The Block Museum of Art Digital Strategy Case Study
Lindsay Bosch,
Associate Director, Marketing, Communication and Digital Strategy Education
Northwestern, SoC '04
SAIC, MA Art History & Theory
Career Art Institute of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania, Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy
Northwestern, Medill, Integrated Marketing & Communications, ‘22
Video Data Bank
ABC-Clio Educational Publishing
American Library Association
The Block!
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The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is an engine that drives questioning, experimentation, and collaboration across fields of study, with visual arts at the center.
OUR MISSION
We do this by activating art’s power as a form of insight, research, and knowledge creation that makes human experience visible and material. Fueled by diverse perspectives and ways of knowing, we create shared encounters with art and with one another to deepen understandings of the world and our place within it.
Fuel
My job is to activate our unique identity. The Block’s integrated marketing, communications, and content strategy seeks to “fuel, strengthen, and share The Block’s particular model of a campus art museum.”
• Drive attendance in person and online • Expand audiences, deepen engagement • Elevate resources which help us connect and communicate our work
Share • Build reputation locally and nationally • Drive awareness of our program and impact • Elevate our work, and that of our students, faculty and partners
Strengthen • Create and distribute platforms for our work • Expand capacity to reach audiences through documentation and dissemination • Align with Northwestern goals and messaging
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How we get there… • Website • Videos (Promo & Edu.) • Blog Stories • Teaching Material & Resources • Email Strategy • Publications & Print
• Media & Influencers • News & Reviews • Interviews • Press Events
• Social Mentions • Partnerships • Word-of-Mouth • Presentations • Student Ambassadors
Earned Media
Owned Content
Shared
Paid
Stories
Promotions
• Digital Advertising • Social Media Ads • Print Ads (Art & culture) • Local Chicago • Out of Home 5
The Problem: “What’s On?”
Deeper Storytelling in Digital One of our historical challenges has been consistency of brand message – clear storytelling across the arc of exhibitions. Our exhibition program is part of a more complex story. Our content and communications leverage all of our assets •
Collection - 6,000 works, recently digitized
•
Exhibition Program – Rich history of exhibitions
•
Staff –30 professionals with expertise
•
Cinema – Renowned media arts program
•
Students –Docents, Inters, Fellows past & present
•
Publications –expand scholarship, engage in reflection
•
Campus Partnerships – Robust network across NU
•
National & International Partnerships – Strong ties peers worldwide
•
Faculty – teaching case studies throughout NU
•
Engagement Program – Large public archive
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Content Pillars
TOP STORY THEMES : Museum Areas of Programmatic Focus and Points of Difference Global Perspectives
Interdisciplinary Connections – Art as Research
SECONDARY THEMES:
Museum Areas of Leadership and Reputation
Elevating Teaching & Learning at Northwestern Impacting Student Experience Showcasing Northwestern Faculty Research
Contemporary Issues & Ideas
New Art Histories
Celebrating Staff Expertise and Excellence Sharing Behind-the-Scenes and Museum Best Practices
BLOCK DIGITAL AUDIENCE The Block Museum digital content reaches multiple museum audiences. The museum considers delivery platform and content pillars appropriate to each audience, and recognizes potential for digital to reach multiple constituencies globally and locally simultaneously.
NU Students
NU Alumni
NU Faculty and Staff
Peer Universities
Academic Art Museums
Chicago/ Evanston cultural community
Artists & Scholars
Art world
Meeting audiences where they are… Considering Who is our audience? What is our objective?
Our Communications do not only drive attendance but offer a way to experience & engage The Block’s work itself. Channel
Objective
Audience
Content
Website
Inform Audiences and Visitors – Aggregate all offerings
People who have decided to visit museum, or interact
Jumping off point for information about the museum – “front door” to other content
“Stories” Blog
Advance Content Pillars
Content-affiliated audiences
Video, Audio, PDF, Articles on all content pillars
Newsletter
Inform loyal audience, invite participation
Loyal audience, ”members”
Mix of News, Event Invitations and content.
NU Now/ Press Releases
Reputational Growth
External Press, University Stakeholders
High level stories about museum leadership
Invite participation, disseminate our stories
‘general audience’ skewing local
Links of interest from our peers, photos, blog links
Disseminate our stories, participate in peer conversations
‘general audience’ skewing influencers & press
Short text with links – conversation with other institutions
Engagement with audiences and influencers
‘general audience’ skewing student & art world
Great images of collection and engagement, snappy text
Showcase Block Professional Reputation
Other museums and education sector professionals
Block institutional news, “thought leadership”
Special Project Apps
Grow specialized knowledge in content area
Students and teachers
Project specific information
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Beyond Storytelling: Embracing a Museum-Wide Digital Strategy
THE BLOCK MUSEUM OF ART DIGITAL STRATEGY STATEMENT The Block Museum of Art digital strategy supports and strengthens the museum’s existing mission, vision, and strategic plan through embracing digital engagement and outreach as a core activity of its work.
