Marketing Plan For An Art Gallery National Gallery of Art - Term Paper Example

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Marketing Plan for an Art Gallery Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Company 3 Mission and Goals 4 Core Competencies 5 SWOT ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5 MARKET ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6 COMPETITORS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………7 MARKETING STRATEGY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………8 TARGET MARKET……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8 MARKETING MIX Product strategy………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..9 Distribution Strategy………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9 Promotion Strategy……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9 Pricing Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………10 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT………..…………………………………………………………………………………10 BUDGET and MONITORING..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………13 Marketing plan for an Art Gallery; National Gallery of Art Executive Summary National Gallery of Art is a Washington based art gallery which is more like an art museum. The gallery is funded by government to preserve the art of the Unites States of America and Europe. The gallery has been facing enormous competition by the surrounding competitive galleries and has threat of losing its target customers to these competitors. The National Gallery of Art has come up with a new marketing strategy in order to cope with the rising completion and to retain the existing customers. The new marketing strategy involves market expansion and penetration strategies. It is planning to expand its product line and also to offer a new product by opening up a art school for students who are interested in learning about the American and European art. The main objective of the National Gallery of Art is to preserve the best art pieces from all around the world and pass them on to the future generations in the best condition. In the next three, consecutive years, the organization has planned to implement its new marketing strategy by using a step-by-step procedure. In the first year it will expand its collection base, in the second year it will expand its building and in the third year it will open up its art school. Company description The National Gallery of Art is based in Washington, DC. It was created in 1937 by the people of United States. It was formed as a result of collaboration between the congress and the Andrew. W. Mellon who was both the financier and art collector for the National Gallery of Art. Before his death Andrew W Mellon promised all his collection of sculpture and art to the United States and it was preserved in the National Gallery of Art. Since then the gallery has been like an art museum. It holds many precious paintings belonging to various artists. The collection at The National Art gallery consists of precious art pieces from United States and Europe only (National Gallery of Art 2011) Mission and Goals The mission of the National Gallery of Art is to serve the United States of America by preserving, collecting, exhibiting and fostering the understanding of the work of arts at the highest possible scholarly standards (National Gallery of Art 2011) The mission statement of the National Gallery of Art states the goals of the gallery as well. These goals include preserving, collecting, exhibiting and fostering. The goal of preserving relates to the protection of the collection at the National Gallery of Art and ensuring that it remains intact and is passed on to the future generations in the best condition. The goal of collecting is self explanatory. The Gallery tries to collect the best art pieces and sculpture but limits its collection to the art pieces from Europe and United States. Similarly the goal of exhibiting refers to the exhibition of the collection at the National Gallery of Art. Fostering the understanding of the art works is a major goal of the National Gallery of Art. The gallery has developed its own research centre which conducts research and then provides the information to the art-loving visitors so they can understand the art works properly. The National Gallery of Art strives to stay focused on its goals and to follow its mission statement to attain success (National Gallery of Art 2011). Core Competencies The core competency of the National Gallery of Art is that it has preserved the art pieces that originally belong to the United States of America. It has developed its own research centre and a school of visual arts for advanced study. Visitors are not charged for visiting the gallery. The gallery is funded by government and has the some of the most expensive art pieces. The collection at National Gallery of Art is its point of core competence. The collection is original and epic. SWOT Analysis The gallery’s biggest strength is its collection that it holds. It is epic and huge. No other art gallery in the United States holds such an antique and classic collection. There is another strength that it is a “National” art gallery which means it has a support from the government of the United States. Free of charge visits for the visitors is an added strength. The biggest weakness of the National Gallery of Art is that it does not hold the modern art pieces. Every art piece that they have is really old and belongs to very old artists. It does hold art belonging to the 20th century but not the latest art pieces. There are several other art galleries which promote modern art. National Gallery of Art has its own research centre but this research centre provides a very high level, scholarly information to the visitors. This needs to be simplified for the ordinary visitors. National Gallery of Art relies heavily on public and private funds. National Gallery of Art faces a huge competition from other art galleries, especially the new art galleries. This is a possible threat because the galleries in competition offer several other services which the National Gallery of Art does not provide. These galleries not only promote modern art but also hold antique art collection of sculptures and paintings. Many of these art galleries have their own art schools. There is a threat that these galleries will take away the chunk of the target customers of the National Gallery of Art. To cope with such threats National Gallery of Art needs some innovation. The collecting field of the