Final Research Report for: Iowa State University Museums

Mariah Anderson
Kimberly Hughes
Lindsey Isaacson
Meccah Muhammad
Jimmy Huisman
Alicia Wagner
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary 3-4

Research 5-22

Analysis of the Situation and Media Use 6-8

Analysis of the organization 9-12
Analyzing Publics 12
Focus Group 13-17
Survey 18-22

Recommendations 23-30

Goals 24
Objective 1: Student Awareness 24-26
Objective 2: Student Acceptance 26-27
Objective 3:Student Action 27-30

Appendix 31-39

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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 Executive Summary

The 6cess team put together this report for the University Museums at Iowa State University.
The museums were in need of new ideas to create places that students would like to go to. The
team conducted various research methods: Interviews, surveys, focus groups, and background
research to try and figure out a better way to draw in students.

Currently it seems that many students dont have much interest in the museums or they do not
know much about them and the things they offer. Many of the things the museums are currently
doing, like their yoga with the art and post they put on social media, the students find interesting,
but do not really know about it. So, building awareness will be the main key to start. After that
the museums will need to really focus their attention to building up their reputation as a place
students want to go to.

The key things that were observed through talking with students and getting survey feedback
were that the UM needs to better their social media standing among students. Students also want
more variety of exhibits. The Museums are already trying to work on this and bring in different
ones. But, they need to make sure they bring in what the students want to see. Many students say
that they like modern art, street art, art that connects to science, and interactive exhibits. Bringing
in these exhibits and making sure that the students know that they are there will increase student
involvement with the museums.

The museums are a great aspect to Iowa State, but it is not always seen that way. By going
through the following suggestions that 6cess has created the museum can increase student
attendance and overall awareness of the UMs. The museums need to do something and change
some of their current tactics or else they will not be able to grow to their true potentials.

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RESEARCH

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The University Museums at Iowa State University are very prestigious. They are nationally
recognized with their various pieces of art and the number of artist they feature. Not only do they
offer so many pieces of art, Iowa State has the most Art on Campus of any U.S. college or
university. However, even with this national recognition, the museums struggle to bring in
students, or at least bring in students at their leisure. The museums are created for the students,
but they are often only used when the students are required to go for a class. The University
Museums need to bring in more students ideally through their own choice instead of with a class.
After interviewing with Nancy Gebhart, Educator of Visual Literacy and Learning at the
University Museums, doing secondary research using relevant articles, and analyzing data on
MRI+. Team 6cess reports the analysis of the situation, the organization, and the public
concerning the museums in the following sections.

Analysis of the Situation and Media Use

The Situation
University Museums works hard to provide a great opportunity for students to see art and art
exhibits for free right on their campus. However, the museums do not draw in much of a crowd,
so they need to find ways to better bring in the students. Nancy Gebhart informed us that most
students that come in to the museums come in because they are required to for a class. The
professors sending the students is one of the only ways students even know about the museums.
The museums have a lack in communication when it comes to the students. They have social
media pages that are not being utilized to their full potential whatsoever.

Background of the Situation

The University Museums currently brings in many students who are there because they have to
be for a class or club. UM has brought in students in the past for leisure with their exhibits like
the interactive laser one last year. However, overall they struggle to get students to come in on
their own. University Museums needs to focus on drawing in more students for fun.

Significance of the Situation

The University Museums are working to create these great exhibits, but all the exhibits are not
being utilized. By bringing in more students their exhibits will become better recognized as well

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as bringing in more traffic to the museums. When museums have more overall traffic they can
get more funding and art pieces.

PR/Ad opportunities
Public relations and advertising opportunities include creating a campaign that will bring in more
exhibits and exposure to the museums and better usage and management of social media.
Currently, there are very few posts with no one in charge of keeping the university museum
social media pages updated. Top fortune 500 companies (78%) rely on social media, especially
Twitter in order to reach their customers easily and more frequently (UMass). PR can increase
the awareness of the museums and their publicity of their exhibits, for free or an extremely low
budget, which is beneficial due to the fact that the museum is funded by donations and grants.

PR/AD obstacles
The main obstacles facing PR and advertising for the museums are that they cannot control
feedback, and UM cannot get it to the students every time in the way they can always hope.
Currently, the University Museums are limited by not having anyone running their social media
pages. They also do not have a very up-to-date or interactive website for students or other guests
to use and find information on.

The University Museums do not have a lot of issues/risk/crisis right now, but due to the nature of
museums, they are built on grants and donations. Without bringing in clients, they are always at
risk of having less money. However, being backed by the University to help the students learn
and experience art, it does have one steady source of money.

Local media environment

Knowing how students get information and what they pay attention to is important to get the
message out to them. UM needs to know how they should reach out to students in order to best
get their message to them, and encourage them to come to the museums.

