Transmedia Marketing Strategy
Partnership with David Owsley Museum of Art
My Roles & Responsibilities
UX design
UX research
Deliverables
Empathy Research
Strategy framework
Plan Mockup
Length Of The Project
8-month
Tool
Figma
Adobe PS
Adobe AI
Adobe ID
Design Brief
This creative project is designed to explore how to help the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) increase audience engagement, as well as generate awareness and attract potential visitors.
Challenges
Identify and understand the demographics of the DOMA audience
Evaluate DOMA’s existing programs, events, and offerings
Develop a transmedia marketing campaign that includes digital and physical platforms to increase audience engagement.
Opportunity
-
How Might We (DOMA) reach out to new visitors from the Muncie community to visit the museum?
-
How Might We (DOMA) promote the museum and its programs?
THE PROCESS
-
Identify the key stakeholders and their relationships.
-
Empathy research
-
Define the problem
-
Problem statement
-
HMW questions
-
Saturate and Group
-
Brainstorming
-
Design
-
User testing
-
Concept testing
GOAL
Ideally, after the completion of the creative project, there will be an increase in DOMA visitors and greater diversity among audience members who participate in DOMA’s events.
Stakeholder Matrix
Demographic and Empathy Research
For the purpose of demographic and empathy research, this study focused on "Final Friday", an event organized by DOMA. The survey was conducted during the fall semester of 2017 and 50 participants were randomly selected to complete the survey at the entrance of the main event activity. Of the 50 participants, three were under the age of 18, and seven left more than 50 percent of the survey blank and were therefore excluded from the analyses, leaving a sample of 40 respondents.
Demographic of samples (fall, 2017)
Age
Gender
Relationship
with BSU
To understand the characteristics of visitors, demographic analyses were conducted. The results indicated that the majority of visitors were female, Ball State-related, and between the ages of 18 and 25.
Results of participants’ abilities from Final Friday event (fall, 2017)
The results of the participants' abilities indicated that Final Friday provides a fair opportunity for participants to learn, network, and express their views. However, the standard deviation shows that some participants have less ability to network and express their views at the event. Therefore, improving networking and expressive abilities could be two aspects to engage participants.
Results for
Final Friday event rating by categories
The survey respondents gave Final Friday a high level of approval, with a reasonable deviation from the mean. This indicates that the event delivers a good experience to the participants. Therefore, the strategy framework was designed based on the other data from this analysis."
To gain a better understanding of how the museum promotes its events, I analyzed data from a self-report survey conducted in Fall 2017, as well as two surveys from the museum in Spring 2017.
Results for event outreach
Comparing the results to explore how the participants heard about Final Friday, as shown in Table 4, word of mouth and social media were the major ways that DOMA reach out to the participants. The results from the museum’s surveys from Spring 2017 agreed with the self-report survey conducted in fall 2017. Therefore, word of mouth and social media were chosen as outreach channels for the following strategy framework.
Results for events visit frequently
The results indicate that there was an increase in the frequency of museum visits by participants from Spring 2017 to Fall 2017. In Spring 2017, 25% of participants were first-time visitors to DOMA, whereas only 3% were first-time visitors in Fall 2017. Additionally, 45% of participants visited the museum more than 7 times, which is a significant increase from Spring 2017. This suggests that once visitors come to the museum, they are more likely to return for future visits. Therefore, it is important for DOMA to focus on reaching out to new visitors in order to engage a wider audience.
Define the Problem
Lack of awareness
Many people in the community are not aware that DOMA is open to the public for free. This lack of awareness may prevent them from visiting the museum and engaging with its exhibits and events.
Lack of interest
People may not have considered visiting the art museum because they are not interested in art or do not see it as a priority.
Lack of information
People may not know where the art museum is located, what kind of exhibits it has, and whether there is an entry fee. This lack of information can prevent potential visitors from considering a visit.
Insecurity
Some people who are not from the arts community may feel uncomfortable attending art events or engaging with art in general. This insecurity may prevent them from visiting the museum or participating in its events.
Based on the results above, brainstorming was conducted with stakeholders to find solutions to the problems identified above.
Affinity diagram of improving the event
Based on the results above, two brainstorming sessions were conducted with members from other teams to find more specific ways to reach the goal of improving the event and the museum. These brainstorming sessions resulted in the creation of low to mid-fidelity prototyping.
Affinity diagram of low-fidelity prototyping
Based on the results from the brainstorming, a low-fidelity strategy framework was created that includes four components:
-
Scavenger hunt strategy — Encourage visitors to interact with the museum and its staff through a scavenger hunt.
-
Social media strategy — Consistently use hashtags and interact with followers on social media.
-
Promotion strategy — Work with local organizations to promote events, including Final Friday.
-
Other activities — Implement various activities to attract visitors to the museum.
Mid-fidelity prototyping
Once the mid-fidelity strategy framework was finalized, I conducted high-fidelity prototyping, which involved designing social media templates, creating promotion messages, organizing scavenger hunt clues, and planning other activities. The scavenger hunt was launched on the museum's website and social media platforms.
​
The promotion strategy was implemented by working with local organizations to disseminate promotion messages, and the social media strategy was executed by interacting with followers and using consistent hashtags. Other activities were also implemented to bring visitors to the museum.
High-Fidelity Prototyping and Execution
Final Friday
Event program guide
and promotion materials
Social media promotion prototyping
As part of the promotion strategy, Final Friday is a great event to gather people throughout the region.
The Instagram social media posts from DOMA
Activities prototyping
A map of the museum was created to reach the audience's needs
​
A timeline was established to produce this marketing strategy.
For full strategy framework, please click here.
Validate
the solution
The success of the strategy was measured by tracking the number of visitors, their demographic information, and their feedback through surveys. The feedback was analyzed to refine the strategy and improve visitor engagement.
Limitations
​
At the outset of this project, surveys were administered to a large number of participants from the stakeholder matrix, and the research was well-developed. However, during the prototyping stage, the number of participants fell short of expectations. The prototyping results might have been better if more local artists and community members had participated. For future research, two to three mid-fidelity prototyping sessions could be conducted with stakeholders to generate more ideas for the strategy framework and reach out to a wider audience.
​
The scavenger hunt strategy and promotion strategy are well-developed, but the social media strategy and activities strategy may require further design work with more details and visual examples to convey the idea of the strategies to DOMA.
The final strategy framework used transmedia storytelling to enhance DOMA's audience engagement by utilizing both digital and physical platforms not only to reach the audience but also to create an interactive experience between DOMA and its audience. With this strategy framework, DOMA could reach not only the Ball State campus but also the wider community. Social media was used to engage the audience through hashtags, weekly post plans, themes, and related activities, creating a consistent and engaging experience for the audience regardless of time and space constraints.