What is your understanding of ‘brand awareness’ in this context?
In general, brand awareness is a marketing term that describes the degree of consumer customers are able to recall or recognize a brand. Brand awareness could help to keep your brand top-of-mind with your audience. If people know your brand, they can become familiar and comfortable with it. Then, when faced with a decision to buy from you or your competitor, they are more likely to buy from you (Walgrove, 2020).
In the art gallery context, creating brand awareness is to raise the public visibility of the gallery and let more public able to know this gallery. Also, creating brand awareness is a key step in developing audiences and is an effective strategy in marketing your museum.
The McClelland galley is aiming to promote public understanding, education, and the experience of sculpture and contemporary artistic practice in an Australian bushland environment. As well as committed to working with the local and regional community, partnering with arts and community organizations (McClelland Gallery, 2020). Brand awareness will specifically target the local public. Creating brand awareness that the local public will impression of this gallery is about sculpture and the Australian bushland environment and associated with environmental protection.
How are other galleries using media content to expand their ‘brand awareness’?
Social media has become an important new tool in brand awareness marketing. And it helps them sell their products. For example, I have a dress that the British Museum has collaborated with a clothing brand. Although I never been to The British Museum before, I’ve been familiar with it on social media. And brand awareness and the profile of the British Museum is definitely the biggest reason I brought the dress. In their brand awareness marketing, social media is a vital cornerstone. From the research, the British Museum has 1.8 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million followers on Facebook. The Museum’s early social media efforts focussed on cross-posting identical content to multiple channels. After they have an agent for managing their social media channels, the team identified opportunities to develop channel-specific content that makes the best use of each social media channel (Hootuite, 2020). For the British Museum which is already famously long time, its social media content is more likely to allow the visitors able to experience its collections and buy their products across the world and both online and offline. Then expand their brand awareness through the content of their collections and products on media.
Another example of a gallery using the media content to reviving and expand their brand awareness is the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA has one of the most active social media approaches in the museum world. It has 5.1 million followers on Instagram and 2.1 million followers on Facebook. And their Instagram account has been listed in some ranks like ‘the top art Instagram account’, ’12 creators you need to follow on Instagram’ and ’14 Museum with stunning Instagram account’. MoMA publishes new posts on Instagram every day about their collections display, current events, and behind the scene of artists creating. They are using conversational tone in speaking their program and positively communicate with their visitors. When the public visiting its Instagram home page, they will able to know almost everything they want to know about this museum and remember its logo. Its Instagram account has played a significant role in developing its brand awareness.
What media and communication strategies are art galleries using to guide the production of content?
As an example of MoMA, their media and communication strategies are sharing interesting topics in the world of culture at large, and take the time to listen and respond. They try to give their followers special access to the museum’s program and staff, whether through a curator-led live video tour of the galleries or a behind-the-scenes Instagram takeover by an artist. They want to contribute to a lively dialogue in a constantly changing landscape (Mitchell, 2016).
Therefore, MoMA’s social media production content is working on increasing the breadth and diversity of its visitors and improving its brand awareness. And it is same as the most galleries.
Reference:
Walgrove, A., 2020. How To Increase Brand Awareness: Full Guide & Strategy | Taboola. [online] Taboola Blog. Available at: <https://blog.taboola.com/increase-brand-awareness-today/> [Accessed 28 August 2020].
Mcclellandgallery.com. 2020. ABOUT | Mcclelland Gallery. [online] Available at: <https://www.mcclellandgallery.com/about/> [Accessed 28 August 2020].
Hootsuite., 2020. British Museum Case Study – Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard – Hootsuite. [online] Hootsuite. Available at: <https://hootsuite.com/resources/british-museum-increased-engagement> [Accessed 28 August 2020].
Mitchell, K., 2016. Interview by Museum Revolution for MoMA and the Art of Social Media. [online] Available at: https://museumrevolution.com/moma-art-social-media/ [Accessed 28 August 2020].