National Gallery of Art is very narrow as compared to the world’s art. National Gallery of Art has a bright opportunity of collecting precious art pieces from the other parts of the world but to do so it requires huge amount of funding. These threats lead to some opportunities as well. National Gallery of Art is a trusted and famous name. There is an opportunity for it to start its own art school or academy. It can cater to the modern art segment as well and this will increase its chunk of target customers. Another opportunity is that National Gallery of Art can expand its building and start its art school with in the same vicinity. It can divide its building into various segments. For example it can allocate a part of the building to the art school, another part to the modern art and other parts to the century wise paintings. National Gallery of Art has an option of online tour on its website. Customers can view the art pieces and sculpture and other items on the gallery website but they cannot make online purchases. National Gallery of Art has an opportunity to develop such a system that the customers can make purchases sitting at their homes. Selling art online is a risky thing. If National Gallery of Art comes with some secure system it will create a point of differentiation for the gallery itself (National Gallery of Art 2011; Marshall & Johnston 2011). Market Analysis National Gallery of Art has market that consists of consumers who are art-lovers. They are knowledgeable and have high standards of art. These consumers are targeted on the basis of their interest in art and sculpture. The target market comprise of the older segment who are interested in antiques and classical art works. But the current situation has changed a bit. There are several other galleries that have opened up. They are providing an intense competition. These galleries are offering so much other stuff that the National Gallery of Art has failed to provide. National Gallery of Art needs an expansion strategy and requires funds for implementation of the expansion strategy. The environment in which the National Gallery of Art operates is not that hostile as for most of the other industries. Art industry is flourishing because many artists have come to the surface with exceptional art works from all around the world. Competitors There are several other art galleries based in Washington, DC that provide National Gallery of Art with a huge competition. Some of these competitors include Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery, Long View Art gallery, Freer Gallery of Art, and Corcoran Gallery of Art. These competitors provide with a wide array of art collection and services. They just not only deal in the American and European Art but also deal in art from all around the world. These galleries also have contemporary art collections and do not rely on funding only. These galleries have managed to take away a chunk of the target market that the National Gallery of art has been serving. National Art Gallery is coping up with this competition and has developed an expansion and innovation strategy to secure its market chunk. Marketing Strategy First the National Gallery of Art was only focusing on its limited collection. But now it has decided to expand the field of its collection and expand the gallery itself. This will provide more room for the collection. Plus the gallery’s expansion into an art school will be a huge advantage as it would attract vast majority of students who are interested in learning about American and European art. The basic goal of the National Gallery of Art is to preserve the art of United States and Europe. But according to the new strategy, provided that it gets the required funding, it can preserve the art from different places and not only America and Europe (Kotler & Armstrong 1991; Marshall & Johnston 2011; National Gallery of Art 2011). Target Market As explained earlier, the target market of National Gallery of Art is the art loving segment. It targets the people who have huge interest in art and are ready to make heavy investment for purchasing the collection that is present at the art gallery. But according to the expansion and innovation strategies National Gallery of Art is focusing on targeting a new segment. This new segment will be the people belonging to upper-middle class income bracket and also the youth. The youth segment will be the ones who are interested in learning about American and European art. The National Gallery of Art will hold the contemporary art pieces which will be purely targeted to the upper-middle class income group because they could afford to buy such art pieces if not the old, classic ones (Kotler 2000; Marshall & Johnston 2011) Marketing Mix Product Strategy National Gallery of Art has a wide range of products that it offers. These include photographic images, decorative items, antiques, sculptures, portraits and paintings. After the new marketing strategy is implemented this product range will expand further. Items from all over the world would be a part of the collection at the National Gallery of Art. The product will then not only include the art items but also the art courses that will be offered by the school of arts that the gallery is planning to establish. Every product at the National Gallery of Art is a high-quality product (National Gallery of Art 2011) Distribution Strategy The National Gallery of Art is based in Washington, DC. It is the sole distribution channel that the gallery has. The gallery provides assistance for shipment to its customers if the art pieces have to be sent to other parts of the world. Customers have to visit the National Gallery of Art in order to make a purchase and the gallery’s admin will guide the customer further about the shipment procedure and its costs. Within the same vicinity, National Gallery of Art is responsible for the delivery of their products to the customers’ doors. Promotion Strategy National Gallery of Art has developed its own website. This website is updated every now and then by the gallery’s admin and IT team. The site provides with all the information about the offers, recent acquisitions, upcoming events, about the gallery itself, etc. The website provides with all the information about how and where to contact the National Gallery of Art. Other than this within Washington, DC the gallery holds so many exhibitions every now and then; this in itself is a promotion. Website usually acts as a promotion tool to acquire customers though internet and those