satisfy largernumbers of families — changes in how themuseum is positioned and communicates, and changes in how programs and services aredelivered.

Focus group respondents described severalsteps that enter into a family’s decision to visitthe museum, each step having its own barriersto overcome:

m In the pre-visit focus groups, manyrespondents were surprisingly negativeabout art museums as a family choicegiven how little actual experience theyhad. Thus, there appear to be perceptualbarriers that prevent many families fromeven considering the museum for a family outing. Concerns included:

b Will my child enjoy the experience?

b Will I know enough to help mychild understand and enjoy it?

b Are there opportunities for active,hands-on activities?

b Is it easy to get there and find aplace to park?

b Will I be able to find my wayaround in the museum?

m In the post-visit groups, many partici-pants said their experience was morepositive than they expected. However,some said they wouldn’t visit again, norwould they recommend the museum tofriends without significant changes. Thelesson learned was that an aggressive

family fun

22 23

QUALITATIVE

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FOCUS

GROUPS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

focus groups readily identified nearly 40 options.The most popular ones were those designed forchildren and families, such as The MinnesotaChildren’s Museum, The Children’s TheatreCompany, Science Museum of Minnesota, andthe two major zoos. Families tend to favoractive, hands-on experiences where childrendon’t have to be quiet. Other important factorsare cost, time, and various logistical considera-tions (including the need to satisfy the sched-ules and interests of children of various ages).

Perception versus reality

When respondents were asked how theyviewed the two major art museums —Walker ArtCenter and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts —as family destinations, comments became quitenegative. Respondents had strong reservationsabout whether art museums were or could beenjoyable for their children. As one mother said,“My kids would be bored with art. It’s just stuffthat sits there.”

When asked about their perceptions of TheMinneapolis Institute of Arts specifically, somewere concerned that the location was unsafe.Some were afraid that their children might breaksomething or that other visitors or staff mightobject to the possible noise. On the other hand,one participant said her older children mightenjoy the experience and another said that art isa topic “I can easily relate to with my children.”

Intense feelings based on little knowledge

What seemed unusual about the groupswas the relative intensity of their feelings aboutthe Institute given their minimal, or non-exis-tent, exposure to the museum. When asked

what words they would use to describe themuseum, there was little hesitation in generat-ing the following list: boring, stuffy, impressive,large, cold, quiet, fancy, famous paintings, “Ifyou break it, we’ll mark it sold,” not child-friendly, unsafe neighborhood, and high class.

Whatever their reservations, focus groupparticipants had already committed (and beenpaid a small stipend) to visit the museum as partof the study process. The next part of the discus-sion had to do with the upcoming excursion.

Most parents expected their children to benefit

Many respondents said they thought thevisit would be educational for their children.Some of their children had expressed an interestin art at school or were thought to be creative,so exposure to art might be a good experience,respondents said. Parents were not adverse tolearning something themselves, either. “I thinkit’s really fun to go someplace with my kids andlearn with them,” one said.

Parents anticipated problems

Some participants expressed reservationsabout their lack of knowledge about art. Theywere concerned about not having answers fortheir children’s questions. Another major con-cern was their children’s behavior. Will theywant to touch things? Will they be too loud?Will they run around too much? Will staff andother visitors disapprove? Others worried thattheir children might lose interest quickly.

Getting prepared

When asked where they generally look for

had been unfounded. Directions and parkingposed no problems, and many children weremore positive about going to the museum thantheir parents expected: “I brought my five-year-old. She was very happy to be there and wespent the whole afternoon.” “My first gradersaid ‘Cool!’ when I said we were going to theInstitute. I was surprised.”

Respondents enjoyed themselves!

In general, most participants and theirfamilies had a good time at the museum. Onesaid his family was there for three hours andwould have liked more time. Another proud par-ent was surprised at her child’s knowledge of art.Many children loved the touchscreen videos.Other were impressed with the building itself.

But they didn’t like everything

It was stressful for parents to keep theirchildren from touching things. Some parentscomplained that many pieces are placed toohigh for children to see. Some said that theirchildren’s short attention span made it hard toexperience more than a small portion of themuseum. A few said their children were verynegative. One child asked, “We don’t ever haveto go back, right?” Another had a bad experience

with guards and thefamily left feelingvery upset. (In fact,several participantshad negative percep-tions of the guards,saying they seemedto be following thefamily around.)

information about things to do with the family,pre-visit focus group respondents said that wordof mouth from other parents is their preferredsource: “Someone who’s seen it, done it.” Inaddition, they count on newspapers, TV, andradio. Direct mail and flyers that come homefrom school are well-received. In addition, somerespondents use coupon books or get usefulinformation from day care groups. During thediscussion, parents were eager to share informa-tion with each other, demonstrating the hightrust they place in the opinions of their peers.

When asked where they would seek infor-mation about The Minneapolis Institute of Arts,participants said they would be inclined to tele-phone the museum. Others said they would askfriends who had visited. Some said they wouldalso look for information in the newspaper andMinnesota Parent magazine.

Before deciding to visit the museum, par-ents would want many questions answered:How do we get there? Where do we park and isthere a cost? What are the most appealing activi-ties/exhibitions for different ages? Are somehours better for families? Are tours appropriatefor children? What hands-on activities are avail-able? What food is available? How much time isrequired? Is there written information to help usprepare for our visit? Is the museumstroller-accessible? How must my kidsbehave? Is there somebody to answer ourquestions about the art?

Specific findings: post-visit focus groups

When respondents re-convened aftertheir trip to The Minneapolis Institute ofArts, most reported that their concerns

Suggestion Box

The family focusgroup participants pro-vided a wealth ofopinions and sugges-tions following theirvisit to the Institute.Here is a sampling oftheir ideas.

Provide more information/interpretation: J Labels explaining what the art work is and how it

relates to everyday life. (One in four works has anextended label, but these visitors did not find thelabels helpful.)

J Art classes where you can drop off children.J Colorful gallery guides.J Push-buttons by each piece to provide information.J Short introductory video when you enter the

museum.

Be more welcoming to families:J Change the museum entrance to make it more wel-

coming and to provide better orientation/informa-tion. “One desk should face you as you come in.”

J Have someone at the door to suggest things forfamilies.

J Establish quiet days and non-quiet days.J Need more approachable, kid-friendly staff.J Too many desks!J Brochures should be on a table when you come in.

Provide more hands-on activities:J More things to touch—perhaps next to the art so

children know how it feels.J Artist demonstrations, live or video.J Scavenger hunts.J Advertise Family Days and/or schedule more of

them.J A children’s gallery where kids can explore art tech-

niques and materials.J Provide frequent family tours that are available

without advance reservations.

Provide printed in-museum information for families: Throughout the discussions, participants expressed astrong desire for more information. In particular,they felt that printed information for families wouldenhance their museum experience. Some preferredthe idea of shorter brochures about a particulargallery or theme. Others suggested a small book thatwould cover the museum more comprehensively.“I’d be willing to pay a couple of bucks for a brochurethat guides kids through the good parts of the museum.And the kids would take it home for the scrapbook.”

24 25

QUALITATIVE

STUDIES:

FOCUS

GROUPS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Varied experiences, varied perceptions

The visiting experience varied widely fromfamily to family. Some stayed for an hour andothers for more than three hours. Participantswere surprised to learn that they had missedthings that other parents described. For exam-ple, some used the audio headsets in the periodrooms, while others never saw them. Many saidthey loved the “wooden boat,” while others“missed it entirely.” None of the families tookadvantage of the guided tours, visited the special(paid) exhibition, or used the restaurant. A fewvisited the museum shop and the coffee shop.As respondents realized from talking to eachother what they had missed, many expressed adesire to have better information on how toplan a visit to maximize their enjoyment.

Elements of the experience

Information Many study participants werefrustrated in their efforts to obtain informationin the museum. They didn’t know where to gofor help upon entering. Some loved the touch-screen videos and headsets, but others didn’tfind them. Respondents expressed a stronginterest in greater use of technology to conveyinformation to visitors.

