博物館行銷會員制之實作研究

A Realistic Look at Museum Members Clubs (Synopsis)

盧昭蓉

《科技博物》 4卷3期 (2000/05) Pp. 72-93

https://doi.org/10.6432/TMR.200005.0072

摘要

在現今瞬息萬變的資訊社會中，博物館將面臨政府逐年經費預算縮減及其他文教休閒娛樂機構的競爭。為使博物館永續經營，除了提昇經營管理效率外，在人力、物力、財力上尋求社會資源亦是必然趨勢，其中最直接有效，且廣為國外博物館界所利用的社會資源之一為會員制度（或稱博物館之友）。國外博物館會員制度已行之有年，但對國內而言仍尚處於雛形的階段，因此本文透過行銷四p的運用，彙整國立科學工藝博物館所做之一系列問卷調查結果及國外博物館推行會員制的經驗進行分析討論，希望藉此建議提供國內博物館從業人員規劃及推廣會員制度的參考，使博物館的時代使命及社教功能得以充分發揮。

並列摘要

A museum is a non-profit organization which must take the whole of the the community into consideration in the services it offers. In order to achieve efficiency and high-quality service it is necessary to examine the mission of the museum, the overall environment and how it has developed, and the resources that are available to the museum.
These can then be used to accurately determine the most suitable target market and offer more efficient service to the public. Since a museum faces many kinds of pressure from competition in the market it must strive constantly to improve the quality of services offered by employing effecting marketing methods. This calls for a proper marketing mix, which means the right balance of tools that can be used to meet the needs of the public, tools which can be classified according to the 'four Ps': product, price, place and promotion.
One. Product
At present most member organizations at museums in Taiwan offer three types of memberships-individual, family and student. Museums in other areas offer a variety of other types of membership as well including financial patron, lifetime member, volunteer/assistant, corporate member/patron, overseas or non-local, child, school or internet member. The problem with this is that adding more classes of membership can complicate things greatly for museum personnel. Thus it is best to closely consider the position and available resources of the museum before rushing to introduce new membership 'products' to the public. This entails steps such as a survey with questionnaire to determine how large a pool exists to support a given class of membership. This questionnaire should outline the advantages that the special category would offer over regular membership and suggest the feeling of being a VIP in order to make such membership attractive to a larger group of people.
Two. Price
In addition to offering several types of memberships the museum should also set dues and fees that are reasonable to the target groups. People who sign up for membership should be very clear as to what they must pay and what they are getting in return. For example, members might be elegible for a discount if they pay two years of annual dues in advance; different types of membership would entail different fees; members would receive awards or discounts for getting other people to become members, and members living further away from the museum might pay lower fees. Other special offers may also be extended to certain types of members or during certain periods to attract more members.
For example, the museum could offer discounts on memberships to students and teachers during the winter and summer vacations, and parents could be offered children's books or similar rewards for signing their kids up as members.
Three. Place
For a museum, 'avenues of communication' refers to anything between the museum and the public which allows the museums to present its products and services to the people.
1. Direct channels (sold directly to the public by the museum)
Staffers in designated areas of the museum sign up members directly as they visit; or people can join through the museum's website using a credit card or other means of payment.
2. Indirect channels (one or more middlemen between the museum and the target group)
Stands in bookstores, schools or department stores can be used to attract the attention of potential members. Here, the more chances there are for the public to run into such stands, the better, as it will seem that the museum is very accessible and it easy to become a member. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure optimum use of personnel and time in manning such sites.
Four. Promotion
Different times and methods of promotion will be needed to reach different targets for membership. These should be determined after careful survey and evaluation and should include the following areas:
1. Advertising. Use the mass media including radio, newspapers, magazine and television as well as e-mail and regular mail to reach the public and attract members. Advertising on the museum's website is particularly important in this area.
2. Sales-related. Ensure that all museum staff are familiar with the types of memberships, fees and privileges available so that they can inform visitors who make enquiries and encourage them to join.
3. Sales promotions. Use give-aways and offer discounts, coupons, drawings for awards and other activities to draw attention to museum memberships.
4. Public announcements. Museum staff should develop and maintain good working relationships with people in the mass media in order to gain greater access to the public through these channels.
Museums need to set up a specialized unit to handle the marketing, analysis, planning, execution and oversight needed to promote the museum and its activities. Good marketing planning requires good planners, but the limited budgets of museums and a lack of appropriate classes in colleges and universities mean that such personnel can be hard to find.
Thus most of the marketing is being done by people in other positions, and museum staffs should be trained in the techniques and latest trends in this area of museum operations. They should rely on both their own experince in museum work and the needs and wants of visitors in developing activities and services such as the membership system.
This will help to make the museum more effective in society in accordance with its mission statement.