Brand Interactions™ for Arts & Culture: Analysing CX in Museums & Galleries

A visit to an art gallery – just like the content it houses – is hard to truly replicate. The experience is a beautiful juxtaposition of electric chatter and murmured conversations, individual contemplation and communal celebration, historical case studies and modern innovation. It provides ample grounds to delight its audience, it’s full of rich interactions and, if delivered well, can lead to life-long loyalty. In a time of financial hardship, focusing on this experience could be the path forward many brands are unknowingly looking for.

Art galleries and museums as spaces are imperative to society, fulfilling many significant roles for their audience. They enlighten the nation by providing modern perspectives on well-known historical movements and forming new interpretations through international curation. They surprise the well-versed by showcasing unseen pieces from an artist’s life and forming unexpected collaborations. They echo and reflect society–past, present and future–through cultural and political statements. They influence the industry by using innovative materials and technology or introducing multi-sensory formats, channels and immersive experiences. They are a paragon of creativity and culture and a key reflection of their environment.

Individually, these spaces are brilliant brand builders recognised for the content they house, the personality they infuse or the rituals formed by the seasonal events they hold. Just compare the classical tones of the Royal Academy to the more humble nature of the South London Gallery, both a hotspot for emerging artists in the summer months, yet their curation style and stature tap into a very different type of art lover.

Yet despite the role they play and the crowds they conjure these spaces continually face funding cuts.
The UK has one of the lowest levels of government spending on arts and culture among European countries; 6% compared to 70% elsewhere. Like the subject around which they centre, they must evolve their offering and amplify their position in order to survive. But these businesses don’t have endless funds to invest in continual growth campaigns, often relying on private donations or sponsorship.
So how do they stay present in society as a whole, whilst promoting their individual brand, to financially survive?

One solution: innovating the customer experience. Yes, it’s a well-worn word with high financial association. However, innovation doesn’t have to be perfunctory; intentional elevations to an experience can propel a brand forward whilst staying true to its history. Innovation doesn’t have to cost the world; leveraging existing behaviours can create significant commercial impact and build reputation with little uplift required. Artistic spaces are in fact primed for innovation. They tap into changing attitudes, are experimental in nature, open to technology and unafraid to push society forward. In addition to this, their core facets create the perfect foundation for modernisation, which international players are already starting to explore.

Flipping An Iconic Journey

Art museums and galleries present one of the most distinct, intuitive and longstanding examples of a customer journey. There’s a recognisable format wherever you go. It begins with the entrance lobby, typically an electric hubbub with animated crowds through which you cut to find a particular room or exhibition. Beep. Access is granted by the gatekeeper dressed in smart yet sombre attire. Then, visitors can meander at their leisure, absorbing the art on the wall, guided by the architecture be it the spiral staircase at the Guggenheim or the outdoor-in corridor at the Louisiana. A moment to digest is provided by a solitary wooden bench, or vertical window dissecting the city beyond. The artistic enlightenment then comes to a commercial end with a postcard purchase in the gift shop and tete-a-tete over an overpriced scone in the cafe. 

It’s a threadbare format. But it’s changing. Once upon a time, the onus was on the visitor to walk room upon room through the space to fully immerse themselves in an artist’s world. Now, digital walls envelop the viewer from the offset, surrounding them in motionary adaptations of entire collections in one room, in under an hour. Londoners were recently bathed in the swirling textures and amber tones of Van Gogh at the Immersive Experience and similar trends are appearing across the world with Dark Matter in Berlin and TeamLab’s ‘Borderless’ exhibition in Japan. The latter animates art one step further by merging gallery walls to make the experience a continual stream dictated by the customer. In these curated, customer-centric experiences art is effortless to enjoy. The challenge is to create a powerful, immersive narrative that leaves audiences talking, without disorientating the viewer.

Not only is the way in which customers navigate through these spaces changing, so is the time in which to do so. A ‘trip to the gallery’ is typically a daytime affair with nighttime viewings a luxury of your Great Aunt’s membership (think ‘Tate Lates’ on a Friday). Yet some international players are turning this on its head.