Navigation Many respondents said they feltthe museum was “like a maze.” “Couldn’t get asense of direction.” “I didn’t always see the entire room.” “I kept getting turned around and disoriented.”

Museum staff Perceptions of the staff varied.Several participants said that staff had been veryhelpful in providing good directions, suggestingactivities the children would enjoy, and telling

the children about the art. Other respondents,however, found the staff to be unhelpful. “I felt Iwas interrupting the person at the informationdesk.” “Nobody greeted us or offered anything.”“Nobody said ‘have a good time.’” One respon-dent said, “It was like a prison, in a way,” andseveral others chuckled in agreement. Severalrespondents had negative experiences with thesecurity guards. Some were puzzled that guardswere not “informational and helpful.”

Would they come back?

At the close of the post-visit groups, res-pondents were asked if they would return to themuseum. In one group, six of seven participantssaid they would return and one said “maybe.”The other group was less certain. Several saidthey would not recommend the museum tofriends with children. Two said they wouldreturn with their children. One said she mightgo back, but not “right away.”

Attract and satisfy

From this research, it became clear that themuseum’s strategy for families will need toaddress these questions:

m Attract: What can be done to alter thenegative perceptions that some familiescurrently have? For example, how canthe museum get the word out aboutFamily Days and other programs specifi-cally designed for families?

m Satisfy: What changes can be made interms of museum service delivery thatwill make the museum experience morepositive for families?

m Finally, respondents re-convened todiscuss their impressions of the muse-um and to suggest ways in which themuseum might improve its image andservices in order to attract and satisfymore African American visitors.

Recruiting respondents

The museum developed a list of some 200potential subjects by sending letters to a coregroup of African Americans, asking them to for-ward names of individuals who might participatein the study. Cincinnatus recruited participantsat random from this list. A total of 23 AfricanAmerican adults completed all three parts of thestudy. Screening criteria included the following:

m Ages 25 to 55.

m Residences geographically dispersedthroughout the metro area.

m Person in the household who is mostresponsible for planning social events.

m Has not visited The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts in the past three years.

m Has visited at least one cultural organi-zation in the past two years.

m Not employed by a market research oradvertising firm.

m Not employed by nor a regular volun-teer for a local cultural organization.

A final note here: The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts is a “museum” in the traditionalsense of the word. Many parents, however, havecome to define “museum” in terms of the high-ly interactive, family-friendly experiences pro-vided by the Minnesota Children’s Museum andthe Science Museum of Minnesota — institutionswhose exhibits do not consist of unique, irre-placeable artifacts. This limited understanding ofwhat a museum can be is a major barrier thatmust be surmounted if the Institute hopes todraw more of this important audience throughits doors.

What did African Americans think about visiting the museum?

The Institute’s focus group study of AfricanAmericans (the second underserved audiencesegment identified through the Visitor Surveyprocess) was conducted in July 1996, also in thefocus group facilities of Cincinnatus. Like thefamily focus groups, this study was designed toprovide information for developing a strategicmarketing plan. The structure of the AfricanAmerican focus groups paralleled that of thefamily focus groups:

m First, respondents met to discuss theirgeneral attitudes and behaviors regard-ing cultural activities and entertainment(again, the identity of The MinneapolisArt Institute as the study sponsor wasnot discussed until late in the meeting;however, some respondents may havelearned our identity through the recruit-ing process described below).

m Second, respondents visited the Instituteand completed exit questionnaires.

Most parents reacted

negatively to the

idea of a drop-in

child-care room since

the museum visit

represents an outing

for the whole family.

But they wanted a

place where kids

could be active with-

out incurring the

disapproval of guards

or staff.

Parents liked the

idea of a museum

shop area devoted to

children’s items, a

child-proof place

where “kids’ things

are all together, out

front, and easy for

kids to pick out...we

could buy quickly.”

Advertising and publicity:

Family focus groups saw a lot of value in publicizing the museum throughthe schools. “The communication should show kids having fun.”

Respondents agreed that advertising to families is not a good idea without first making significant changes in museum services.

“Explain that you don’t have to be absolutely quiet.”

“ S H O W S O M E H A N D S - O N P R O J E C T S . ”

“Send brochures home from school.”

“Tell families about Family Days.” perceptions

26 27

QUALITATIVE

STUDIES:

FOCUS

GROUPS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

General findings

The African American adults who partici-pated in these groups are generally well-educat-ed and active “doers.” They are strongly attract-ed to activities that involve African Americanculture and/or highlight the similarities and dif-ferences among multiple cultures. In addition,they are very much drawn to the performingarts, including theater, music, and dance.

Before their visit to the museum, studyparticipants had generally positive expectations,although some expressed concerns about find-ing their way to the museum and, once there,whether they would be met by racial sensitivity.After their visit, respondents praised museumstaff for being helpful and courteous, butbemoaned the lack of racial diversity among thestaff. Their strongest criticism of the museumwas an apparent lack of diversity in the collec-tion; many participants said they did not seeenough “people like me” represented on themuseum’s gallery walls.

Overall, nearly all focus group participantswere very enthusiastic about their experience atthe Institute. Most said they would return to themuseum and would recommend the experienceto others. Their primary recommendations forenhancing the museum experience for AfricanAmericans include increasing the diversity of thecollection and special exhibitions as well as thediversity of museum staff and volunteers.

Specific findings: pre-visit focus groups

In the pre-visit focus groups, participantswere asked how they like to spend their leisuretime and why. Two themes were echoed againand again: a preference for the performing arts

and an interest in activities related to AfricanAmerican culture.

Preference for performance versus visual arts

Many respondents regularly attend theater,concerts, and dance performances. Several saidthey love performances that are Black-orientedand offer uplifting messages. When asked aboutart museums in general, several participants saidthey had attended special exhibitions featuringBlack artists. There were a number of commentsabout the lack of Black-oriented art and AfricanAmerican tour guides in local art museums.“Blacks don’t want to go to a museum wherethere is nothing in there that looks like you andthere is no one who looks like you to explainwhat is there.” One commented, “Blacks appre-ciate Black tour guides. I am more likely to takethe tour and ask questions.” Another respon-dent, who had very much enjoyed her visit tothe museum, said that the big challenge is “toget people in there...then word-of-mouth willstimulate demand.”

Sense of community: preference for AfricanAmerican events

Throughout the pre-visit groups, respon-dents expressed a strong desire to attend eventsaround the theme of African American culture.The experience is especially rewarding when itfosters a sense of community among partici-pants. “Black cultural performances are uplift-ing, inspiring, and not often offered.” “At anAfrican American play there is a feeling of one-ness — a feeling that all African Americans arethere for the same reasons and enjoy the eventon the same level.”

Lack of advertising

Many focus group participants commentedon a lack of information and advertising regard-ing the museum. As a result, the Institute didn’tcome to mind very often, they said. “Don’t hearabout it because there is no advertising in Blacknewspapers.” (In fact, the Institute advertisesregularly in the two newspapers reporting direct-ly about and to the African American communi-ty, but again, this study is measuring percep-tions, not reality.)

Concern about lack of racial sensitivity

In their pre-visit discussions, several peoplesaid they were concerned that the museummight lack racial sensitivity. Some pointed outthat the brochure seemed to represent just oneculture because it contained no images ofAfrican Americans. One respondent had attend-ed an open house for an exhibit of Africanmasks. “There was an African American internstanding there while a White man did the tour.Why...?”

Logistical concerns

Parking, bus transportation, the safety ofthe museum’s location, and wheelchair/ strolleraccessibility were among the logistical concernsexpressed by group members. Figuring out how to navigate inside the museum was anissue, as well.

