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11.09.2004
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Volume Two
Issue Eleven
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Welcome to the November "Arts Marketer of the Month." As winter creeps closer, we are venturing to the far north where Janet Asaro, Director of Marketing for the Anchorage Museum of History and Art tells us about marketing arts and culture in the coldest state in the union. Read on...
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Featured Arts Marketer: Janet Asaro
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Janet Asaro,
Director of Marketing for
The Anchorage Museum
of History and Art
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A native of Michigan, Janet Asaro fell in love with Alaska while on vacation there in 1994. Within the year she had moved north permanently.
Janet has spent her entire career in non-profit marketing and public relations, working for the Girl Scouts in Ypsilanti, Michigan where one of the perks was easy access to a warehouse full of cookies! She then spent 13 years working in healthcare marketing and has taught public relations at Eastern Michigan University.
Janet has been with the Anchorage Museum of History and Art since 2001 and in the Q & A below she discusses the unique dynamics of marketing arts and culture above the artic circle.
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Q & A with Janet Asaro
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Anchorage Museum of History and Art
Anchorage, Alaska
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TELL US ABOUT THE MUSEUM. AS ONE OF THE LARGEST ATTRACTIONS IN ALASKA, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE MUSEUM THAT APPEALS TO VISITORS?
We are the largest museum in Alaska and one of the ten most visited attractions in the state. The Museum's permanent collection holds more than 17,500 objects, 2,000 artifacts and 350,000 historical photographs. This collection offers an overview of Alaska's rich history and an introduction to its varied culture. Our Alaska Gallery, nearly an entire floor devoted to Alaska's history, has on display an actual piece of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. We have one of the best collections of contemporary Alaska Native art. We welcome more than 200,000 visitors each year.
WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE AS THE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING FOR A CULTURAL INSTITUTION IN A PLACE NOT NECESSARILY KNOWN FOR ARTS AND CULTURE? HOW DO THESE CHALLENGES AFFECT THE WAY YOU MARKET THE MUSEUM?
The biggest challenge is one faced by many non-profits - not enough staff. My job is really three jobs in one: media relations to promote more than 20 exhibits to a year-round audience of Alaska residents, summer tourism marketing to attract tour group sales and public relations to engender public support of the museum which is planning to expand by 2011.
HOW MUCH OF YOUR MARKETING IS AIMED AT RESIDENTS OF ALASKA AND HOW MUCH DO YOU TRY TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE TOURIST MARKET? WHAT TECHNIQUES DO YOU USE TO REACH POTENTIAL VISITORS?
We saw a serious decrease in our summer visitors in 1999 after the opening of an Alaska Native Heritage Center. Alaska's tourism market is very driven by the cruise industry, and when the Heritage Center opened, the cruise companies entered into almost exclusive contracts with the center which meant we lost roughly 30,000 visitors. We are still trying to recover from that and are focusing our efforts on targeting independent travelers as well as increasing winter season visitation by Anchorage residents.
Before 2001, my position at the Museum didn't exist. But since the development of a marketing and public relations department, we've seen our media publicity triple. Winter visitation has increased by more than 10,000 visits, and this summer our visitation was up 12 percent. We have a good relationship with the Alaska Native Heritage Center and this past summer we partnered with them to develop a joint admission ticket, which was very successful in pulling in independent travelers.
HOW HAS THE INTERNET AND THE GROWTH OF E-MAIL EFFECTED YOUR WORK AS A DIRECTOR OF MARKETING? WHAT KINDS OF RESULTS ARE YOU SEEING AND HOW IS YOUR MARKETING DIFFERENT FROM OTHER MUSEUMS BECAUSE OF YOUR LOCALE AND THE NATURE OF YOUR VISITORS?
For us e-mail marketing allows us to stretch our budget by extending our direct mail capabilities and the reach of our message. It's much more cost-effective than snail mail and has a built-in tracking mechanism so we can almost immediately evaluate whether or not we're reaching our audience and glean more information about them based on, for example, what links they are clicking on in our e-newsletter. The real beauty of it is that it allows for a more personal interaction with our audience. The potential for two-way communication between the museum and its publics exists with e-mail marketing in a way that's more immediate than snail mail, direct mail or print advertising. E-mail marketing provides a built-in vehicle for our audience to have immediate contact with us, which is as fast and easy as a click of a mouse. It's emerged as a tool for relationship-building.
One tool we've just started using that has been very successful is an online slide show. Our last e-newsletter included a link to a slide show on our Web site of the opening reception of an exhibit on Tibet, which included images of monks as they created a sand mandala. It was the most followed link in that newsletter. People love slide shows- they're quick to view, entertaining and fun. People get inundated with copy to read and images provide a nice mental break. It was a great way to encourage people to visit our site and I'm sure we'll do it again.
OK, TELL US THE TRUTH. HOW COLD DOES IT REALLY GET IN THE WINTER?
The average low temperature is 20 degrees Fahrenheit in Anchorage during winter. It's really the Alaska interior (Fairbanks) and the far north that get the sub-zero temps. In my opinion, this is the most beautiful and livable place on the planet!
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Visit the Anchorage Museum's Web Site
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How Does Your E-Mail Look?
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Are you doing your e-marketing in-house? If you're using Outlook, your mail probably looks like the first image - not exactly the kind of professional image you'd like to project.
In addition, you're probably having to handle opt-out requests and bounced e-mail in your inbox.
If you're feeling that you'd like to move up from your "in-house" method, we'd welcome the opportunity to demonstrate PatronMail to you.
With PatronMail you can:
* Create and Send professional looking e-mails without knowing HTML
* Track & Compare your results with other arts organizations
* Build your list automatically on your web site
* Ensure your mail is not mistakenly blocked by ISPs as Spam.
* Manage undeliverables and "remove" requests automatically
We invite you to schedule a free 15-minute phone demonstration to see how easy and cost-effective PatronMail is.
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Click here to request a 15 minute PatronMail demonstration
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If you have interesting and creative initiatives that you would like to have featured or know of an arts marketer that you would like to recommend for one of our upcoming editions, please contact info@patrontechnology.com.
Please watch for the next edition of our Arts Marketer of the Month, coming December 14, 2004.
Note: The CAN-SPAM act mandates that all commercial e-mail contains a physical mailing address, and ours is: 850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 704, New York, NY 10019
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