Media market (Iowa):

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 Media Exposure: Out of all the adults in Minnesota and Iowa (235,577,000) the top
media that is used is still primetime TV. This makes sense, as many adults from young
adults to older adults will use TV, so when look at them as a whole TV is something they
all use.
Media Profile: TV, Radio, and newspapers were the top 3 medias used by adults. These
are all sources of getting news. It would seem that many adults are using their media in
order to get their news and find things out about the day.
Media use (college students):
Cable TV is still one of the top media uses, however the internet and internet websites are much
higher on these list. This shows that college students use more internet and TV as their media use
vs. the newspaper and TV of adults as a whole. So, in order to reach out to students the museums
should focus on internet and social media. UM cannot reach students through TV very easily the
other aspects of this research should be utilized. Internet and social media are the top of their
media use, but newspapers can be used if they are attractive enough in the stories.

Consumer trends
Leisure activities (college students): College students (age 18-24) has the smallest number of
people attending museums in the past 12 months, of all the age brackets. Once out of college, it
seems that many adults do go to museums, but not while they are in college. Ages 18-24 had
higher numbers when looking at spending time with friends/family, sporting events, and video
games. This may mean that students like the stimulation that games and sports give them, they
also could enjoy more of the social aspect of those things vs. the atmosphere of UM.

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 Analysis of the organization
Internal environment
According to University Museums website, The University Museums exist to foster
understanding and delight in the visual arts with a focus on the creative interactions in arts,
sciences and technology. The University Museums nurture knowledge of and appreciation for the
University's cultural heritage and its present cultural context. The University Museums serve the
Iowa State University community and the public as an educational and cultural resource.

Iowa State University Museums want to teach the public about the university through art. They
do a good job at bringing in art and exhibits that serve this purpose. The University Museums are
accredited by the alliance of museums. They have the most art in their Art on Campus collection
of any university or college in the U.S.

University Museums provides visitors to their website with access to all their press releases they
give the media, and newsletters. They comment on why it is important to give donations to the
museums, but not necessarily their budget.

The University Museums have social media pages and would like to expand them to a further
audience, they also use various flyer/emails/ad campaigns to get peoples attention.

Past Projects
In the past some examples of successful works have been:
Found!
o When panther statues were re-found and returned to ISU they UM had a lot of
great press behind it. They worked hard to get the panthers in peoples heads and
talking about before they even arrived. UM passed out flyers talking about the
panthers and got the word buzzing around campus. In the VEISHEA parades the
statues were finally revealed and everyone was very interested to see them.
Christian Petersen Art Museum Opening

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 o When the museum opened it did have a lot of talk behind it, but the UM did a
good job at letting people know what was happening and where it was going to
be.
Immersive Laser Installation
o One of the most popular exhibits at the museums. It brought in many students and
many of them returned multiple times to see it again. It did a good job of giving
students the type of art they wanted to see and brought more attention to the
museums.

The museums need to keep working in order to have more successful projects such as these ones
and increase how often they are occurring.

Public Perception
The University Museums at Iowa State is one of only 10% of museums in the nation to get
accreditation by the American Association of Museums. They are very well known for their
sculpture and art on campus. Besides being one of only 10% of museums to get accreditation,
Iowa State holds the nations largest collection of sculptures by Christian Peterson. They also
were voted Americas 25 most beautiful in 1991. University Museums is highly respected and
something Iowa State takes pride in. They would like to become even better known. Specifically
by attracting more students to the museums, ultimately causing the museums to gain more
attention therefore earning them an even better reputation.

External environment
There is not much competition for the University Museums. Iowa State is a major part of the city
of Ames and this is where most of the museums are located. The only slight competition would
be museums in the city of Des Moines but it is roughly forty minutes from Ames. Not many
students know about UM. There is little activity on social media, which is a huge advertising
outlet. There are also a limited number of ways to get students involved with UM outside of class
trips or class assignments. There are currently no environmental factors that would limit the
effectiveness of a PR/AD program.

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Analysis of the Public
All business and organizations depend on their public to survive, but museums will live or die
because of their public. The University Museums needs to know who the marketing towards and
how to better target their audience. UMs main audience is students, however there are some
others that they need to take in consideration as well.
Identifying Publics
Customers- Students
o Students go to the museums to see what they have, often for their classes.
Producers- Professors
o The professors are often the ones that send the students to the museums.
Enablers- Alumni, Donors, Grant writers
o The UM gets much of their funding from alumni and donors to ISU, as well as
through various grants.
Limiters- Other colleges
o Other colleges may compete to bring to students to them, taking them away from
ISU and the UM.
Key Publics
The target audience for the museums are the students, but they also need to worry about parents,
professors and donors. Professors that send students to museums will only continue to do so if
they feel that the art is worth teaching about. Parents will want to make sure that the art is
something they want their children to see as well as see themselves when they come. Currently
the museum does a good job at appeasing parents, professors, and donors, but the problem comes
with the students. Students want more interactive and social exhibits. That is why the laser
exhibit was so successful. Students were able to do this with their friends while also interacting
with the exhibit. The museum needs to keep working to bring in more exhibits like this in order
draw in more students. They also need to utilize their social media more, as mentioned above, to
increase their awareness with the students.