Specific findings: post-visit focus groups

In the post-visit focus groups, nearly allparticipants were very enthusiastic about themuseum. They reported that directions and

Focus group participants said they believeofferings focused on African American cultureare extremely valuable in helping them and oth-ers to understand their cultural heritage. “I liketo see different kinds of people at events...what aBlack person might take for granted, a Whiteperson may truly appreciate...it is a learningexperience for others as well.” “If something isout there that will teach my son about differ-ences through its content, that is priceless.”

Other factors in choosing leisure activities

When the moderator asked about the factorsthat enter into the decision-making process,respondents cited cost (especially for a large fami-ly), time, suitability for children, location, parking,value, and personal interest in the subject. Wordof mouth was also mentioned as a strong motiva-tor as well as a good source of information.

Pre-visit perceptions of The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts

Respondents’ perceptions of the Institutewere informed by varying levels of experienceand knowledge. Some participants had been tothe museum (although not lately), so they spokefrom memory. Others had no direct visitingexperience and relied on what they had heard orimagined to describe what the museum was like.

When asked what words or phrases came tomind about the museum, responses included amix of favorable and unfavorable images, includ-ing: entertainment, creativity, heritage, quiet/calm, culture, culturally diverse, user-friendly,helpful tour guides, information, inexpensive,large, interesting, clean, formal, boring, cold,crowded, heavy security, and “don’t touch.”

Commitment for thelong term

The African

American focus

groups indicated

some skepticism

regarding the depth

of the museum’s

commitment to new

audiences, and chal-

lenged us to “put our

money where our

mouth is.”

Respondents

stressed that the

museum must keep

trying new ways to

reach the Black com-

munity—and persist

in improving services

to meet new needs.

Respondentsstressed that the muse-um needs to letAfrican Americansknow that they arewelcome. They encour-aged the museum topursue a range of spe-cific marketing efforts.

Suggestion Box Advertising/promotion vehicles:

Word of mouth was cited as a particularly powerfulmedium. “After going, the museum sells itself...I am likely to invite others and refer others to the museum.”

Other suggestions included advertising throughthe schools, Black newspapers, billboards, the AfricanAmerican community radio station (KMOJ), and television.

Some suggested using a “carrot”—such as a per-formance event—to entice African Americans to visitThe Minneapolis Institute of Arts. “Maybe play jazz inthe atrium.” However, “Do it tastefully...don’t hit peo-ple over the head with their ignorance”—or with bla-tant efforts to be politically correct.

Partnerships/tie-ins:

Several respondents suggested developing promo-tions with African American community organizations,such as churches, schools, fraternities, and educationaland professional organizations. The museum could hostspecial events for these organizations, encouragingattendees to spread the word. Some respondents sug-gested creating special programs around AfricanAmerican community celebrations such as Rondo Days,the Juneteenth Festival, and Black History Month. Todemonstrate caring for the community, the Institutecould support other non-profits by hosting receptionsand similar events for them.

accessibility

28 29

QUALITATIVE

STUDIES:

FOCUS

GROUPS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

parking were no problem. They liked manyaspects of the museum experience, would proba-bly visit again, and would gladly recommendthe experience to others. Many of their pre-visitconcerns proved to be unfounded, and theywere generally surprised that they hadn’t knownsuch a valuable and enjoyable communityresource was available to them. “I liked it verymuch...It was interesting and relaxing.” “I want-ed more time and I was there for three hours.”“I would go back...I could really have a greatvisit the second time because I just skimmed thesurface the first time through.”

Types of art

Many respondents specifically said theyliked the exhibit entitled “Ancient Nubia:Egypt’s Rival in Africa,” and other African art.Special favorites also included the period roomsand the beaded kitchen (Liza Lou’s “TheKitchen”). Beyond these common interests, theirpreferences varied widely — from Van Goghpaintings to pottery by a Minnesota potter toAsian art, sculpture, and rare books. Some of theparticipants said their children were drawn tothe carvings and mummies, while others likedthe maps.

The African art notwithstanding, respon-dents’ primary criticism of the museum was alack of diversity in the collection. “Seeing Whitepeople everywhere (in the art) got old.” “Paintingsof Caucasians got boring after a while until I gotbehind a tour guide and heard stories about theartists...” Several participants said they wantedto see more African American art in thecollection — and a broader cultural experience ingeneral. “There are 31 different native tribes in

Minnesota alone. I didn’t see anything repre-senting Minnesota’s diversity.” “The periodrooms are all European.” (In fact, the Institute’scollection represents hundreds — perhaps thou-sands — of different cultures. Therefore, weinterpret respondents’ comments about lack ofdiversity to mean that primarily they wanted tosee more African American faces represented inthe collection.)

Other museum elements

Several respondents commented that theyliked the building itself, along with a number ofother design elements. “It’s a beautiful build-ing...the intricate detail...the openness.” “Lovedthe old-fashioned elevator.” “The frames werebeautiful and interesting.” “I was surprised tosee Black dolls and a lot of nice AfricanAmerican-centered cards in the gift shop.”

Getting around in the museum

Nearly all focus group participants saidthey “got lost in the museum.” Several said themap was useful, but they got lost anyway. “Itwas hard to find the exhibits, even with a map.The numbered rooms were hard to find andconfusing.” Many asked guards for assistance.There was also some confusion about the paidexhibition. Some did not go through it becauseof the cost. Others said they accidentally saw itwithout paying (they didn’t know there was anadmission charge and just wandered in).

Several said their museum experiencewould be enhanced if they had more informa-tion about the art and the artists. The touch-screen videos were perceived as a particularlyhelpful source of information. “Loved the inter-

“they’re worried about Blacks touching art.”Several participants said they felt watchedthrough their whole visit, but others said theydidn’t feel watched. These comments echoedthose of participants in the family focus groups.Clearly, all infrequent and first-time visitors areunclear about the guards’ function in the muse-um, and some of our policies and practices areunnecessarily off-putting.

Another major issue for respondents wasthe lack of racial diversity among museum staff.They implied that more African Americansamong the staff would make them feel morewelcome and enrich their museum experience.“There were no African American staff in theshop, restaurant, or information desk.” Whenvisitors did find African American employees,they were drawn to them for information andassistance. “I saw only one Black guard. I askedquestions and he was able to answer them.” Isaw two African American security guards...itwas good to see them.”

Would they come back?

Participants in the African American focusgroups answered this question with a resound-ing “YES!” “I wanted to call everyone I knowand tell them to go!”

active systems...fun and new.” “You could selectwhat you wanted to see.”

Visiting with children

Several study participants visited the muse-um with children of varying ages. As was truewith those in the family focus groups, manyparents found the experience stressful becausethey were worried about their children’s behav-ior. Some felt the guards were very concernedabout their children. However, one respondentsaid his children loved the museum and didn’twant to leave: “My seven- and eight-year-oldkids stayed two hours and wanted to stay longer.I had to drag them out!”

Museum staff

The overwhelming response to museumstaff was they that were “courteous and help-ful.” Other favorable comments included: pro-fessional and knowledgeable, patient, “informa-tion desk people were very cordial and helpful,”and “the security guard asked if I was having agood time.” Tour guides received praise, too. “Iliked the way you could meet up with the tourand feel included, and then I was able to moveon and not stay with the tour the whole time.”

Comments regarding security were mixed.Some felt the guards were too prevalent and“distracting.” “There was more security in themuseum than visitors.” Several respondentsrecalled the noisy walkie-talkies. Anotherrespondent recalled that the guards seemedafraid that her children would touch the art —“Like I didn’t raise my child to know that youdon’t touch in an exhibit.” One respondent saidhe felt security guards followed him because

Key messages:

An important finding of the focus groups wasthat African Americans are interested in many differentcultures. Therefore, an emphasis on cultures is a keymessage for this community. If the museum offersAfrican American art, then the message should be“Come celebrate your culture.” If not, say somethingmore general, such as: “Come and learn...open yourmind.” “Connect with different cultures.” “Show corre-lation between European and African American artists.”The fact that admission is free should be stressed, too,respondents thought.

