Marketing the Jewish Museum New York

As the first marketing professional at the Jewish Museum, I was among the first in the field to introduce business concepts as part of the audience development efforts of an arts organization. Working closely with senior staff, curators, development, public relations, retail and membership departments, we worked on integrating the focus on the museum towards the visitor.

We piloted extensive use of marketing research to understand the visitors, observe art engagement in the galleries and measure economic impact for NYC related to the tourist trade. For tourists, this included opening on Christmas Day and Saturdays. Ultimately, I led the strategic planning that resulted in a mission update and successful rebranding from a museum of history and religion to one known for art and culture. This model has been used by other museums going forward.

In cooperation with talented outside researchers, we invented a model of focus group research that revolutionized the planning and marketing of exhibitions at the museum. By “asking the vistior for their feedback early in the exhibition development process, and involving curators, educators and marketing staff in creating exhibition content, design and interpretation we were able to maximize exhibition attendance and audience engagement. 

The exhibits included, some of which are mentioned below, were among the most successful at the museum in terms of attendance, engagement and visitor satisfaction.