The Block aspires to use digital platforms and channels to: 1.
extend its commitment as a resource for interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research at Northwestern and beyond;
2.
showcase, cultivate, and catalyze thought provoking discussions about art and its relevance to contemporary life;
3.
provide free, rich, and accessible arts and culture experiences for existing and new audiences.
The Block commits to broadly accessible digital projects as a crucial public dimension of its work, its pedagogical process, and the museum experience. It seeks to pursue digital plans that extend its reach and increase its impact, and to develop digital capabilities and goals across all departments of organization.
WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE? Case Study: One Book One Northwestern
Our Context:
Expansive Teaching Goal and a Hidden Collection • Northwestern University’s free art museum • 25 staff, 5,000 square feet of display • Only collecting since 1998 • 2020 digitized collection of 6,400 objects • Focus traditionally on special exhibitions -no permanent collection galleries
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How can we leverage an unexhibited collection to drive organization-wide teaching, learning, and engagement?
We were seeking a strategic, achievable digital project that would... Build institutional identity beyond exhibitions
Prove collection relevance to our audiences
Increase awareness of digitized collection as a resource Create a process that is replicable for a small staff with limited capacity
Our Solution: Building Collection Content Around Northwestern’s “One Book” Program One Book One Northwestern is a communitywide reading program hosted by the Office of the President. It aims to engage the campus in a common conversation centered on a carefully chosen, thought-provoking book. Annual theme
Crossdisciplinary goal
Expansive interest outside campus and alumni
Conversational topics
Capacious ideas
Year-long duration
Our Process:
What can be routinized? • Select 10 to 12 works that are in some way in dialogue with the theme • Curatorial team of two writes 250 to 500 words on each work • Produced PDF booklet and download package, in a replicable template • Annual social promotion campaign
Simple PDF Book Design
4 years running!
10 Artworks – A Year of Digital Content! 10to 12 “One Book” Objects Selected Annually
Curatorial produces short essays for each ~ 200 words
Communications produces PDF Download Booklet
PDF Resource offered as museum blog announcement
PDF cross promoted all year by One Book Office
Printed Booklet distributed onsite at museum front desk
PDF offered Direct on Issuu education account
Essays Become interpretation within E-museum Record
PDF Offered on Museum Website
Selections become Bloomberg Connects Online Exhibition
Selections become basis for quarterly Zoom Art Talks
Essays become social content throughout the year
Video Edited into Instagram Reels
Talks become evergreen recorded content
Video Reposted as Museum Blog “Collection Spotlights”
Promoted Live event included on museum engagement calendar
Video Called out as Items in Museum Newsletter
Bloomberg exhibition promoted to national audiences
Video Embedded in E-museum record
Project Goal:
Drive to Users Collection Search Interpretation in the content record greatly increases time on site “One Book” packages become our highest viewed sections of collection record Content views doubled YoY over last four years
Project Goal: Evergreen Collection Content Short videos shared to social
Longer videos embedded in Collection Record
3 or 4 annual online public programs are promoted in museum calendar. These focus on single works from package and draw ~200 live attendees
These online talks are recorded and edited down
Blog Post
Project Goal: Access & National Reputation Content presented as online exhibition through Bloomberg and advertised to staff and national alumni base – audience who often cannot visit in person. App showcased onsite offering language translation and audio accessibility of texts.
Project Goal:
Showcase Collection Relevance to Institutional Outcomes “The One Book One Northwestern readings help unify the campus around a theme, and the artworks from The Block’s collection help expand the focus by bringing in multiple perspectives and histories."
Modest Institutional Investment… Big Impact Internally: • Increased cross-departmental orientation for building digital collections projects outside of the structure of exhibitions • Moving towards KPIs that take into account digital engagement in its own right – not as a driver to inperson attendance Externally • Engagement in this project has grown knowledge and perception of our collection and role as a campus leader • Success has justified institutional investment in digital collections work and donor investment in the growing collection as a teaching & learning tool
Keep in Touch @nublockmuseum
lindsay.bosch@northwest ern.edu