Suggestions for satisfying African American visitors:

Respondents agreed that once African Americansvisit the museum, many will enjoy their experience andwant to return. Still, focus group participants pointedout room for improvement in the museum’s services:

J More racially diverse collections was a frequentlyvoiced theme.

J “Use music to enhance the art—earphones withmusic, jazz in a period room...”

J “Have quarterly special exhibits for AfricanAmericans.”

Suggestion Box

cultures

30 31

IDEA

GENERATION:

OFF-SITE

MEETINGS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Using the focus group findings to informthe discussion process, nearly the entire museumstaff — plus representative trustees and other volunteers—participated in two off-site, half-daymeetings. The purpose of the meetings was tostrengthen the case for the need to attract newaudiences to The Minneapolis Institute of Arts;to familiarize Institute employees and volunteerswith the target market selection rationale andprocess; to review and discuss focus group findings; and to solicit ideas for attracting andsatisfying the two new audience segments: families with children ages 5 to 12 and AfricanAmericans. By gathering everyone in one roomto share feedback and suggestions through thefull spectrum of departmental lenses, the NewAudience team also sought to build united sup-port for a major strategic effort that will requiremoney, commitment, and a significant changein the museum’s culture in the years to come.

The off-site meetings were the first timethe Institute had convened a significant portionof its employees and volunteers for an organiza-tion-wide work session. We selected an off-sitelocation for many reasons. Existing museumspaces do not lend themselves to the kind ofmeeting we envisioned, i.e. a large group spaceplus smaller break-out rooms. In addition, wewanted to reinforce the idea that the subjectmatter is important for the future of the muse-um, and a remote location in pleasant surround-ings with excellent food would help supportthat idea.

Off-site for families

The off-site idea generation session dedicat-ed to families took place on September 9, 1996,at the Earle Brown Heritage Center, a farm

converted into a conference center in a westernsuburb of Minneapolis. Invitations came directlyfrom Evan Maurer, the Director of the museum,underscoring the importance of the event. As a result, attendance was very high. Staff and volunteers received briefing materials inadvance, so the exchange of ideas began as soonas participants began boarding school buses fortheir 15-minute ride from the Institute to theconference center.

Coffee and muffins were available uponarrival. Following introductory remarks by EvanMaurer and team co-leader Toni Green, DianeHerman of Cincinnatus presented a video ofhighlights from the ten hours of family focusgroup discussions. Thus briefed, we broke intosmall groups, each with a staff facilitator and ascribe to record the hour-long proceedings. Thesmall groups were charged with brainstormingways for both their department and the muse-um as a whole to attract families to the Instituteand to make their participation as satisfying aspossible. Departments represented wereCuratorial, Education, Marketing and Com-munications, Print and Electronic Media, andSecurity; the Development Department met intandem with trustees; and Docents and Friendsof the Institute — a cadre of volunteers who sup-port the museum through fundraising activitiesand volunteer recruitment and training — metas separate small groups.

The New Audience project team hadanticipated the possibility of some resistance tothe need for a major culture change. Would staffperceive they were being asked to cater to familyexpectations for the kid-friendly, hands-on tem-plate typical of children’s “museums”? Would

m Create a mascot to build awareness ofthe museum as a fun place for families.

m Create exhibition opportunities for chil-dren and families, such as hands-onactivities, art displayed at child height,and artist demonstrations.

m Leverage existing programs (many ofwhich are already successful), includingFamily Days, Art in Bloom, educationalprograms in schools, and Arts Magazine.

m Emphasize that most programs at TheMinneapolis Institute of Arts are free.

m Create more offerings specifically forfamilies, including family-orientedtours, parent classes, and exhibitions ofart by children.

m Provide better support for families within the museum, such as friendlygreeters, family orientation programs,floating docents or other guides, childdocents, printed materials, better signage, better maps, “Ask Art” tele-phones, videos, and customer servicetraining for staff and volunteers.

m Adapt museum elements to be morefamily-friendly, such as adding lessexpensive, more child-oriented food tothe menu in the restaurant and creatinga Family Activity Room.

curators perceive that they were being asked towaste their expertise on creating “McExhibits”in a “McMuseum”? The team’s concern aboutbuy-in proved unfounded, however, as partici-pants embraced the charge to attract and satisfyfamilies with considerable enthusiasm. As onecurator remarked in the small group session:“The people in the world who actually make artare a few adult artists and almost every childalive. The opportunity to grow that creativeimpulse in young people and to rewaken it intheir parents is an exciting challenge. Let’s doeverything we can to get them here and makethat happen. ”

When the large group reconvened, eachsmall group facilitator took five minutes to pre-sent his/her group’s ideas, with another few min-utes reserved for questions and comments. Inthis way, staff and volunteers not only benefitedfrom multiple perspectives; they also got toknow each other a little bit better, making theevent a useful team-building tool as well as a richsource of ideas. The general mood throughoutthe morning was upbeat, the attitude “can do.”

Following the reports, lunch was served —another way of telling everyone that this was avery special event and that their participationwas appreciated.

Common themes

Many common ideas emerged from thesmall group sessions:

m Increase the Institute’s advertising andother communications aimed at fami-lies, such as Family Fun telephone hot-lines, the museum’s Web page, and tie-in promotions with other children-oriented organizations.

What the museum doesfor families NOW

J Public programs atThe MinneapolisInstitute of Artsinclude: monthlyFamily Days, whichprovide thematicfamily workshops,performances, andother hands-onactivities, usuallyrelated to specialexhibitions; familyfilms shown oneSaturday morningeach month; Art inthe Park—a series ofclasses offered in 15differentMinneapolis cityparks during thesummer months;and workshops andclasses for childrenand adults.

J Articles, our recentlyexpanded store, features a children’s section with art-related books, toys,and games.

What the museum does forfamilies NOW

Tailoring programsand services to the needsof children and theirparents is far from anovel concept for TheMinneapolis Institute ofArts. Part of the chal-lenge, then, is to do abetter job of publicizingand leveraging the manysuccessful family

programs we alreadyoffer, such as those listedbelow:

J The VisitorInformation Center isa “concierge service”that provides informa-tion on all museumprograms, complimen-tary strollers andwheelchairs, and self-guided family tourmaterials, among otherservices.

J The TouchscreenMuseum Directory hasa “For Children andFamilies” category thatprovides informationon family activities,baby-changing sta-tions, Family Days pro-grams and films, themuseum shop,strollers, and youngpeople’s classes.

J A menu of specializedtour options with sup-

porting brochuresincludes: DiscoveryTours—self-directedtours of five or sixobjects focused on asingle theme; “If YouHave 30 or 60 min-utes” tours gearedtoward visitors withlimited time to spendat the museum;Treasure Hunts, inwhich children andparents search for

works of art that illus-trate age-appropriateobjects, subjects, orideas; and self-guidedArt Adventure Toursfor families in 11 the-matic groupings thatchildren study in theirschools. Families canalso join public toursor schedule tours forspecial occasions if thegroup includes at leastten people.

Pre-tour videos areavailable upon request tohelp children feel morecomfortable within themuseum environment.

32 33

IDEA

GENERATION:

OFF-SITE

MEETINGS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

For each of these ideas, the small groupssupplied a wealth of detail that would helpenormously with the subsequent developmentof the Marketing Plan in the next phase of theNew Audience project.

Small group highlights

Many groups came up with similar ideasso, to save space, repetition has been prunedfrom the highlights that follow. It was interest-ing to note that even museum staff don’t haveuniversal knowledge of all the Institute’s pro-grams and services. Some of the ideas they sug-gested were things we are already doing!

Print and Electronic Media To attract fami-lies, this division could: use the WorldwideWeb as a vehicle for art-related puzzles andgames for home and school use; develop a chil-dren’s section in Arts Magazine; and publish artbooks for children. As a whole, the museumcould: join with corporate partners to developspecial promotions, always stressing free parkingand admission.