Museum Night Amsterdam is a collection of over 50 museums who, for one night of the year, keep their doors open into the early hours. Live DJ sets, food stalls and surprise events transform these cultural checkpoints of the day into a collaborative nocturnal festival; highly sought after by locals and tourists alike. By integrating into a wider experience, in extended hours, these museums increase their reach and open themselves to new revenue streams such as the nightlife economy. 

Another way to expand the experience and deliver art in an unexpected, immersive manner is to leverage subsidiary stages of the journey. ‘The Smallest Room’ by Craft Australia, transforms the typically unadorned toilet into a miniature exhibition, commissioning artists to entertain their obliging audience with tongue-in-cheek installations. Suddenly, a nondescript moment in the journey becomes an unconventional viewing moment.

Through reconfiguration of an iconic journey international brands alleviate effort, create hype and deliver moments of delight for their audience. The experiential uplift increases engagement whilst opening the brand to new commercial opportunities and building its reputation in the market. A similar result can be found by brands that challenge the way in which art is consumed.

Art, historically, tends to be viewed in person, hung on the wall or placed on a stand with a supporting plaque depicting core information. Name of the piece, name of the artist, materials used. These spaces prime the viewer to sit and contemplate, as Olafur Eliasson describes: “The museum is the place where we have time to engage with ideas, to get lost in thought, and to experience the depth of human creativity”. A personal favourite is the Musée de l’Orangerie where the soft, ethereal tones of Monet’s ‘Water Lillies’ are impossible not to sit and admire for a decent half an hour. However, in these contexts, the onus is on the individual to study the piece in situ and investigate further post-visit to delve deeper into the subject – not the most encouraging for engagement.

Consequently, a new tool for observation has emerged in recent years. Enter the dawn of the digital overlay. From ‘Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass’ at The Louvre to ‘Duomo 4.0’ at the Duomo di Milano or ‘Cosmote Chronos’ at the Acropolis of Athens, augmented and virtual reality are providing new layers of depth to historical phenomena. Through 3D representations, these cordoned-off icons transcend beyond their minuscule frames and into the customer’s world. The boundary between subject and viewer is broken and the creation becomes easier to digest with dynamic breakdowns and tangible information displayed.

This ability to extend art is a particularly useful tool for those unable to attend the site itself, as shown by the National Gallery’s digital twin which brings the entire museum into a customer’s home. AR and VR have become valuable tools for brands to make their content more accessible and exciting, providing more depth and exposure to art. However, now widely used in the market, the question brands should be asking is how to use sensory technology with purpose? Sure, it’s a novelty to view Isabella the Duchess of Manchester on the living room wall, and Degas’ ballerinas at the tap of the button, but does this meaningfully connect to the brand implementing the technology?

Take for instance The Dalí Museum, a space known for its ‘unparalleled collection of work’ by the Spanish artist. ‘Ask Dalí’ is an audio experience fueled by AI and machine learning in which customers can ask the artist a question via his infamous lobster phone. Responses are generated from archive audio, delivered in his voice, humour, and personality. Sonic technology actualises one of the artist’s most iconic creations and builds a hyper-relevant interaction between the customer and the museum’s core theme.

Sound is used as a similar tool to amplify the historical nature of the National Gallery in ‘Sensing the Unseen’. The mobile interactive experience pairs zoom functionality on digital artworks with accompanying sonnets and soundscapes to build an atmospheric narrative and bring historical scenes to life. Both demonstrate how sensory-led tools, if used meaningfully, not only make the content more accessible but more relevant to overarching brand themes.

So sensory technology can elevate the brand experience; it can also improve customer engagement. Perhaps seen most by ‘Artlens’ (formerly ‘Gallery One’) by the Cleveland Museum of Art. In this series of interactive tools, facial recognition software and motion tracking encourage customers to replicate artwork on display and share the images captured with others. The initiative has had great commercial advantage, increasing museum attendance by 31%, and the attendance of families by 29%.

