An IMC plan for the Jewish Museum

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Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for The Jewish Museum
Mission Statement: The Jewish Museum is dedicated to the enjoyment, understanding,
and preservation of the artistic and cultural heritage of the Jewish people through its
unparalleled collections, distinguished exhibitions, and related education programs. Using art
and artifacts that embody the diversity of the Jewish experience from ancient to present times,
throughout the world, the Museum strives to be a source of inspiration and shared human values
for people of all religious and cultural backgrounds while serving as a special touchstone of
identity for Jewish people. As a vital cultural resource for New York residents and visitors of all
ages, the Museum also reaches out to national and international communities as it interprets and
preserves art and Jewish culture for current and future generations. Approved by the Museum’s
Board of Trustees on November 15, 2000.
Part I—Situation Analysis
Strengths
 The Jewish Museum has a clear identity and mission statement
 Has a large and historic permanent collection with a strong focus on contemporary art
 Location on Museum Mile in the preserved Warburg Mansion
 Strong and active social media presence
 Free admission on Saturdays, as well as pay-what-you-wish admission on Thursday
evenings from 5PM to 8PM
 Attractive gift shop

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Weaknesses
 The Jewish Museum's identity does not match its public image, which is unclear to wide
audiences
 The museum lacks brand awareness and promotion that would change public perception
of the museum's identity
 Museum's website needs to be redesigned in order to strengthen its overall presence
Opportunities
 Use The Jewish Museum's mission statement to guide the IMC campaign
 Get more media attention and press coverage across multiple platforms in order to raise
awareness of the museum's profile and change the public's attitudes and beliefs
 Use its own website and social media accounts more effectively to promote the gift shop,
membership packages, and Saturday attendance
Competitive Institutions (Threats)
 The Museum of Modern Art in Midtown is the major New York institution for modern
art and includes contemporary art and artists in its collection
 The Whitney Museum of American Art on the Upper East Side (not Museum Mile;
currently working on building expansion project in the Meatpacking District) focuses on
modern and contemporary American art and living artists
 The Center for Jewish History near Union Square describes itself as "a cultural
institution, independent research facility and destination for the exploration of Jewish

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history and heritage" and includes the Yeshiva University Museum as one of its partner
organizations
 The Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City promotes itself as "A Living
Memorial to the Holocaust" and focuses on modern and contemporary Jewish history as
it relates to World War II and the Holocaust
 The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side incorporates Jewish history into its
interactive and site-specific tours
Part II—Marketing Strategy
Competitive institutions include those that focus on Jewish culture or modern and
contemporary art. Several museums in New York focus on Jewish history, including the
Tenement Museum, the Center for Jewish History, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Other
large museums that focus on modern and contemporary art include the Museum of Modern Art
and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
The overall goal of the IMC campaign is to coordinate The Jewish Museum's identity
with its image. For this project, I chose to position The Jewish Museum by its attributes and
benefits. The museum has several strengths that make it a unique institution that differentiates it
from its competitors, and every visitor will find something with which to connect. Using this
marketing strategy is the best course of action for The Jewish Museum's IMC plan, as other
positioning strategies would be unsuitable. Both user and competitive positioning are not in tune
with the museum's ethos, and to use either strategy would be inappropriate in reaching the
museum's goals.

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Positioning by user would be detrimental to the campaign, as the museum stresses the
importance of shared experiences, regardless of religious or ethnic background. The goal is to
attract as a wide a range of people as possible while still focusing on geographic and behavioral
similarities of people in the target market. Positioning by competitor would also be a poor
marketing strategy, as the aforementioned institutions have benefits in their own right.
Part III—Target Market Description
Demographic and geographic information is relevant in targeting the desired audience for
The Jewish Museum, but psychographic and behavioristic traits are more useful in defining the
museum's audience. The target market consists of men and women between the ages of 18 and
40 who live in the New York City metropolitan area. Demographic factors such as occupation,
race/culture/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are not as important in describing the target
market as are attitudes and behavior.
The Jewish Museum's target market consists of educated, politically liberal individuals
who share similar values and behavior patterns. Close relationships with friends and family are
important, as well as diversity within their social circles and larger community. Culture informs
the target market's lifestyle, and they seek out new experiences and enjoyment. Because of the
age range, members of the target audience have grown up amid a media-saturated society and are
aware of the ways in which advertising functions.
These psychographic traits result in several types of behavioral tendencies. The museum's
target audiences have active social lives and frequently participate in cultural activities, museums
included. They are media savvy and heavy internet users, making them active in social media,