To satisfy families, Print and ElectronicMedia staff could: produce an orientationvideo; distribute colorful gallery maps; and posta “Today’s Activities” bulletin board at the museum entrance. As a whole, the museumcould: promote “bite-sized visits” for familieswith limited visiting time; provide less intimi-dating uniforms for guards; install labeling forchildren under art works; distribute informationabout the museum through the schools; sponsorartists’ demonstrations in the museum; anddevelop a kid docent program.

Education To attract families, this divisioncould: build on existing work with schoolgroups; create souvenirs to promote return visits;distribute a family-oriented quarterly newspaper;and expand Family Days programming and fre-quency. As a whole, the museum could:increase directional signage on streets; establisha stronger presence at community festivals andfairs; provide materials at places of worship; andpromote the museum to suburban newspapers,libraries, and schools.

To satisfy families, the EducationDivision could: add “touch stuff” and demon-strations; expand the Family Tour program; andoffer workshops for adults on how to visit themuseum with kids. As a whole, the museumcould: provide better signage; make sure front-line people have accurate information; maketelephone numbers more visible in metro direc-tories; provide training for phone answerers;establish a “Cookie Nook” to provide snacks andespresso; and create an Information Room.

Development and Trustees To attract fami-lies, this group could: secure funding for newprograms. As a whole, the museum could: con-sider changing the Institute’s name to some-thing less austere. To satisfy families, thisgroup suggested: building on the strength ofcurrent programs; establishing cross-promotionswith the adjacent Children’s Theater; creatingan “?Ask Art!” museum-wide phone system; andproviding “kid gloves” so children can handlesome works of art.

Marketing and Communications To attractfamilies, this division could: create fun newadvertising and work with the EducationDivision on such programs as Art Adventure.

Friends of the Institute To attract families,the Friends could: host kids’ parties and mini-festivals tied to seasons and holidays and capi-talize on the popularity of the Art in Bloom festival. As a whole, the museum could:encourage repeat visits; promote Art Adventurethrough the schools; and publicize current popular programs.

To satisfy families, the museum could:provide customer service training to help museum staff project a friendlier image and simplify orientation via a “yellow brick road” or “paw prints.”

Docents To attract families, the museumcould: send notes or coupons home with kidson school visits; sponsor buses from suburbanshopping malls and community centers; spon-sor children’s performances at the museum; anddisplay children’s art work.

To satisfy families, this group could:train docents to encourage people to come back;incorporate props into shorter, family-orientedtours; and create a Family Day activity wherepaintings “come alive.”

As a whole, the museum could: take familiesinto account in planning the exhibition sched-ule; sponsor tours themed around holidays; andoffer “how to visit the museum” classes throughcorporations and community organizations.

To satisfy families, the Marketing andCommunications Division suggested: “warm-ing up” the lobby; sponsoring kids’ art contestswith child artists, judges, and monthly winners;developing “guard cards” — collector cards withguards’ faces; having kids’ placemats withcrayons in the restaurant; and providing “May Ihelp?” buttons to all staff.

Security “We don’t want people to be afraidof us!” With this theme in mind, Security staffsuggested: greeting visitors to establish rapport;explaining what Security does and doesn’t do inArts Magazine; giving “security tours” to explainwhat guards do; and giving kids buttons as theyleave. The Security group consensus was: “Wewant to help make people comfortable so they’llcome back.”

Curatorial To attract families, this depart-ment suggested: working with citizens’ groupsto develop printed materials for distributionthrough the community and distributing kid-oriented literature at places where kids go —zoos, Children’s Museum, Science Museum, etc.To satisfy families, the Curatorial Departmentcould: use the permanent collection to createmini-exhibitions themed around families, differ-ent cultures, and holidays; provide touchablecomponents in exhibitions; have curators spendtime in their own galleries to answer questions;create some exhibitions especially for children;feature objects that appeal to children, such as adolls’ house; and create storybooks related to art objects.

attract

34 35

IDEA

GENERATION:

OFF-SITE

MEETINGS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Off-site for African Americans

The off-site, half-day idea generation ses-sion for the African American market segmentwas held October 21, 1996, again at the EarleBrown Heritage Center. Structured to promoteawareness and sensitivity along with generatingideas for attracting and satisfying AfricanAmerican visitors to the museum, the sessionkicked off with a provocative mini-play byAfrican American playwright Syl Jones. Entitled“Vanishing Point,” the play highlighted the iso-lation many African American visitors experi-ence when they are under-represented on thewalls and in the halls of an art museum.

In planning the off-site meeting related toAfrican Americans, we did not want to duplicatethe meeting held only a month previously, sowe decided to tap into the many Twin Citiesartistic resources working in the area of diversityto create a different feel for the meeting and tostimulate participants’ thinking. Mixed BloodTheater was selected because they are experi-enced in developing customized theatrical per-formances dealing with sensitive issues in abroad range of organizations.

Following the play, we again broke intodiscussion groups. Each group talked about reac-tions to the play and reviewed videotaped com-ments from African American participants in thefocus group meetings at Cincinnatus.Representative comments recorded by discus-sion group scribes included:

“A museum can’t be all things to all peo-ple; how do we keep it what it is and make itfeel open to all?”

“Let’s figure out how to think differentlywithout losing the museum’s integrity.”

“Let’s not forget to emphasize the com-monality of the human experience as well aswhat sets us apart.“

“We need more African American staff andvolunteers!”

“The museum has good intentions butlimited resources. How can we accomplish whatwe need to do with what we have?”

“We need to educate people so that guardsdon’t have to be the bad guys.”

Informed and energized by their discus-sion, the groups moved on to develop ideas andimplementation strategies for attracting moreAfrican Americans to the museum and makingtheir visits as enjoyable as possible.

Key themes

These ideas, among others, emerged fromthe small groups:

m Alleviate the sense of isolation amongAfrican American visitors by having amore visible African American presenceamong staff and volunteers.

m Highlight the artistic contributions ofAfrican and African Americans artists inthe permanent collection, but take carenot to “ghetto-ize” these works.

m Hire African American curatorial staff toadd multi-cultural awareness to theexhibition planning process.

m Create more cross-cultural events, notjust African American-oriented events.

To attract more African Americans tothe museum, Print and Electronic Media staffsuggested: creating ad campaigns for that audi-ence; publicizing that admission is free; expand-ing hours; and seeding the community withcomplimentary memberships to encouragefavorable word of mouth.

Education To attract African Americans,this division could: involve African Americansin developing an “Open House” programdesigned to attract new audiences; bring per-forming groups into the museum and museumactivities into neighborhoods, especially duringthe summer; highlight the 3M billboard projectdesigned to involve more African Americanneighborhoods and schools; and create writtenmaterials that address concerns identified byfocus group respondents.

To satisfy African American visitors, theEducation Division suggested: having moreAfrican Americans docents in the galleries andhiring an African American curator. Most impor-tant, the small group stressed creating a strong citizen advisory network to provide input and

feedback onthe museum’smulti-cultural initiatives.

m Capitalize on African Americans’ stronginterest in the performing arts by pro-gramming performances at the museum.

m Make the museum more welcoming byimproving greeting and orientationfunctions and helping the guards toproject a friendlier image.

m Work to make the museum more reflec-tive of and responsive to different cul-tural traditions across the board, not justAfrican Americans. Sensitivity to diversi-ty promotes inclusion of all people.

Again, the small groups developed thesethemes in considerable detail, providing theMarketing Task Force with much to choose fromin the planning phase ahead. Highlights fromeach small group discussion follow. Once again,ideas that arose in more than one group are rep-resented only once for brevity.

Print and Electronic Media Group memberssuggested that decisions about major institution-al initiatives are too often segregated by depart-ment — and that cross-functional decision-mak-ing might be a fruitful approach to definingcommon ground and unifying staff efforts. Thedepartment also suggested that the museum gobeyond African art to “unghettoize” the perma-nent collection and include more work byAfrican American and other cross-cultural artists,based on input from guest curators and commu-nity representatives. “Who decides what is greatart?” was a rallying cry here.