“For The Gram”: How Social Platforms & Partnerships Can Shift Perspectives

The shareability of art is perhaps one of the biggest reflections of consumerism in the twenty-first century. Exhibition pictures uploaded to ‘the gram’ are now a pivotal part of the experience, tool for brand awareness and key commercial driver. Consider the work of Yayoi Kusama. It’s hard to believe a yellow pumpkin or polka dot red wall hasn’t appeared on your social media at some point in time. That one image has duplicitous benefits for the museum: without operational lift, it provides both a keepsake for the individual and free advertisement to their social network, who in turn then seek to replicate this moment of consumption. When exhibited at LA’s The Broad, ‘Infinity Mirrors’ reportedly sold 50,000 tickets in under an hour according to the LA Times. Brands who facilitate moments for customers to participate in and share the art displayed can be heavily rewarded. One wonders how this mechanism could evolve to drive awareness in a segmented group, creating exclusivity? Or unlock further parts of the art, to deepen audience interactions? 

Nevertheless, social media has democratised many of the spaces dedicated to art and made them more accessible to the masses. Partnerships also play a pivotal role in this, and most significantly, enable brands to alter audience perception. Many older establishments—those targeted at adults with a primary purpose of educating within a notoriously quiet atmosphere—are transforming experiences through out-of-category connections. ‘L’Atelier des Super-Pouvoirs’ repositioned La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris as a unique opportunity to experience creativity through hands-on play via its partnership with LEGO. From play-through blocks to basketball courts, ‘Canh Court’ a collaboration between Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and Adidas is the first-ever playable basketball court in an art museum, commissioned and designed by renowned Houston-based artist Trenton Doyle Hancock. Partnerships have positioned these brands as playful spaces, appealing to younger demographics with different interests.

Food and beverage partnerships combine interests to help position other brands as a space for social gathering. Take ‘Panama 66’, a new restaurant at The San Diego Museum of Art. Found in the sculpture court, the restaurant transformed an underutilised space into an energetic meeting spot, reflecting both Californian and Mexican culture, with events throughout the day and night. The symbiotic relationship increased museum attendance and enabled the restaurant to participate in regular openings and exhibitions, with food and drink that celebrates the art. The Kemper Museum takes this notion one step further in their ‘Artist Dinner’ series. Chef partners use local produce to create meals in response to the colours, textures and context of the works displayed. Delivered within the exhibition, food becomes a form through which to experience art. Culinary channels help the art spaces connect with their surrounding environment, leverage wider audience interests and ultimately drive higher attendance.

One of the most notorious perceptions associated with art is price. Admission to art and cultural spaces is stereotypically a luxury of the elite. However, for over a decade UNIQLO has partnered with MoMa in a ‘shared commitment to make art accessible to the world’. Not only does the clothing brand create attire to promote artists within the MoMA Collection, their sponsorship provides New Yorkers with free admission on the first Friday of every month. On this night the space becomes a privilege of the inhabitants of the city, not the wealthy. It is not only entwined with its surrounding environment but a symbol of it. This is a great tool for driving brand advocacy and forming a monthly ritual in the city.

Rituals create interesting grounds for innovation. They draw upon unique truths of a brand and use repeated behaviours to resonate on a deeper emotional level. Ritualistic experiences are great tools for building recognition and cementing peak moments in the customer journey. In regards to the MoMA, a ritual is established by the museum for the people of the city. In other instances, rituals are generated by the people of the city themselves. The Duke of Wellington has stood proudly outside of the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow since 1844. Yet for over four decades, he has fashioned a rather fetching traffic cone. The orange headdress has been removed one too many times to count yet always reinstated by the public, a continual to-and-fro that perfectly reflects the playful nature of the city. Rites like these provide emotionally rich and highly bespoke grounds for ideation; the trick is knowing how to do so without trivializing a unique tradition in play. 

Iconic journeys, versatile content, purposeful technology, meaningful partnerships, emotive rites. Artistic spaces have proven themselves as the perfect foundation for innovation. But it’s brands who innovate with purpose who will hold a prominent place in audience minds. Impact comes from ideas which curate content whilst removing friction in the journey, hold attention whilst amplifying the subject, create surprise whilst reinforcing the brand position. Growth comes from ideas which extend into new spaces, connect with new desires, relate to surrounding environments. Play in these grounds and the potential, like art, is endless. 

Matter Of Form is a design consultancy specialising in brand strategy, CX and digital innovation for timeless brands. Our proprietary Brand Interactions™ framework maps and analyses your brand's experience end-to-end, identifying common themes and opportunities for meaningful innovation. 

To find out more, get in touch with one of our consultants via hello@matterofform.com.