De Saisset Museum: Effective and Efficient

Marketing







Alex Davis
for
De Saisset Museum








Tuesday, February 27, 2018



Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

Problem 4

Project Description 5

Cost Analysis 7

Assessment Strategy 8

Conclusion 8

Appendix 9

2
Executive Summary
A large portion of the de Saisset Museum1’s funding comes from
membership fees and donations. Although the museum is free, members
can pledge a certain amount of money to the museum and receive benefits
in return (i.e. Private events and tours). Considering that funding isn’t the
museum’s strong suit, increasing the amount of funding and cutting
museum costs will be very beneficial to the museum. This will allow the
museum to focus its funds on essentials such as more sought after
exhibitions and building renovations.

To increase the museum’s traffic, there needs to be an improvement in the

effectiveness of marketing. Currently the museum uses paper flyers to
promote current and upcoming events. These flyers are displayed in no
place other than the museum, which means that the audience reach is
limited to museum visitors. To increase the number of visitors, the museum
must focus on promoting outside of the museum. Through the
implementation of TV displays within the museum and around campus, the
museum will have a greater reach of audience.

The use of TVs for exhibition promotions will also decrease the costs and
waste of the museum. These flyers are rarely picked up from the museum,
which means a lot of them go to waste. Also, new flyers are printed every
quarter to promote the exhibitions, which is very expensive. Displaying the
information of TV screens will eliminate this waste and decrease museum
costs in the long run.

1
The de Saisset Museum stands at the heart of Santa Clara University’s campus and has been
providing visitors with free access to art and history exhibitions since 1955.

3
The Problem
Number of Visitors: The de Saisset Museum attracts around 50 visitors per
day on average. The museum is open five hours a day from Tuesday
through Sunday, which means that the museum gets around 10 visits per
hour. This number can be greatly increased through the implementation of
electronic marketing.

Types of Visitors: Located in the center of Santa Clara University’s (SCU)

campus, one would expect most of the museum’s visitors to be SCU
students. Surprisingly, SCU students are not frequently seen in the
museum. Children, art and history buffs, and alumni/prospective students
make up most of the museum’s visitors. The main reason for this is that
many students do not know the museum exists. By utilizing TVs around
campus (in resident halls, Benson, the library, etc.), the museum can
promote its events to students, which will ultimately increase student traffic.

Flyers: The use of flyers is a very outdated and wasteful way of advertising.
The placement of the flyers being limited to inside the museum is an
ineffective way of advertising. Eliminating the use of flyers would both
increase the reach of the messages and decrease the waste caused by
unused flyers. TVs will make the use of wasteful flyers unnecessary while
also increasing audience reach.

SUCCESS: This is a simple and inexpensive plan that will benefit the
museum’s finances and success. It is unexpected that such a minor change
in business operations can affect the museum so drastically. This change is
concrete because it is evident that using TVs will be more effective and
efficient. The use of TVs by other organizations on and around SCU’s
campus show the credibility of this initiative. By expanding the museum’s
reach to more visitors, people will become more culturally involved and
aware. With more visitors in the museum, word will spread, which will
ultimately turn the museum into a place where people can share cultural
experiences.

4
Project Description
The de Saisset Museum’s goal is “educating the whole person through a
diverse and accessible range of exhibitions, collections, and educational
programs that highlight the art and history of the San Francisco Bay Area
and the local Santa Clara Valley.” 2 With new art exhibitions on display
every school quarter and a permanent Santa Clara history collection, the de
Saisset Museum is a very important cultural resource within the Bay Area.
By implementing the new marketing techniques described in this project,
the museum will be more effective in achieving their overall goal.

Technology is becoming an integral part of our lives today, especially in the

Silicon Valley, so it only makes sense for the museum to update its
operations alongside the rest of society. Not only has technology created a
more effective way to run a business, but it has also created a more
efficient way in most cases. Flyers are an outdated form of marketing and
are rarely picked up by potential visitors. Most of the flyers used by the
museum are thrown away, which means the information isn’t reaching
nearly as many potential visitors as it should. Also, the large amount of
paper waste created by these flyers being thrown away counteracts SCU’s
goal of becoming become Zero Waste3 by 2020. SCU is currently at a 59%
diversion rate, and diminishing the use of flyers would reduce waste and
energy resources used to manage waste, which would ultimately help SCU
reach its goal.

TVs are becoming a widely popular medium for displaying information and
promoting events, especially around SCU’s campus. The TVs allow for
more information to be displayed using a slide show, as opposed to flyers
that can only display a limited amount of information. TVs also display
information in a more attractive way that will harness more intention from
viewers. Placing one TV in the museum lobby and one in the basement
would give the visitors direct information regarding the current and
upcoming exhibitions. The slideshows created for these TVs can then
easily be displayed on the numerous TVs around campus, giving the
museum more reach in marketing to SCU students.