How we work with communities of color NOW

A number of advi-sory groups from theNative American,Hispanic/Latino/Chicano, Caribbean,African, and African-American communitieshave worked with muse-um staff to developessential concepts and tooffer practical advice onboth special exibitions

and reinstallations ofpermanent collections.They also work withPublic Programs staff onFamily Days and otherpublic events.

Throughout theyear, our Family Daysfeature different culturesand involve differentethnic communities.They may spotlight acultural festival, like¡Muertos de Gusto!, pre-

sent living artists, such asMr. Imagination andDavid Philpot, andshowcase related musicaltalent, storytellers, andcommunity artisans.

We annually col-laborate with other areaarts organizations on thelocal celebration ofJuneteenth (a nationalholiday that commemo-rates the actual end ofslavery in Texas).

Juneteenth programsinclude a Sunday after-noon family celebrationand a program of filmsby young AfricanAmerican filmakers. Wealso sponsor an annualfilm program with NativeArts Circle.

The Institute’sArtTeam is an award-win-ning program thatemploys racially and ethnically diverse

students from the museum’s immediateneighborhood to learnjob skills and essentialmuseum practices, andassist with the activitiesoffered on Family Days.

Our Marketing andCommunicationsDepartment regularlymeets with staff at minor-ity newpapers to deter-mine what is of interest

to their readers and to gettheir insights about thekind of information thatthe Institute makes avail-able to them. We have anon-going commitment toplace our business withtheir papers.

Finally, we activelyoffer our meeting spacesat no cost to communityorganizations for theirgatherings and events.

36 37

IDEA

GENERATION:

OFF-SITE

MEETINGS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Development and Trustees To attract AfricanAmericans, this group emphasized the need tobuild on the museum’s strong base of currentprograms. Group members suggested: moreradio exposure on KMOJ, the voice of the TwinCities Black community; contacting performingarts groups for tips on marketing to this seg-ment; and developing brochures akin to theSmithsonian’s African American Art Register.

To satisfy African American visitors, theDevelopment Division and trustees recom-mended “a major change in our thinking aboutrecruiting professional staff and volunteers. Weneed to hire African Americans on the curatori-al, visitor services, and docent teams, and weneed to involve African Americans in planningprograms and activities.” This group also feltthat people who come to the museum should begreeted personally. “Welcome to the museum. Isthere anything you are particularly interestedin? Would you like some assistance?”

Marketing and Communications Division Toattract more African American visitors, thisgroup suggested: including more images of peo-ple of color in museum publications and adver-tising; creating an advisory group to help devel-op icons, images, and music for marketingmaterials; directing marketing efforts to Blacksocial and professional organizations and pro-viding meeting space to those groups; andreviewing participation in the Internet ArtsRegistry for inclusiveness.

To satisfy African American visitors, thisgroup suggested: creating a new period roomfocused on the Black American experience; pro-viding in-depth information about specificworks of art; and hosting more traveling exhibitsof interest to African American audiences.

Security Security staff suggested: establish-ing information kiosks; involving more AfricanAmericans in Family Days; and making thedocent program more accessible to AfricanAmericans by providing training at convenienthours.

Curatorial To attract more AfricanAmerican visitors, Curatorial staff suggested:distributing a poster themed around “the AfricanAmerican experience at The Minneapolis Instituteof Arts”; developing a symbol system to identifyobjects of special importance to AfricanAmericans; and recruiting a staff liaison to theAfrican American community. Group participantsvoiced a few other strategies, as well: “We need tosend the message that everyone is invited to themuseum.” “Give kids a piece of ownership, makethem comfortable, and they’ll come back withtheir families.” The group also suggested makingthe planning process transparent—getting themessage to the community that the museum iscommitted to diversity for the long haul andwelcomes suggestions; this strategy might bringthe museum better press coverage, too.

To satisfy African American visitors,Curatorial staff suggested that the visible inclu-siveness of all cultures in the museum’s staff andcollections is the key. “In an ideal world, wewould have Black docents for Asian art andHmong docents for European art,” one partici-pant said. Others suggested capitalizing onAfrican Americans’ stated interest in the per-forming arts by restructuring performances asso-ciated with Family Days and adding performingarts for adults a la “Planet Ordway,” a series ofmulti-cultural events presented by a major St.Paul theater.

To satisfy African Americans visitors, theDocents group suggested: providing sensitivitytraining for all museum staff; providing morerelevant signage for works of art; encouragingdocents to recognize the unique contributionsof many cultures during tours; and making surethat any museum mascot is multi-cultural.

This unwieldy body of material coalescedinto a Marketing Plan in the next phase of A New Audience for A New Century.

Friends of the Institute To attract moreAfrican American visitors, the Friends groupsuggested: recruiting African American speakersto present art-related lectures to churches andneighborhood organizations; establishing amonthly lecture series that brings AfricanAmericans into the museum; recruiting anAfrican American advisory panel to assist inintegrating more relevant activities into the cur-rent schedule, advise on marketing strategies,and help plan getting-to-know-you events; andencouraging referrals by inviting groups in forpersonalized tours.

To ensure a satisfying visit for AfricanAmericans, the Friends group suggested:developing a five-minute orientation film oncontinuous loop and providing written andaudio materials reflecting the Black experiencein art as demonstrated in the museum’s collec-tions and exhibitions.

Docents To attract more AfricanAmericans, the Docents group suggested:extending museum hours to 8:00 PM on Fridayor Saturday night and sponsoring weekly perfor-mances or other events of special interest tomulti-cultural audiences.

satisfy

38 39

THE

MARKETING

PLAN

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

The Marketing Plan is the result of all theefforts of hundreds of people —including staff,trustees, volunteers, and current and potentialvisitors to The Minneapolis Institute of Arts —that you have just read about. The plan itself isthe product of a coordinated effort by a 14-member ad hoc task force made up of museumstaff from all divisions and volunteers. Byrecruiting this interdisciplinary team, theIntitute benefited from a variety of perspectivesand priorities and gained broad-based “buy-in”for the plan. Staff commitment is, of course,what will drive implementation of the plan.

Developing the plan

After an independent review of resultsfrom the focus group meetings and the off-siteidea generation sessions, the Marketing TaskForce convened for four, two-hour meetingsbetween November 1996 and January 1997 toget ideas on paper, prioritize them, and reviewand revise various drafts of the plan.

The Marketing Plan outlines steps toexpand and diversify museum services for abroader public audience. Many of the initiativesin this plan were already in the works prior tothe planning process. Some initiatives merelyrequire a new order of awareness and sensitivityon the part of museum staff. Other initiativeshave found homes and places in the budget ofrelevant museum departments. Some of thebolder programs will require extra funding toimplement, while others may be accomplishedwith no additional resources. With the abovefactors in mind, all initiatives have been priori-tized over a three-year period.

As the distillation of a body of researchresults, the New Audience Marketing Plan isremarkably concise. Most important, it is“action-able.” If the plan is read, applauded, andfiled neatly in department heads’ bookshelves, itcannot be counted a success. The plan is intend-ed to be a living, working document. As a blue-print for building the museum’s capacity toattract new audiences and new sources of sup-port, it merits reading, revisiting, and revising.Most of all, it merits forward motion.

One caveat: The project leaders realizedthat the consequences of inertia would be con-siderable. By involving staff and volunteersthroughout this process, we have raised expecta-tions that the museum is accountable for meet-ing. On the one hand, this responsibility helpsbuilds momentum and commitment to imple-mentation of the Marketing Plan. On the other,a lack of forward motion could have a realimpact on morale. Therefore, please be fore-warned that no institution should enter intothis process merely to “go through themotions,” because the “motions” themselveshave consequences.