The parents and friends of students are the intercessory publics of the museums. Parents can
influence students as to where they go to school and what they study. That can impact their use
of UM. Friends can influence students on whether they go to the museums for a class or not, and
could stop them from going all together by having them do something else. Some professors

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would be considered the major opinion leaders specifically to the students. If they are having a
large amount of students go to the museums or talk about them, they can influence how they act
about the museums and what they think.

Analyzing Publics
The key publics are current and potential students. They are anywhere from the ages 18-25.
These are young adults who are attending these museums trying to better their knowledge.
Students also go to these museums for different classes and write reviews on art pieces. The
other key public is parents and friends of students. They are typically the same age as the other
students and the parents are anywhere from their 40s-60s. The older generation tends to be
more interested in the history of the museums. Social media and the internet is the best way to
get the younger generation's attention. The University Museums need to find a better way to
promote their collections and find better ways to make their website stronger.

One of the major interests is the interactive exhibits. The laser exhibit was the most successful
along with a pop art. Haunted Iowa State was also very popular among students and the public,
bringing in anywhere from 600-800 student visitors a night. Some current ideas for new exhibits
include video game art and having street artists tag the walls of a gallery.

Using our AD/PR tactics, we would benefit the UM by bringing an increased awareness of what
UM has to offer. We would also show the public new ways that they can interact with the
museums.

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 Focus Group

For our focus group, we recruited 12 participants to make sure we had the minimum number of
participants required (10) plus two additional participants to provide a buffer in case anyone
backed out at the last minute. We recruited friends and classmates who are between the ages of
17 and 24 years old and are Iowa State students. We wanted to have an equal disbursement of
men and women participating. The focus group was open to Iowa State students of all majors,
races, gender identities, etc. We provided candy and baked goods to encourage our acquaintances
to participate.

Mariah erved as moderator and Kim will served as assistant moderator. Meccah recorded the
session and Lindsey, Alicia, and Jimmy took notes. The focus group tookan hour and a half to
conduct. It was at 6 pm on Monday, March 7 in Hamilton Hall room 4C.

We focused on what draws students to museums and how the University Museums can change
their marketing strategies and/or exhibits to bring in more students.

Focus Group Findings

Overview of focus group
On Monday, March 7, 2016 in the Hamilton Hall focus group room (room 4c) Team
6cess conducted a focus group for Iowa States University Museums (UM). The group was
organized in order to talk to a sample of the target market and better understand what they
wanted from UM. The team gathered 10 people from a variety of students that the group knew
on campus, mainly by reaching out to friends and classmates. Although they were not completely
random, these volunteers still covered a wide demographic base at Iowa State. The ages were all
the about the same, 18-22, but they all had different majors: Engineering, Biochemistry,
Accounting, Physical Education, Agriculture Business, Journalism, and Industrial Technology.
Along with the different majors, we had a nearly even split of gender (6 females, 4 males) and a

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variety of backgrounds. The participants all grew up in different places, whether around the state
of Iowa or even around the country.
This focus group took about 5-6 hours in total to conduct. The actual focus group took a
little over an hour. It was scheduled for an hour, but the discussions ran long. But, before we
could even conduct the group we spent about 2-3 hours in planning for it: getting the room,
figuring out the participants, and discussing the questions we wanted to ask. Finally, we had
another 2 hours or so of analyzing and discussing what was found out during the focus group.
Findings
The main focus of the questions asked during this focus group were to ask the students
why they would go the museum and how they would best find out about the museum. After
talking with Nancy at the very beginning of the project we got an idea of what the museum was
looking for and tailored our questions to that. We wanted to see what would bring students to the
museums and what kind of attractions and events would bring them there. We also wanted to see
what the participants already knew about the UM. At the beginning of the discussion, the
participants seemed to be more hesitant to answer, but as time went on they gave more feedback
and talked about the questions more. This led to having better results at the end of the discussion
vs. the beginning.
When asking the participants the questions, there were many different body languages we
observed. We would ask the questions and the participants would look to each other to see what
they would say. They werent as comfortable in the beginning, and more hesitant to be honest.
They didnt want to hurt anyone. Most of them had heard of the University Museums, but didnt
know too much about them. So, they would just nod and give some vague information or ideas
about the museums. When we moved to asking about social media and usage, the participants
seemed more willing to answer and were more confident in what they were saying. They knew
more about this topic and felt they could give more input about it. We worked with this attitude
shift by continuing to ask questions about social media and relating those questions back to the
museums. Once we began asking them about different sculptures/pieces on campus, most hadn't
heard of many. The group seemed surprised to hear that they walked past them on their daily
walks to class and how much they didnt notice them. The shift in uninvolved and hesitant to
being more confident and willing to answer was key in getting more information from the

