A fascinating article appears in today’s NY Times about how Museums have started to do real customer research and try and understand why people do or do not check out their art. One of the trends the Museum of Modern Art in NYC noticed is that younger folks — 20 to 30 year olds — were not visiting museums as much. So to change this downturn, they started something called Pop Rallys which consisted of screenings, gallery tours and collaborations with musicians, such as Patti Smith, Chicks on Speed and Paper Rad.

MOMA asked their younger employees to organize these events. What a great idea. What a great insight into your target audience. These events now attract up to 1000 folks at a time. In targeting this audience, MOMA has also been working on getting its marketing messages (Yes, Museums can market) to younger folks’ cell phone and handheld devices. Talk about trying to reach your audience. I love it!

Read the article