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online retail, and are active consumers of blogs and e-magazines. The use of public
transportation in the area plays a major role in the behavior of the target market. The IMC
campaign uses this factor as a major part of its advertising strategy. However, since the market
includes the metro area and not just New York City five boroughs proper, some in the target
market have a need to drive, if just occasionally.
Part IV—Creative Brief
Advertising and Communications Objectives
 Create a cohesive message in order to convey the museum's identity to the public through
print and radio advertisements
 Increase awareness of the museum in order to send and reinforce messages to the target
audience
Target Audience
 People in the New York City metropolitan area who use public transportation and
consume media in print and digital formats
 Individuals who emphasize the importance of diversity, new experiences, and what their
communities have to offer
Key Benefits
 Exploring art and culture from ancient to modern times

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 The museum can many things to many people, so use symbols with positive and historic
meanings that stress inclusivity and multiculturalism
 The Jewish Museum is a place for everyone regardless of nationality, culture, or religious
affiliation
 Have beliefs and values reaffirmed by the ad campaign and believe that The Jewish
Museum's identity echoes their own
Creative Strategy
 Both print advertisements will use a combined informational/emotional appeal and
image/factual message in their execution
 Radio ads will use an informational appeal and factual message in their execution,
focusing on the use of feature appeal and competitive advantage appeal
 The tone and image of the ad campaign are meant to be formal and straightforward while
evoking beauty and history
 The visual goals of the campaign are to make the museum's logo recognizable next to
cultural symbols while looking modern in its use of white space, black Helvetica font,
and color scheme
Supporting Information
 The stand-alone ad for The Jewish Museum needs to work across several platforms, and
it can work in black and white print as well as in color
 The ad for the Laurie Simmons exhibition is designed to be timely and temporary, and
can be used for public advertisements

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Part V—IMC Plan and Campaign
Campaign Objectives
 Increase press coverage 20% by December 2015
 Increase attendance on Saturdays 5% by December 2015
 Increase awareness of the museum's image through the use of print and radio advertising,
publicity, social media, and direct marketing 10% by December 2015
 Increase favorable attitudes and behaviors from members of the target market 5% by
December 2016
Advertising
 Print
o Vehicles: for this campaign, print advertising refers to newspapers, magazines,
websites, and outdoor placement on public transportation. Newspapers would
include The New York Times, The Village Voice, and The Wall Street Journal,
magazines like New York, Time Out New York, and The New Yorker, and websites
and blogs about Jewish culture and contemporary art.
o Scheduling: Start running ads for Laurie Simmons exhibition six to eight weeks
prior to opening. Public transportation ads will stay up until the week after the
exhibition closes. Print ads will run weekly until the last week of the exhibition.
Web ads will run daily.
o Rationale: Print advertising targets the desired geographic segment, and using a
pulsing media strategy will help maintain a continuous presence but the number

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of advertisements can be increased for new exhibitions and special events during
those times.
 Radio
o Vehicles: WQXR and WNYC
o Scheduling: Run 30 second ads two times an hour during drive time hours
(6AM—10AM and 3PM—7PM) Monday through Friday. Run 60 second ads
once an hour during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) from 6AM—6PM.
o Rationale—Radio also targets the desired local audience and uses a pulsing
strategy, and hearing a call to action is potentially more effective than just seeing
or reading the message.
Direct Marketing
 Mail postcards for special with the goal of generating a response, and these can be
customized as needed. For this specific campaign, postcards will be sent to individuals in
the target market in order to raise awareness of The Jewish Museum's Saturday hours. For
this program, schedule mailings to arrive Thursday or Friday. The primary print ad for The
Jewish Museum will be on one side and copy on the other.
Publicity
 Use press releases in order to create awareness and maintain public image with the overall
goal of generating more press coverage about The Jewish Museum.

