1. Branding the Visitor Experience Philadelphia Visitor Experience Conference
October 12, 2015
Alisa Martin
Vice Director, Brand Management and Visitor Services
Burtynsky Show
January 16, 2019

2. CELEBRATE THE ATHLETE IN ALL OF US EXCITING THE LEARNING IN EVERYONE
EXPECT MORE, PAY LESS
THINK AGAIN, LOOK AGAIN
Too often, when organizations think of branding, or rebranding, they are referring to a logo, a slogan – the outside view. But if they stop there, or start there, the job is only half done.
CELEBRATE THE ATHLETE IN ALL OF US
EXCITING THE LEARNING IN EVERYONE

3. BRAND = PROMISE
Your brand is the promise you make to deliver a unique experience to your visitors. It’s what people say about you when you aren’t in the room. During our time together this morning, we’re going to roll up our sleeves, look under the hood if you will, and share ideas to make sure our brands are sustainable, meaningful, and not just window dressing. So let’s take a look at key elements toward building strong brands that resonate with our visitors.

4. Branding the Visitor Experience
Make sure the right people are at the table.
Know your audience.
Recognize your unique qualities and the experience you provide.
Engage and grow your audience.
Acknowledge trade-offs.
Exercise patience.
And understand that truly getting this right takes a while – as in, FOREVER. We’re always learning, there is always the opportunity to get better, to reinforce best practices. So let’s drill down deeper into each of these components.

5. Who are the decision-makers?
Consider organization structure
Promote strategic focus
Manage complete cycle of the product or service
Include frontline staff
A good source if you’d like more information here is David Aaker’s Aaker on Branding – 20 Principles That Drive Success.
And it is essential that someone representing the perspective of the frontline staff have a place at the decision-making table.

6. Visitor Motivations - John Falk & Lynn Dierking
Explorer
Facilitator
Experience Seeker
Professional/Hobbyist
Recharger
Respectful Pilgrims
Affinity Seekers
Reasons people give for visiting museums and their post-visit descriptions of the experience have tended to cluster in these basic categories:

7. Your audience is motivated by many factors, and they have options
Your audience is motivated by many factors, and they have options. What is your Mona Lisa? (And yes, I was an experience seeker last spring, snapping a picture with my phone.)

8. What makes you so special?
SWOT Analysis against competitors
What are you doing that your competition thinks is impossible?
Unique brand experience
You provide the clues or signals.
Your audience always has an experience.
Every exchange your audience has with you is part of the brand experience. The intended as well as the unintended.

9. Effective Practices for Building Arts Audiences - Bob Harlow
The Wallace Foundation published a wonderful report last year that’s chock full of examples from case studies of arts organizations successfully building audiences while staying true to their brands.
Effective Practices for Building Arts Audiences - Bob Harlow

10. Effective Practices for Successful Audience Engagement
Recognizing when change is needed
Identifying the target audience that fits
Determining what kinds of barriers need to be removed
Taking out the guesswork: Audience research to clarify the approach
Thinking through the relationship

11. Effective Practices for Successful Audience Engagement
Providing multiple ways in
Aligning the organization around the strategy
Building in learning
Preparing for success

12. Something’s Gotta Give
What is on the cutting room floor?
Hard choices
ROI
Funding challenges
Ticket pricing
Relationship building

13. Are we there yet? Organizational change takes time
Resistance is natural
Shiny objects attract attention
Commitment to the long run

14. Digital Age Unique challenges and opportunities Audience expectations
Great divide
Tech focus

15. Are your antennae up? Are you paying attention?