Promoting and marketing the Museum
A key focus for 2012–13 was to develop marketing initiatives to meet the Museum’s strategic priority of building the Museum’s profile.
To build the Museum’s profile in local, national and international markets, a digital marketing strategy was developed which included an analysis of the online audience, social media and national online advertising. Implementation of this strategy will start in the 2013–14 financial year.
The Museum participated in the Australian Tourism Exchange in Sydney, Australia’s premier tourism trade event, and the Australian Tourism Export Council Symposium in Adelaide. Attending these events gave the Museum access to international distribution networks and the opportunity to raise the profile of the Museum and build relationships with suppliers, agents and wholesalers working in international tourism markets.
This financial year, the Museum launched a quarterly tourism industry e-newsletter, which is the only one of its kind from a national cultural institution. The newsletter targets the tourism and business sectors in the Canberra region and provides advance notice of key events at the Museum.
The Museum was selected to participate in the ‘Human Brochure’ campaign run by Australian Capital Tourism in 2012–13. The campaign was designed to generate positive perceptions of Canberra and encourage visitation during the Centenary year by creating a community of advocates. The Museum was selected under the ‘arts and culture’ and ‘family fun’ categories. In October 2012 and February 2013, the Museum was host to ‘social media savvy’ Australians who, in return, shared their experience with family, friends and peer networks via social media channels.
The launch of the Main Hall redevelopment, the new Museum Cafe, and the temporary exhibition program for 2012–13 have been a primary focus for marketing. Strategies and creative campaigns were developed for the major temporary exhibitions, Museum Workshop: The Art, Science and Craft of the Conservator and Glorious Days: Australia 1913, and two First Australians Focus Gallery exhibitions that opened during the year. Marketing supported an event program that helped to build awareness and strategically market these exhibitions to special interest groups. For Glorious Days, partnerships with the Centenary of Canberra, National Folk Festival, Crowne Plaza, Palace Electric Cinema and Foxtel were key aspects of the marketing strategies. Wholesale distribution of tickets to Glorious Days provided the Museum with further promotional opportunities via nationally branded accommodation properties.
Advertising and market research
In accordance with reporting requirements contained in Section 311A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, the Museum annually reports expenditure on advertising and market research. Expenditure by the Museum in 2012–13 is summarised in the following chart:
| Firm | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The Federal Capital Press of Australia | Media advertising organisation | $12,463.00 |
| Canberra Times | Media advertising organisation | $37,389.00 |
| Prime Media | Media advertising organisation | $33,866.80 |
Note: In accordance with Section 311A(2) of the Act, only payments over $12,166 are reported.
The Museum and the media
The Museum’s relationship with the public continued to be enhanced by media coverage throughout the 2012–13 year. Both print and broadcast media were used to promote exhibitions, public programs and fundraising projects. The most popular stories, as measured by broadcast audience numbers and print circulation figures, were:
- donation of equipment relating to the work of Fred Hollows
- Menagerie: Contemporary Indigenous Sculpture exhibition
- Glorious Days: Australia 1913 exhibition
- Museum Robot Project
- Museum Workshop: The Art, Science and Craft of the Conservator exhibition
- the Royal Daimler Project.
A public callout in May 2013 for four historic bicycles to enhance the Museum’s collection resulted in an overwhelming public offer of donations and led to an ongoing ABC radio slot to promote the Museum’s activities year-round.
In 2012–3 the Museum reached a combined broadcast and print media audience of 49,098,369. This included a radio audience of 2,377,800, a television audience of 5,465,000 and print circulation to 41,255,569 readers.
National Museum of Australia Press
National Museum of Australia Press was established in 2004 and publishes scholarly and special interest titles, corporate titles, as well as books for general readers and exhibition catalogues.
In 2012–13 the press published two exhibition-related books, Glorious Days: Australia 1913 and Behind the Lines: The Year’s Best Political Cartoons 2012. It also published Collection Stories, which highlighted significant objects in the Museum’s National Historical Collection and a publication, Landmarks: A History of Australia in 33 places, that drew on objects from the Landmarks: People and Places across Australia permanent gallery.
The Press published two issues of the Museum’s scholarly journal, reCollections: A Journal of Museums and Collections, a number of corporate publications, and two issues of The Museum magazine. The Museum magazine is distributed nationally and presents information on a diverse range of exhibitions, programs and activities.