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Internet/Interactive Marketing
 Encourage visitors to use social media during Saturday museum hours and have them post
pictures on the museum's social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Part VI—Campaign Rationalization
The Jewish Museum's identity and mission statement are clear and focused, but the
museum's image does not match its identity. The mission statement informs the promotion
element of the marketing mix and strengthens the other components—product, price, and
place—of the overall IMC plan. As such, this IMC campaign focuses on creating awareness
through advertisements and creating an image to match its identity though direct marketing,
publicity, and interactive marketing.
Any organization's messages, information, and images need to remain consistent across
various platforms, and doing so strengthens the museum's brand identity in the minds of
consumers. When I did the communications audit for The Jewish Museum, I saw that it had a
consistent message across its many social media platforms. I adapted it as a tagline for the print
and radio advertisements: Exploring art and culture from ancient to modern times. I used the
same line in order to reinforce the museum's message and institutional emphasis.
The look and visual qualities of the print ads, as well as their placement, also tie into The
Jewish Museum's image. For the first print ad, I used the museum logo with a pomegranate and
an olive branch, both of which are ancient symbols with positive connotations and meanings.
The pomegranate's symbolism also dates from ancient times and has seen a boost in popularity in
North America in the last few years. They have been cultivated in the Middle East, Southeast

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Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Mediterranean for centuries. Across times and cultures,
the pomegranate can represent prosperity, ambition, fertility, and love. The olive branch is a
symbol of peace and victory deriving from ancient Greece and has been found in most cultures
and religions in the Mediterranean since antiquity. They are good symbolic and visual
representations of The Jewish Museum's identity and values as a cross-cultural and timeless
institution. The specific images of the pomegranate and the olive branch used in the ad are
decorative objects available through The Jewish Museum's gift shop. If viewers find the objects
aesthetically pleasing, they can purchase the pieces or take photos and post them online. The
print ad also conveys the importance of the museum's website by integrating it visually with the
museum's logo.
The main Jewish Museum ad could also run in national publications and those with a
long lead time and not feel dated. Over time the museum could reach national—even
international—prominence as a leading center of contemporary art. While this will not
necessarily increase the museum's foot traffic in the short term, it could help increase web traffic.
For the Laurie Simmons ad, I wanted to make it stand on its own but still be visually
cohesive with The Jewish Museum's main print advertisement. A lot of her work explores
themes of domesticity, modern living, and interior spaces, so I wanted to emphasize that while
referring to the lifestyle and values of a targeted user. It is designed to work across many
platforms, such as public transportation or as a banner ad on a website.
Press releases allow the museum to create news and image, as advertising is used mainly
to increase awareness. Press releases, like advertising, create awareness and target a large
audience. Publicity also allows an organization to control its image and cultivate relationships

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with news outlets. Sending out more press releases will get more press coverage, which is the
first goal of The Jewish Museum's IMC plan.
Nonprofit organizations have one of the highest response rates to direct marketing. Along
with radio advertisements, direct mailing is used to raise awareness of The Jewish Museum's free
admission on Saturdays. Postcards are sent instead of sealed envelopes, so any message the
museum sends will be seen. Direct mail also creates a call to action and can get people to change
behavior, which is the last of The Jewish Museum's IMC campaign objectives.
The Jewish Museum has an active internet presence, and for this campaign the museum is
targeting people who are well-versed in technology and heavy media consumers. Encouraging
participation on Saturdays allows visitors to engage actively with the museum, which
personalizes their experiences and makes them more meaningful. This program would help
reinforce positive attitudes about The Jewish Museum and can serve as a model for future
marketing plans involving social media and the Internet.
There is also a lot of overlap in each IMC element—for example, e-newsletters could be
considered both direct marketing and Internet marketing. The overlap of elements can increase
and become more sophisticated depending on the success of this campaign. For example, The
Jewish Museum could use direct marketing along with sales promotion or other incentive.
Post-campaign research and analysis will determine whether or not this plan will work.
The objectives are modest but attainable and will help inform future IMC plans. Short-term goals
involving sales, web hits, and attendance will also help in evaluating the success of the IMC
campaign.
While the museum is responsible for getting its messages across to the public, attitudes
and behaviors cannot be measured meaningfully until brand awareness can be measured. Brand

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awareness needs to be measured at the same time as increased coverage in order to tell whether
or not an organization's publicity initiatives are working. A person can be aware of a brand or
product but have no opinion toward it. However, repeating the same message across several
platforms for an extended period of time will ideally shift public perception toward something
favorable.