Objectives

The Marketing Plan outlines two keyobjectives: (1) to create opportunities for our target audiences to have satisfying museumexperiences and (2) to advertise and promotethese opportunities to our target audiences.

To create opportunities for our target audi-ences to have satisfying experiences, we will:

m Provide more support (both informa-tional and physical) for families andAfrican Americans within the museum.

Growth goals

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts wants tobuild its audience and significantly increase thepercentage of visitors from diverse populations.The museum defines “diversity” very broadly toinclude a full of range of population variablessuch as race, ethnicity, income, level of educa-tion, gender, age, occupation, and location ofresidence. With respect to the two specific popu-lations currently under-represented in the visitorpopulation, families with children ages 5through 12 and African Americans, this plan willaccomplish the following growth objectives byYear III:

m Increase the percentage of AfricanAmerican adult visitors from the current1 percent to a percentage at least as highas the population of the seven-countymetropolitan area (3 percent in 1990).*

* Current figures from 1990 Census and 1995 Visitor Survey

m Increase the percentage of adults whovisit with their children from the cur-rent 10 percent to 15 percent.

Until this point, the research process hasfocused on families and African Americans asseparate markets with discrete needs and objec-tives. It is unrealistic and, in fact, absurd to createtwo separate marketing tracks to attract and satis-fy distinct audience segments. Consequently, theMarketing Plan is where ideas converge, com-bining initiatives designed to expand and servethe two specific audience segments, as well asmuseum visitors in general.

m Create more permanent and specialexhibition experiences that will appealto families and African Americans.

m Adapt museum amenities to address theunique needs and preferences of fami-lies and African Americans.

m Introduce more diversity into museumstaff and volunteer groups.

m Build the museum’s membership base toinclude more families and AfricanAmericans.

To advertise and promote these opportuni-ties to our target audiences, we will:

m Reach a significant percentage of TwinCities families and African Americansthrough targeted advertising and publicrelation campaigns.

m Create more special events and pro-grams targeted to families and AfricanAmericans for the purpose of audiencedevelopment.

m Develop and test a series of targeted pro-motional vehicles.

m Seek the advice of African Americans indesigning promotions, materials, andprograms.

m Bring the community and the museumtogether in innovative ways (via elec-tronic and other means).

The Marketing Plan supports each objec-tive with strategies and tactical examples priori-tized by the Marketing Task Force.

marketing

40 41

THE

MARKETING

PLAN

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

THE MARKETING PLAN

Objectives and strategies to create opportuni-ties for our target audiences to have satisfyingmuseum experiences

This section of the plan is focused on ways in which the experience of new visitorscan be enhanced to build a higher rate of repeatvisitation.

Provide more support for families andAfrican Americans within the museum.

Strategy A: Establish a stronger orientationfunction at the museum entrance.

m Develop an effective way to guide visi-tors to the “greeter” desk.

m Hire and train “greeters” who are racial-ly diverse.

m Let visitors know how to obtain assis-tance/information.

m Redesign the museum entrance to beless confusing for first-time visitors.

Strategy B: Redesign the museum’s mapsand tie more closely to interior signage, and pro-vide opportunities throughout the museum fornew and infrequent visitors to obtain informa-tion about where to go and what to see.

m Place easy-to-read museum maps at aprominent location near the entrance.

m Install more “You Are Here” maps.

m Install “Ask Art” telephones and/orkiosks.

Strategy C: Train staff and volunteers toassist in the galleries.

m Train floating volunteers who moveabout the museum and proactivelyanswer questions.

m Clarify role of the guards and providethem with new uniforms and radios.

m Provide “Ask Me” buttons for museumstaff.

Strategy D: Design and implement a cus-tomer service training program for museum staffand volunteers that includes:

m Initial customer service training.

m Program of follow-up and reinforcement.

Strategy E: Create more support to help par-ents and children enjoy art.

m Station “floating docents” in the gal-leries to talk with families about art.

m Install labels on some objects at lower(children’s) eye level with informationgeared to children.

m Produce a brochure with tips on visitingthe museum with children.

m Provide self-guided family tours with art information and discussion ques-tions (e.g. Treasure Hunts, Art Adventure Tours).

m Hold “clinics” for parents on how tovisit the museum with a child.

Strategy C: Develop or schedule exhibi-tions specifically designed to appeal to targetaudiences.

Strategy D: “Repackage” the collections fortarget audiences through:

m Thematic print and audio tours.

m Computer-designed personal tours.

Adapt museum amenities to address theunique needs and preferences of families andAfrican Americans.

Strategy A: Create a Family Activity roomwith amenities that meet families’ needs, includ-ing child-size seating and family restroom.

Strategy B: Provide foods that have greaterappeal for targeted audiences and are more eco-nomical, including:

m A children’s menu and ethnic-specificfoods in the restaurant.

m Drinks and snacks in the coffee shop.

Strategy C: Provide more diverse items inthe museum store.

m Create a special children’s section of theshop with low-cost, souvenir, and edu-cational items.

m Offer more items of interest to AfricanAmericans within each section.

Strategy D: Improve and promote easyaccess to the museum through:

m More parking to handle peak visitingperiods.

m Promotion of bus transportation.

Strategy F: Provide more support for AfricanAmericans to learn about art of special interestto them, including:

m A printed guide to works by AfricanAmerican artists in the Institute’s collection.

m Information about national AfricanAmerican arts and events.

m Packets of materials highlighting multi-cultural themes and pieces in the collection.

m “Floating docents” who can talk withAfrican Americans about art works ofinterest to them.

m Materials written by an AfricanAmerican historian/writer.

Create more permanent and special exhibi-tion experiences that will appeal to families andAfrican Americans.

Strategy A: Create a family component forat least three exhibitions a year that is interac-tive and participatory.

Strategy B: Establish African American art asan active area of curatorial interest.

m Develop a more complete American col-lection with more works by AfricanAmerican artists.

m Highlight connections between Africanart and African American art as appro-priate.

J Reach a significant percentage of Twin Cities families and African Americans through advertising and public relations campaigns.

J Create more events and programs of special appeal to families and African Americans.

J Develop and test a series of new promotional vehicles.

J Seek the advice of African Americans in designing promotions, materials, and programs.

J Bring the museum to the community (via electronic and other means).

Key strategies

In broad brush strokes, in order to attract members of the target audiences, the Institute will:

42 43

THE

MARKETING

PLAN

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

Introduce more diversity into museum staffand volunteer groups.

Strategy A: Hire more African American staffin all facets of the museum.

m Use an employment recruiter to recruitjob applicants.

Strategy B: Create outreach programs toattract more African Americans to museum vol-unteer groups.

Strategy C: Create opportunities for AfricanAmericans to be involved with the museum,including:

m An ad hoc advisory committee, a coun-cil, a roster of advisors, interest groups,etc.

Build the museum‘s membership base toinclude more families and African Americans.

Strategy A: Promote museum membershipthrough advisory groups, councils, etc.

Strategy B: Redesign family membershippackage.

Strategy C: “Seed” the African Americancommunity with introductory memberships.

Objectives and strategies to advertise and promote these opportunities to our targetaudiences

Reach a significant percentage of TwinCities families and African Americans through tar-geted advertising and public relations campaigns.

Strategy A: Based on focus group research,develop positionings and advertising messagesthat will appeal to families and AfricanAmericans. The messages are:

m The Institute is an art museum withchild-centered activities; we stress learn-ing together and shared activities.

m Everyone is welcome.

m Admission and parking are free.

Strategy B: Plan and execute advertisingcampaigns, including advertorials, in targetedmedia, such as:

m Family Times, Minnesota Parent, etc.

m Suburban area newspapers.

m Insight News, Spokesman, KMOJ, andother Black-oriented media.

Strategy C: Plan and execute public relationscampaigns to reach target audiences.

m Build relationships with key media con-tacts; create target-specific press releasesand other public relations materials.

m Place stories in targeted publications.

m Utilize company newsletters.

m Work with neighborhood groups in sur-rounding neighborhoods.

m Family service organizations (HomeSchool Association, for example).

m African American community, social,and professional organizations.

