Marketing and Public Relations for Museums, Galleries, Cultural and Heritage Attractions

Visitors to museums, galleries, heritage sites and other not for profit attractions receive their information in changing ways. Communications channels are shifting and developing all the time, presenting new challenges to cultural PR and Marketing teams. Marketing and Public Relations for Museums, Galleries, Cultural and Heritage Attractions, as well as providing some of the theory of marketing, provides the latest available case studies coupled with comments and advice from professionals inside and outside the cultural sector to describe the possibilities and outline strategies for the future.

A strong theme of change runs through each chapter. The economic climate is already affecting the publicly funded sectors and business and private sponsorship. How will it change over the next few years? The print media is contracting; reading and viewing patterns are changing as online and mobile media grow. What are the trends here, in Europe, US and elsewhere? Sustainability and global warming are not just buzz words but will have a real impact on public and private institutions and their visitor patterns. Population patterns are also changing with new immigrants arriving and the proportion of over 60s increases in Western countries. Cultural tourism has enjoyed a great surge in popularity and huge investments are being made in museums, galleries and events. Marketing and PR play a crucial role in the success of such ventures and will be illustrated with case studies from the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Middle East and China.

Marketing and Public Relations for Museums, Galleries, Cultural and Heritage Attractions is aimed at students of marketing, museums, culture and heritage as well as professionals working in a range of cultural organisations from small to large and at different stages of market development from new entrants to those offering mature products. This includes museums, galleries, heritage and visitor attractions, community organisations, as well as organisers of festivals, markets, craft fairs and temporary exhibitions.

Ylva French has over 25 years’ experience as a marketing and public relations professional working in the arts, tourism, leisure, museums and heritage. She has set up her own marketing communications agency, and has operated as an independent consultant in the arts and museum sectors, as well as running the Campaign for Museums. She wrote the Blue Guide London (A&C Black – five editions) and with Sue Runyard has co-authored the Marketing and Public Relations Handbook (2000).

Sue Runyard is former Head of PR for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She has served as press officer for two cabinet ministers during a secondment to the Cabinet Office, and has administered a national Marketing Grants Scheme, working with hundreds of heritage and tourism organizations throughout the UK. She has published several books and papers and contributed to many overseas projects.