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participants. Once they felt more relaxed and knew it was okay to have an opinion that may be
different than everyone else we got more honest and useful answers.
Every participant in the room at the time (two arrived late) had heard of the University
Museums, and all of them had also been to a University Museum. However, only three had been
to a museum for leisure. Most had gone for a class. The participants hadnt gone outside of class
because they didnt view it as an effective use of their time or hadnt considered it as an option
when choosing how to spend their free time.
Of the nine students in the room when we asked about social media, all nine of them used
Facebook and Snapchat. Eight used Instagram, seven used Pinterest, four used Twitter, and one
used Tumblr. Instagram and Snapchat stood out as the platforms of preference for the group.
Though the students seemed to enjoy the content that UM has been posting on Instagram, only
one participant said she would follow them. The other students said they would not follow them
for reasons varying from wanting to be selective about how many people they follow (many
were particular about keeping their follower to following ratio at a certain point) to just not
personally being interested in art. One participant mentioned that he would be more likely to
follow UMs Instagram after he graduated and was no longer seeing the art on campus each day.
UM could potentially tap into this nostalgia factor and reach out to alumni to grow their
following. The students also emphasized that UM needs to make it clear that they have an
Instagram account in the first place, because none of the participants were aware of it prior to the
focus group.
The participants suggested that they would be more likely to follow the UMs Instagram
account if they consistently posted twice a week. Any more, they said, would be too much and
any less and the account would be out of sight and out of mind. The students enjoyed UMs
current usage of #wherearewewednesday, citing that they enjoyed the consistency. They also
stressed that they would be more likely to follow UM if they followed back, thus eliminating the
issue of throwing off the follower/following ratio. Overall, consistency seemed to be an
important theme.
Only a few of the students said they enjoy visiting museums in their spare time. Most
said they are motivated to visit museums by high-profile works of art, such as the Mona Lisa.
Since this is not plausible for the UM, the students recommended providing free food as an
incentive, extra credit for class, highlighting that the museums are free to students, and bringing

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in modern, interactive exhibits. The laser exhibit from last spring was cited as an example. All of
the participants thought it sounded very interesting, but most hadnt heard about it at all until the
focus group a year later.
The lack of awareness was a common theme throughout the focus group. The students
said that the following advertising tactics catch their attention on campus:
Whiteboarding
Chalking
Table displays in the dining halls
The ISU website homepage
Emails
The students stressed that the first few lines determine whether or not they read the entire
email. The first lines are crucial to capturing attention.
Another issue that was expressed was confusion about where the museums are located.
Most of the students were aware of the Christian Petersen Museum in Morrill Hall and a few
knew of Farm House. However, almost no one was aware of the existence or location of the
Brunnier Art Museum. All of the students had seen Art on Campus at some point as they went
about their day on campus, and most even had a favorite statue. They agreed that they are more
interested in a sculpture when they know the story behind it. It was suggested that UM launches
an Art on Campus map on MyState, giving the location of each sculpture and the story behind it.
As for interest in upcoming exhibits, the students all reacted positively toward the
possibility of a street art/graffiti exhibit. They liked the modern element. They all reacted
negatively toward the idea of a video game exhibit, but said they could see other students being
interested. None of the participants play video games in their free time, preferring active pursuits
instead. They showed interest toward the idea of having a yoga class in the museum, and were
surprised to see that this is already a regular event. They stressed that it needs to be more heavily
promoted on campus.
Nonverbal information

The students exhibited various nonverbal cues throughout the duration of the focus group
session. Some were nervous at the start and would do little movements like looking around the
room, or looking down. Many of the participants would interact and entertain one another in
between questioning. When being questioned many students had very thoughtful body language,

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they would shift in their seats, or rub their chins. They maintained eye contact as they were
answering questions which showed that they were answering honestly.

What to take away

The students seem to like many of the things that the museum has to offer, they just
arent aware that they are happening. If the museums could increase their communication, they
would see a higher amount of success. The current social media isnt attracting as many students
as hoped, so increase in the amount of in-person awareness or on-campus ways to gain attention
to the museums would be more effective.

Even though the museums are around and they know they are there, the students dont
see it as an option of something to do, so the museums need to show they are more than just
something the students have to go to for class. The students are more interested in modern
exhibits, like urban artwork, versus always having traditional pieces. With all the activities a
college campus has to offer the main thing the museums need to do is capture the students
attention in a unique way. Revamping their exhibits, and improving their communication would
be an integral first step in achieving that goal.

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 Survey Findings

Survey administration
The team, 6cess, created a Surveymonkey account to start in order to conduct the survey and get
it out to all the participants. In the survey there were ten questions, including multiple choice, fill
in the blank, and matrix questions. These questions asked about University Museums, what is
done in their spare time, and their likes and dislikes.

