Audience development is a core priority of major stakeholders and funders, who consistently prioritise improved visitor numbers and developing a sustained relationship with audiences.

If your organisation has an audience development strategy or business plan in place, it’s likely our touring exhibitions can be used to help fulfill these aims and objectives.

As not all funders are aware of the ways in which touring exhibitions can impact on audience development it pays to outline as may of these as possible.

The impact of our pop-up exhibitions on the museums industry can be significant. The popularity of one of our titles helped reverse the fortunes of a museum in the North of Scotland saving it from certain closure. In Victoria Australia, our exhibition attracted an estimated 1.3 million Aus dollars to the economy.At Torquay Museum our Touring exhibitions  break all visitor records – up to 1000 visitors per day!
“Not only has INVASION been a spectacular stand-alone success in attracting visitors,” says Carl Smith of Torquay Museum, “but it has also increased interest in our static collections and improved our customer loyalty – a vital aspect of the long-term health of the museum.”

Strategic audience development activity should be linked to organisational aims and plans, and cross-departmental collaboration. For good measure focus on how the exhibition will relate to any other policies such as access, diversity and education.

Here is a non-exhaustive summary of the benefits of our touring exhibitions.

• Vibrant and up-to-date object based cased content, be prepared for a huge increase in entry fees (primary sales)
• Increase in secondary sales – food outlets, merchandise, other attractions and support learning activities can all be levered.
• Reduced costs – no development costs and hassle free, super-low cost dry hire.
• Reduced marketing budgets – self-perpetuating exhibition themes attract lots of publicity and press interest at no cost.
• Achieve targets and funding criteria – In the past, venues have exceeded their yearly visitor targets in only a few weeks
• Capture the imagination and generate and sustain interest in your existing static collections – Happy visitors mean, increased customer loyalty – visitor numbers will remain high long after our event.
• Enhanced visitor experience – Opportunities for interactive events, workshops, guest appearances and tested bolt-on event ideas.
• Celebrity Association

• Display cases, plinths and dressed mannequins provided
• Original cinema posters
• Show cards (exhibition labels)
• Customisable promotional posters, flyers and press ads
• Tested bolt-on educational workshops and event ideas
• Press release – the exhibition attracts huge amounts of press focus
• Customisable merchandise
• A white label marketing web site ready to be branded
• Itemised insurance values
• A proven national reputation

Educationally speaking:

• Opportunities for activity in a gallery with visitors
• Will attract a new generation of audience – can be targeted at families and children
• The touring package can be tailored to most themes, the client organisations, venues and needs of your differing audiences
• Encourages formal learning, lifelong learning and work with young people

Terms

• Low hire period usually as low as 1 month

Cost

• Only non-museum carriers required – low costs attached to transportation
• Display set up in a very short time – low man hours
• Minimal costs and effort compared to curating your own exhibition

Format and size

• Fits any space, even limited or awkward spaces
• Uniquely non-arts, small to medium-scale, object based show

Interpretation

• Interpretation can be tailored appropriate to various target groups

Venue

• Opportunities for activity out in the community surrounding an exhibition or alternative non-traditional spaces
• enables links with your own in-house collections.
• Continuing to enable access to collections or programmes during closure or refurbishment
• Opportunities for activity in a gallery with visitors

Marketing profile

• Increases the profile of organisations and collections
• Benefit from high profile works
• Be included in a national programmes

Staff

• Contribute to museum staff’s professional development, enthusiasm, moral and sense of well being
• Save time on curating your own shows
• Exhibiting new subjects to talk to audiences about

Strategic audience development

• Attracting extra funding and building relationships with visitors, peers, other professionals etc
• Ability to address the wider scale social inclusion plans of the governing council can form a catalyst for audience development
• Develop a relationship between target audiences and your exhibitions programme
• The exhibition’s pop culture nature provides ways of breaking down the physical, psychological, social, financial, practical or other barriers that currently may prevent people from engaging with your product in a personally relevant way.
• Contributes to a requirement for a more diverse programme
• Attract a new generation of audience – can be targeted at families and children – can include child friendly activity
• Reach new audiences that otherwise might not necessarily visit you venue
• attract more varied audiences
• Diversify your exhibitions programme
• Access otherwise unavailable exhibits
• Reach wider geographical spread beyond the 1-hour drive time reach of the individual venue
• Provides opportunities to work with new audiences on their terms within their comfort zones in spaces such as school halls, places of worship, community centres etc

Please have a look at out touring exhibitions web site or if you have any thoughts drop me an email at donjack@ideas.co.uk

Big thanks to TEG for their help in preparing this blog.