2
https://www.scu.edu/desaisset/about/info/mission/
3
Zero Waste means that 90% of waste is diverted from landfills.

5
The triple bottom line focuses on three groups: people, the planet, and
profit. Using the triple bottom line, we can assess the effectiveness of this
marketing plan by measuring its social, environmental, and financial
performance. Through the increased reach that the implementation of TVs
will provide, more people will be provided with cultural and creative
information. This will help form more diverse and open minds throughout
SCU and the surrounding areas. By halting the usage of flyers, our planet
will benefit through a decrease of paper usage and waste. Finally, the
museum will be able to decrease its costs associated with the purchasing of
flyers, which will allow the museum to use its funding for more exhibitions
and expansion. Using the triple bottom line, it is evident that this marketing
plan will benefit the people, the planet, and the museum’s finances.

6
Cost Analysis
This is an inexpensive plan that will be very beneficial in the long run. The
cost of one Samsung 50 inch LED TV is $297.99 and the plan is to put two
TVs in the museum. One Dynex TV Fixed Wall Mount is $14.99 and one
must be purchased for each TV. The TVs around campus do not cost any
money to display information on. Diminishing the use of flyers will cut the
museum’s costs. A pack of 250 flyers from Vistaprint $68.99 and with new
exhibitions every quarter, the museum must purchase at least 4 packs of
flyers each year.

TV Costs:
Item Cost
Samsung 50” LED TV (x2) $595.98

Dynex TV Fixed Wall Mount (x2) $29.98

Total Cost: $625.96

Savings Per Year:

Item Cost
Vistaprint Flyers - pack of 250 (x4) $275.96
Total Savings Per Year: $275.96

The total cost of installing two wall mounted TVs in the museum is $625.96.
The museums current expenditure on flyers is $275.96 per year. This
means it would take slightly over two years for the TVs to be cost effective
to the museum. The average life span of an LED TV is 7 years, so overall
the TVs will save the museum money in the long run.

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Assessment Strategy
Immediate Effects: In the short run, the museum will begin to see an
increase in visitors due to the increased reach caused by the marketing
plan. The TV displays will be more noticeable and will be visible all around
SCU’s campus. The museum will also see a decrease in their amount of
waste caused by the flyers.

Long Term Effects: In the long run, the museum will notice a decrease in
costs. After two years without the use of flyers, the museum will begin to
see a decrease in expenditure that will continue throughout the museums
career. The museum will also see a continuous increase in visitors due to
more effective marketing and interest in the museum.

Ensuring Results: By comparing visitor numbers before and after the

implementation of TV marketing, the museum will be able to analyze the
effectiveness of the change. Having visitors complete a short survey asking
where they heard about the museum upon entry will help show how
affective the TV marketing is.

Conclusion
The de Saisset Museum is one of SCU’s most culturally informative, yet
underutilized assets. Through this new marketing initiative, the museum will
be able to harness the attention of new visitors, especially that of SCU
students. The use of TVs to display information regarding current and future
exhibitions will replace the need to use flyers. The TVs will be a more
effective way of marketing because the museum will have the ability to
display information all around SCU’s campus. The TVs will also be more
cost effective for the museum and will reduce the amount of waste caused
by unused flyers. Overall, this project will be highly beneficial to the
museum, the people of the Bay Area, and the environment.

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Appendix: Memo
To: Megan Watt, Senior Administrative Assistant
From: Alex Davis, Visitor Services Associate
Date: February 27, 2018
Subject: Effective and Efficient Marketing Plan

The de Saisset Museum is receiving some updates to its marketing

strategies that will be more effective and efficient. Currently, the museum is
using flyers to promote current and future exhibitions, which is a very
ineffective and wasteful way to market. We will be purchasing two TVs to
be placed in the museum’s lobby and basement. This will provide visitors
with more visual and noticeable information regarding the exhibitions. It will
also reduce the waste related to discarding unused flyers. Diminishing the
use of flyers will decrease the costs that the museum incurs, allowing for
funding to be used towards more important purchases such as exhibitions
and expansion.

The information displayed on the TVs will also be displayed on the TVs
around campus. It is evident that a small portion of the museum’s visitors
are students, and we believe that this initiative will attract more students to
the museum. Overall, this plan will not only benefit the museum in its
operations, but it will also benefit the public through more accessible
information and the environment through a decrease in waste.

We are excited about this necessary step that the de Saisset Museum is
taking to increase visitor reach and become an overall more
environmentally conscious business. If there are any questions or concerns
please feel free to reach out to me.