The first round of the questionnaire was sent out the week of February 22. Then again on March
7. The primary way of reaching out to the survey takers was via email. There was a small wave
sent out via Facebook, but mostly down by email. The users were selected primarily by random.
There were a select few that were chosen out of convenience (about 65 random 15 were
convenient). The random samples were chosen according to their majors. Every 4th area of study
was selected from the list that ISU offers. Then from those majors there were 20 random students
from the list under the major that were emailed to do the survey. There were a total of 80
respondents to just over 1000 emails sent out, with about a 7.5% respondents rate.

How the survey participants were found

1. Go to the Iowa State directory and select advanced search
2. Making sure student is selected and then select the drop down list of areas of study.
3. Select the 1st major (accounting)
4. There are 20 people listed per page, so using the random number table select the a
single digit or double digit number (making sure it does not exceed the number of
available pages)
5. Using that number select that page from the list and use those names as the 20 for the
list
4. Repeat for every 4th major (skipping things on the list that are not areas of study)
.
We will do this to select 20 people from 50 different majors. Having more majors
represented will hopefully represent the student body as a whole better.

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Profile of respondents
All the respondents were in college, 18-24 years old. They were 60% Female 39% Male and 1%
of the respondents choice not to put their gender. There was a very wide variety of majors that
completed the survey. There were science majors, education majors, Journalism, art and Design,
and more.

Attitudes/Awareness
The participants dont seem to be large fans of art museums based on their responses. In the past
12 months only about 29% of the respondents had been to a museum, and large portion of that
was to museums outside of the UM. The Christian Petersen Museum had pulled in the most
students in for the museums on campus. The reason for was that probably because of the
location. Location was the top reason for students to pick to go to a museum or to choose which
museum to go to. Location was followed by Interactive Exhibits, Wide variety of Exhibits,
Famous Art Pieces, and finally how well known the artist are. Students are interested in going to
something that is easy to get to or is in a place that is famous for its museum (i.e. Paris, France).
The museums are not in a place known for their art, but they are in a convenient place for the
students. So, the museum needs to utilize on that asset. UM also needs to better advertise their
exhibits that are interactive with the museum goers as well.

Media Use Measures

Students use a variety of media platforms. The only ones that seem to not be used are newspaper
and magazines, out of Facebook, TV, magazines, newspapers, radio, Twitter, Instagram,
Snapchat, YouTube. However, they only media platforms that students are following UM on is
Facebook, and that only about 15% of them. The gap between the media that students are using
and the media that they follow UM on needs to be closed. By promoting their social media pages
and creating profiles that are more desirable for students then they can increase their followers.
By increasing the followers UM will be able to show off their exhibits more and get more
students attention. Students enjoy a wide variety of exhibits, and they are not all directly related
to art (see Figure 1) but taking this information the museums can center the exhibits they do
have or bring in new ones and promote them in a way to highlight these interest.

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Behavior
When looking at figure 2 it is shown that students check social media and are watching T.V in
their spare time. UM needs to promote better on the sites that students are checking more often
like Instgram, Snapchat and Youtube in order to get the students attention. Also, UM should try
to utilize these same medias with their marketing and promoting in order to better connect with
students.

Summary
By being on the same media channels as students the University Museums can connect with
students and create things that students are more likely to share these with their friends. Modern
and Scientific art are something that students want to see more and if these are promoted on the
social media sites students will be more motivated to go. Location seemed to be the biggest
challenged faced but this wont be an issue if the exhibits are geared towards what the students
want to see, see figure 1.

Figure 1:

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Figure 2

Graphs taken from SurveyMonkey

This graph indicates the expected numbers we had vs. the actual numbers we came up with.
These numbers indicate that social media and watching T.V. are what students are doing most
often in their free time. UM needs to tap into social media more to create an awareness about
what they have to offer. By being on more of these popular sites students will see the
advertisements and be persuaded into going. People will share the links and spread the word to
go out and enjoy the different exhibits the museums have to offer.

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 Figure 3:

Gender Expected Actual

Male: 40 Female: Male: 31 Female: Other:

Male/Female 0.5 40 0.5 Other: 0 (.3875) 48 (.6) 1 (.0125)

Times Visited Christian Farm

Museums Brunnier Petersen House Other
0 0.7949 0.6329 0.7949 0.6494
1 to 3 0.1795 0.3165 0.2051 0.2727
4 to 6 0.0256 0.038 0.0128 0.1429
6+ 0.0253 0.013

Media
Facebook TV Magazines Newspapers Twitter Instagram Snapchat YouTube
Platforms

Avg. Usuage 0.3-0.6 1.9-3.2 2.5-4 3.3-5 3.2-5

per week 4-6 hours 3-4 hours hours 0.45-1 hour hours hours hours hours

Follow UM
on social
media
Facebook 0.15
Twitter 0.0375
Instagram 0.0125

Spend Free Watching TV/Movies-->Listening/Playing Music-->Social

Time Media-->Video Games-->Play/watching sports->Workingout--
Most-Least >Reading-->Looking at/creating art

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RECOMMENDATIONS

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 Recommendations

The University Museums are such an amazing attribute to Iowa States campus that not being
utilized by students is a waste. In order to draw in more students and increase their awareness of the
UM, 6cess has created the following plan.