Strategy C: Create new communicationsvehicles for new or prospective museum visitors,with special emphasis on families and AfricanAmericans, including:

m A publication with broader appeal thanthe Institute membership magazine.

m Direct mail pieces representing thebreadth of the collection and multi-cul-tural themes, and depicting a morediverse audience.

m Coupons and free exhibition tickets.

Strategy D: Create a mascot to build aware-ness of the museum as a fun place for families.

m Work with an advertising/promotionagency skilled in the development anduse of characters.

Seek the advice of African Americans indesigning promotions, materials, and programs.

Strategy A: Utilize our Roster of Advisors.

Bring the community and the museum together in innovative ways.

Strategy A: Create partnerships with otherorganizations to introduce more diversityamong museum spokespersons, e.g. Friends’Speakers Bureau.

Strategy B: Add audience-specific program-ming to our Web site and promote vigorously.

Strategy C: Expand Art Adventure tour program to adult audiences.

Create more special events and programstargeted to families and African Americans for thepurpose of audience development.

Strategy A: Build on the success of the cur-rent Family Day events.

m Test smaller, more frequent familyevents.

Strategy B: Develop and promote tours forfamilies and African Americans.

Strategy C: Create partnerships with AfricanAmerican organizations such as schools, clubs,fraternal organizations, and churches.

Strategy D: Create more special events thatappeal to African Americans, including:

m Extended evening hours with jazz per-formances.

m Cross-cultural learning experiences andprograms.

Develop and test a series of targeted promo-tional vehicles.

Strategy A: Reach more families throughexisting school programs.

m Send promotional materials home with children after school tours of themuseum.

m Send materials home with children par-ticipating in Art Adventure programs intheir schools.

Strategy B: Create marketing tie-ins withorganizations whose programs are for familiesand African Americans, such as:

m Children’s arts groups (The Children’sTheatre, Child’s Play Theater, etc.).

welcome

44 45

A NEW

ATTITUDE:

CUSTOMER

SERVICE

TRAINING

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

The need for comprehensive customer ser-vice training was identified early in the NewAudience project, based on feedback at the firstall-staff project update meeting following the1995 Visitor Survey. Staff and volunteers hadgreat ideas; now we had to prepare them tocarry out those ideas. This would be the first for-mal customer service training ever offered muse-um-wide. A training provider, ProGroup, wasselected in early 1997 and the training processwas implemented that spring, prior to the offi-cial launch of the Marketing Plan on July 1,1997.

As ProGroup described the challenge: “Thefuture of The Minneapolis Institute of Arts liesin making the museum an inviting place that isvisitor-focused and that reflects the tastes of adiverse and changing community. Diversity, andthe excitement and creativity it brings, needs tobe a part of every aspect of the Institute, fromthe exhibit floor, to acquisitions, to publicationsand staff.”

Assessment and course development

The ProGroup training team mined theNew Audience quantitative and qualitativestudy results for background on visitor and non-visitor attitudes and experiences. In order to pin-point specific training needs and gather informa-tion for case studies, ProGroup also interviewedfour key managers and hosted three focus groupsof museum employees and volunteers at variouslevels and functions. After reviewing data on pastdiversity training and all other activities relatingto visitors in the museum, ProGroup developedthe following program plan.

The course—expanding customer focus

Museum administrators determined thatthe staff and volunteers of The MinneapolisInstitute of Arts needed training in both cus-tomer service and diversity. The latter trainingwould provide specific information about theculture and needs of African Americans andfamilies with children. To that end, a full-daycourse was presented to seven separate groups;130 people, including staff and volunteers fromall functional areas, participated.

“Glad you are here”

The training was designed to give staff andvolunteers a clear understanding of the relation-ship between great customer service and the suc-cess of the Institute — and to teach the skillsneeded to provide excellent customer service toeveryone. Specific program elements included:

m A review of the forces in the communityand at the Institute that are drivingchange and presentation of a model ofchange to help participants understandtheir responses to it.

m The concept of Service EnergyTM and theService Energy Model and identificationof specific behaviors necessary to pro-vide excellent customer service. TheService Energy Model is a feedback loopthat measures service energy (hot?cool?) and service attitude (positive?negative?) from the perspectives of boththe service recipient and the serviceprovider.

Sustainable change

Perhaps the most important activity ininstitutionalizing the new customer servicementality is for managers and supervisors tomake a habit of using the customer serviceapproach and language from the course. In addi-tion, the process of developing and deliveringtraining frequently identifies policies and proce-dures that stand as barriers to superb customerservice. Addressing these barriers is critical tobuilding and sustaining positive change. Newstandards will be developed for hiring, for on-the-job performance, and for accountability andconsequences. If we accomplish all of these, cus-tomer service training will no longer be episodic.

m A video presentation followed by discus-sion about how biases affect behaviorand how behaviors might cause gueststo feel unwelcome at the Institute.

m Real-life case studies where participantsapplied their knowledge of excellentcustomer service techniques to addressconcerns and meet the needs of visitorsthrough role play.

The course concluded with an exercise inwhich participants developed Individual ActionPlans around how they might contribute to theService Energy of The Minneapolis Institute ofArts. Participants were also invited to join aCustomer Service Team that will oversee ongo-ing training and help implement key initiativesof the Marketing Plan.

A multicultural team of ProGroup special-ists facilitated the training sessions. In recogni-tion of varying adult learning styles, the courseincorporated an array of learning strategies,including video, small group discussions, roleplay, large group presentations, workbook exer-cises, and more.

service

46 47

MOVING

FORWARD

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

A New Audience for a New Century was

never envisioned as a program, one program among

many others, an occasional activity sandwiched into

employees’ busy schedules. Rather, the comprehen-

sive research and planning process we have just com-

pleted has helped to solidify the foundation for the

way The Minneapolis Institute of Arts serves the

community. Instead of asking our visitors, current

and potential, to adapt to the museum’s rules and

customs, we are working hard to discover what our

visitors expect, need, and prefer — and we are

redesigning aspects of our activities accordingly.

We’re not paying lip service to the need to broaden

and diversify our audience. It has been our mandate

for ten years and will continue to drive the marketing

function at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Significant progress in this regard requires

inspired leadership from the top down — and we

have had it for a decade now, thanks to the

commitment of our trustees and Institute Director

and CEO, Evan M. Maurer. Progress also requires the

commitment and involvement of every employee and

volunteer, at every level. We have set the pattern by

informing and involving them all throughout the

research and planning project via all-staff presenta-

tions, the two off-site ideation sessions, the marketing

Task Force meetings, and customer service training.

At each stage of the project, detailed reports

were made to the staff, trustees, and volunteers,

thereby completing the communication loop. This

slowed the project to some extent, but the concomi-

tant payoff was substantially heightened involve-

ment and buy-in.

These efforts will continue as we apply for

implementation funding, integrate components of the

Marketing Plan into the annual budgeting process,

and carry out the strategies and tactics outlined in

this document. We are very clear that without buy-in

from all constituencies, the Marketing Plan will

become nothing more than a dust magnet.

Again, we would like to cite the valuable con-

tribution of our consulting partner throughout this

project, the Cincinnatus Group. They helped us find

the way to adapt a corporate model to an art muse-

um and to appreciate its value.

We hope that this report is useful to other

museum professionals who are facing the same chal-

lenges that confront The Minneapolis Institute of

Arts. If, in your own planning process, you feel that

input from us would be useful, please do not hesitate

to contact us.

KATE JOHNSON

EDUCATION CHAIR

TONI d.GREEN

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

26 26

THE RESEARCH

PROCESS

A New Audience for a New Century A New Audience for a New Century

A short sidebar

about the research

process could go

here. A short sidebar

could go here. A

short sidebar could

go here. A short

sidebar could go

here.