who live in other parts of the world but are interested in art. Pricing Strategy Collection at the National Gallery of Art is very expensive and not every individual can afford it. Buying such art pieces requires a huge amount of investment. So the gallery only targets the segment which can afford to make such purchases. The gallery ensures that every piece is prices according to its value. Very old art pieces are the most costly and then it also depends on the artists. But once the new marketing strategy is implemented, there will be a change in pricing strategy as well. National Gallery of Art also has a school of visual arts that provides with the advanced study only. Advanced study is the most expensive, so it is priced accordingly. When an art school will be established, pricing strategy will differ from the current pricing strategy. Because every piece that belongs to the prestigious collection of the National Gallery of Art is old and epic, prices are kept high. This is not the only reason for high prices. National Gallery of Art relies on funding, so these high prices provide a cushion to the government which incurs most of the expenses of the National Gallery of Art for maintenance and administration purpose (Marshall & Johnston 2011). Customer Relationship Management Customer Relationship Management, also referred as CRM is an important aspect for any organization. Customer relationship management helps an organization to retain customers. In case of National Gallery of Art, there is not a mass amount of customers present. There are few customers because of the narrow target segment and the high prices of the art pieces. So the National Gallery of Art has to work really hard to retain these customers because all the profit that the organization is making comes from these few buyers. Loyal customers of National Gallery of Art are an asset to the organization. There are proper follow-ups by the gallery’s admin to maintain a contact with these customers. On a regular basis these art buyers are updated about all the recent additions to the art collection at the National Gallery of Art. The administration at the National Gallery of Art has maintained a customer profile for all its valued customers. Follow-ups are done on the basis of these customer profiles. On special occasions like Christmas, New Year’s Eve etc, these valued customers receive greeting cards from the National Gallery of Art. Most of these valued customers are given some discounts when they purchase more than one art piece. As explained earlier, National Gallery of Art relies on public and private funding, and the private funding comes from such customers. Keeping in view the funding options, National Gallery of Art is always working on the edge to retain its customers and not to lose them to the upcoming competition (Kotler 2000; Marshall & Johnston 2011) Budget and monitoring In order to implement the new marketing strategy the National Gallery of Art has to decide on its current budget and how much funds it require to implement the new strategy. The new marketing strategy states the expansion of the collection and the building and also opening up a new art school. Expansion at such a great scale requires a lot of funds. This expansion could be done step-by-step. Together according to the gallery’s admin estimate, the new expansion strategy requires almost $1,950,000. A new monitoring team will be hired to monitor all the expenses and use of these funds. The team will keep a track of all the expenses incurred during the course of expansion, will keep track of how many pieces have been added to the collection using these funds and how much has been spent on expanding the building and opening up an art school. This whole amount of $1,950,000 will be utilized in three consecutive years. The budget breakdown for the three consecutive years is as follows (Resource 2011) Expansion of Building $550,000 Expansion of collection items $400,000 Administrative expense $250,000 Marketing expense $150,000 Opening up of Art school $600,000 Total Funds Utilized $1,950,000 If the National gallery of Art gets the required funds, it can work on its expansion policy. The biggest advantage that the gallery has is that it is also funded by the government. So in future even if the funds of $1,950,000 become less for the whole expansion project, government can provide with the additional funds. A question might arise that then why the government doesn’t provides with the funds of $1,950,000. This question can be answered by using the government Approach. Government won’t pay for the preserving of art from all around the world. It will only pay for the American and some European Art. It is not interested in the art school or the expansion of the art gallery. Plus the government has other expenditures on its list which means that the government cannot provide with this huge amount of funding in one go. As a National Gallery of Art, it is the responsibility of the gallery to provide with all the facilities to the art-lovers that includes an art education. Conclusion Art is not restricted to America and Europe only, neither is it restricted to some era. As a National Gallery of Art it is its responsibility to promote the modern artists as well. The National Gallery of Art should have a section that caters to the modern art and holds the contemporary collection. They should have collection from all around the world, so the American citizens can view the art pieces from other places as well. National Gallery of Art holds some of the best art pieces and some of the most expensive art items. But now with the increasing competition, it is time to implement a new marketing strategy to retain its customers and to acquire new ones. The gallery needs to expand its array of services and products that it offers. That’s the only way to hold its market share; otherwise it will lose its entire share to the competitors. The National Gallery of Art has some realistic goals and solid objectives which can be made real if the gallery manages to get enough public and private funds. References The National Gallery of Art http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/aboutnga.shtm Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (1991). Principles of marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing management. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall Marshall, G. W., & Johnston, M. W. (2011). Essentials of marketing management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Read More