Goals
Task Management: Increase the press releases going out as well as the museums social media
base.
Relationship Management: Change students views of the museum to something they want to go
to.
Reputation Management: Maintain the class and sophistication of the museums while drawing in
more students.

Public: Iowa State University Students

Objective 1: Students Awareness

To have an effect on the amount of press releases going out by the museums and the number of
followers on social media by 25% in 12 months. In order for the museums to grow awareness
among the students they need to make sure they are always on the minds of students.
Strategy 1: More routine press releases to the daily and Tribune
Getting word out about the museums will keep them being talked about. Anything that is being
talked about cannot be ignored.
Tactic 1: Send out release whenever there is a new exhibit
The museums should be making sure they are known and that when they bring in new
things that students and people will want to see they should let them know. Staying
relevant means they need to be around for the students to see. As well as be talked about
by the citizens of Ames. When something is being buzzed about it will be much harder
for anyone, including students to ignore.
Tactic 2: Release monthly updates with the local papers as well

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 Monthly updates are going to be sure that UM are fresh in the minds of the students.
Once the excitement of a new exhibit starts to fade away, they get reminded again of all
the other things that museums have to offer. These releases may not get pushed in the
paper as much, as they are not always as newsworthy. However, that doesnt mean they
wont be seen. The papers are able to share many more stories now that they can put
them on line or publish them on social media, so students can still see them.
Strategy 2: Better utilize social media
Social Media is a free form of marketing and communication, and so that needs to be greatly
utilized by the museums to get their brand out there.
Tactic 1: Encourage interns/volunteers/workers to share social media
A big problem for the university museums is that they need more people sharing what
they are posting. Besides just boosting post, another way to get the word spread is to
have all the people involved in the museums share what they are posting, so that the
people in their circles see it as well.
Tactic 2: Grow Social media following
In order to make sure that your post are being seen by the students, there needs to be an
increase in the following of the social media pages. Patience and time is key in
increasing followers. Using similar hashtags, which the museums do a pretty good job of
right now, is good. But to get event more awareness out there 6cess came up with these
2 ideas: Have contest on your social media pages. Tell followers to retweet for a chance
to win something or have caption contest, something that gets the users engaged. The 2nd
idea was to boost the post the museum makes. This idea does cost money, however it is
very little money, and easily can be done Facebook. Facebook even does the work of
reaching out to the users that will be most interested in the post.
Strategy 3: Get students attention around campus
Make sure the students cannot ignore you. If the campus is covered in different things about
University Museums they will see it and want to know more about them.
Tactic 1: Put information out at dining centers
After doing the focus group the team learned that student will read that information that
is put on their table when they go to dining centers. The information should be kept
precise as the students main priority when going there is actually to socialize and eat.

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 Tactic 2: Cover the campus with UM information
Again, through the focus group it came to the teams attention that when people chalk on
the sidewalks about events and groups they catch their eyes, they want to read them and
see what it says. They also said that, when neatly and clearly written, they read when
information is put up on lecture hall chalk and whiteboards.

Objective 2: Student acceptance

To have an effect on the positive perception that students have on the museums by an increase
of 35% in 12 months.
By creating the museums as a place that students want to go and spend time at they will see an
increase in their attendance. Students dont perceive the museum as an option right now as
something to do in their free time, so that is the attitude that needs to be changed.
Strategy 1: Use social media as a form of entertainment
Tactic 1: Post new/interesting things
After seeing the results of the survey put out, 6cess realized that many students use
social media as way to pass time and entertain them while keeping up to date. Posting
new facts about art around campus or artist can entice students to want to learn more.
Also creating short fun videos that can be shared is an addition way to make students
see the museums differently. Videos that tell a story, whether news or other, and are
quick are ones that people tend to gravitate towards. Buzzfeed videos are good
examples: they will be fun, funny, informative, and short. Another example would be
NowThis they have short, but informative videos that often get passed around social
media.
Tactic 2: Keep post new and relevant
Stay connected the student audience. When something happens on campus connect the
post with the students. They can relate back the museums or just be independent of
them. Chris Williams, the creator of CycloneFanatic, says that an organizations post
should follow an 80/20 rule. 80% of the post are for entertainment, and 20% are about
the organization itself, in this case the museums. That doesnt mean 80% of the post
cant be about UM, they just have to more entertaining.

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 Strategy 2: Let the students decide what the exhibits should be by finding out what kinds
of art they find interesting
Students can feel more involved with the museums and it will let them know what is going on at
the museums.
Tactic 1: Take classroom polls
Going around to different classrooms, not all of them, just making sure to reach a
variety of classes, can be a good way to reach out to students. If you allow the students
to take a quick poll or survey choosing between 2 or 3 possible new exhibits or pieces,
they will feel more involved and want to find out if their piece was picked. Getting
students involved also will help grow their awareness of the museums.
Tactic 2: Run polls and take suggestions on social media
This tactic will work better once the followers has increased, but can still be utilized
while that process is going on. Asking students for input will the let the UM know
what kinds of things they want to see. Right now, Twitter has features to actually run a
poll that students can vote on and that can be retweeted by people inn order to get
more and more input. Again, with this tactic it gets students involved and increases
their likelihood to go check out the museums.
Strategy 3: Make the art more accessible by giving the option to let students teach
themselves about the art
Tactic 1: Create a feature on the MyState App. This strategy does not have any
tactics to go with it really. But after talking with the focus group it got brought up that the
student wanted to know more about the art on campus. If there could be a way for them to open
their MyState app that many already have on their phones, and pull up a map that shows them
all the art near them they would be more willing to check it out. On the app being able to feature
information about the art and artist will grow the students interest in the pieces ISU already
has. Students enjoy art, but not always having to look at it like homework. Being forced to find
information about a piece and better understand it is not how they want to spend their leisure
time. However, if they get some info to get them started they may be more interested.
Objective 3: Student action
To have an effect on student attendance to the UM by an increase of 15% in 12 months.

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In order to reach the goal of increasing the student attendance this final objective will need to
be met. The other objectives are key in leading up to this one.
Strategy 1: Have a variety of speakers or people to talk about the art or art events
Tactic 1: Bring in the artist themselves
For big named artist this would not be as feasible, however for the letter popular or
known artist this could be very doable. Student may be more enticed to care about the
art or care more about the pieces when they see the person who created it and were
able to here them speak. The artwork often becomes more meaningful after hearing
the thought behind it and the process it took.
Tactic 2: Give talks about the art
Have the museums staff or other members of the art community come and talk about
the art. Nancy currently gives tours of the art on campus that let the students learn
more about the art and the artist. That same kind of lesson could be given within the
museums or promoted more about the art on campus. Bringing in outside members to
the museums can also grab the students attention and make them want to go and
check it out.
Strategy 2: Incorporate local artist. Local art can draw more interest since it is people
that students may know in the community.
Millennials have an increase in local economies. They support businesses that buy food from
local farms, create products locally, or that benefit local areas. That same concept can be
applied to artwork. Students will want to support things that support local artist and the Ames
area.
Tactic 1: Work with the Octagon Art Festival here in Ames
The Octagon is a very well-known art event around Ames. By working with them to
feature some art or even just to have the museums tied in with them in some way can
increase the students that want to check out the different art or get the students that
know about The Octagon and bring them in.
Tactic 2: Feature local artist at the museums
Have 1 night a month or quarter where one of the Museums that features all work
done by Iowa artist or artist in the Ames area. The UM have done things like this in
the past, but by keeping it consistent people will remember it and want to stop in and

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 see the new pieces that are being featured. Knowing they can always see new things
will make them come back.
Strategy 3: Diversify the exhibits more
Bringing in a wide variety of art styles will reach out to a broader audience.
Tactic 1: Have more modern art
Students dont like to see the same style of artist all the time. Right now one of the
big things is street art and graffiti art. During the focus group many of the students
said they really like that kind of art and if the museums were to bring it in they
would want to go check it out. This goes back to getting student feedback about the
pieces and exhibits if they like the sound of the new exhibits or if they were the
ones to suggest it, like graffiti art they are more likely to go.
Tactic 2: Bring in more interactive exhibits
From past experience the UM know that bringing in interactive pieces draws in
students. There are a variety of ways to make a piece interactive. They could have
videos playing, have the students actually change the art, have them be the art, or
even just pieces that make them interact with each other. There are many young
artist out there that are creating interactive art every day. One off beat pieces, for
example was Ann Hamiltons Event of a Thread. This large piece of art was
displayed in New York as part of a larger installment of many pieces. The art work
hung a massive piece of selective cloth from the middle of the room, and the
visitors to the art are what made it move. They were able to get on a swing attached
to the piece and create movement in the work. Hamilton was assisted by a current
ISU professor on this pieces of work1. Using connections like that can allow UM to
bring in more diverse work. Other artist, like Wafaa Bilal, do pieces as will that
incorporate the audience in to them. Creating interactive exhibits can be a wide
variety of different pieces that can draw in new students to the museums.
Tactic 3: Bring in art that makes a statement or is controversial
The power behind art is that it can send a message. Students like to see the change
things can make, many of them are here studying how to change the world in some

1
Austin Stewart worked with Ann Hamilton to do this installment while working on his masters at the Ohio State University

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 way, so being able to see that come out in art makes them appreciate it more. If
students are able to connect science to the art or the issues that the art represents
they will feel more of a drive to go. The Pandoras Box feature that is currently on
the molecular biology building is a prime example. Most students dont even know
its there, but once you tell them and show them how it goes with the science of
MoliBio they find it fascinating and want to see it again.

These changes to the museum will take time and patience, but they are key in bringing more
students. When students feel a part of the museums and have a relationship with them they will
start seeing the UM as a viable option as something for them to do in their free time.

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Appendix

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 Appendix

Q&A for Assignment 2 & 3:

Assignment 2: Analysis of the situation and media use

1. What is the situation facing the organization?

The University Museums are trying to find ways to bring in more students and guest to their
various museums. They would like to increase the number of students trafficking through.

2. What is the background of the situation?

There are currently students coming into the museums for projects and for classes. They will
bring in students when they have different kinds of exhibits, like the lazer exhibit last year, but
on a regular basis they dont draw in many students for just leisure, according to Nancy Gebhart
from University Museums.

3. What is the significance or importance of the situation?

The UMs need to bring in more students who want to visit the museums for pleasure rather than
just students that visit for class. If they can get more students to come in to the museums, then all
the art and exhibits they have can be better utilized.

4. PR/AD opportunities
Opportunities include creating a campaign that will bring in more exhibits and exposure to the
museums and better usage and management of social media. Currently, there are very few posts
with no one in charge of keeping the university museum social media pages updated. Top fortune
500 companies (78%) rely on social media, especially Twitter in order to reach their customers
easily and more frequently (UMass).

What can AD/PR offer a potential advantage to the organization (positive)?

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PR can increase the awareness of the museums and their publicity of their exhibits, for free or an
extremely low budget, which is beneficial due to the fact that the museum is funded by donations
and grants.

5. PR/AD obstacles
Cant control feedback
Cant get it to the students every time in the way they can always hope.
What are the circumstances that limit the organization in realizing its mission (negative)?
Right now, they are limited by not having anyone running their social media pages. They also
dont have a very up to date or interactive website for students or other guest to use and find
information on.

6. Issue/risk/crisis, if any.
The University Museums doesnt have a lot of issues/risk/crisis right now, but like all museums
and things of that nature they are built on grants and donations. Without bringing in clients, they
are always at risk of having less money. However, it is backed by the University to help the
students learn and experience art, so it always has that source of money.

7. Local media environment (using MRI+)

(1) Media market (Iowa):
Media Exposure: Out of all the adults in Minnesota and Iowa (235,577,000) the top
media that is used is still primetime TV. This makes sense, as many adults from young
adults to older adults will use tv, so when look at them as a whole TV is something they
all use.
Media Profile: TV, Radio, and newspapers were the top 3 medias used by adults. These
are all sources of getting news. It would seem that many adults are using their media in
order to get their news and find things out about the day.
(2) Media use (college students):

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Cable TV is still one of the top media uses, however the internet and internet websites are much
higher on these list. This shows that college students use more internet and TV as their media use
vs. the newspaper and TV of adults as a whole.
8. Consumer trends (using MRI+, with client interview and library resources)
(1) Leisure activities (college students):
College students (age 18-24) has the smallest number of people attending museums in the past
12 months, of all the age brackets. Once out of college, it seems that many adults do go to
museums, but not while they are in college. Ages 18-24 had higher numbers when looking at
spending time with friends/family, sporting events, and video games. This may mean that
students like the stimulation that games and sports give them, they also could enjoy more of the
social aspect of those things vs. the atmosphere of UM.

Assignment 3: Analysis of the organization and the public

About the organization

1. Internal environment
(1) What are the mission and vision of UMs?
The University Museums exist to foster understanding and delight in the visual arts with a focus
on the creative interactions in arts, sciences and technology. The University Museums nurture
knowledge of and appreciation for the University's cultural heritage and its present cultural
context. The University Museums serve the Iowa State University community and the public as
an educational and cultural resource. (Iowa State University Museums).
Goals of the University Museums
1. Collect, preserve and interpret objects of aesthetic and cultural value.
2. Exhibit and disseminate knowledge of Museums and borrowed collections through a variety of
programs that stimulate and challenge diverse audiences.
3. Create vital partnerships within Iowa State University to enhance higher education by
exploring creative interactions in arts, sciences and technology.

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4. Create public partnerships to foster integration of the arts and cultural heritage as a central
part of peoples' lives. (Iowa State University Museums).

(2) What is the quality of UMs performance?

They are an accredited by the alliance of museums.

(3) What communication resources, including budget, are available?

University Museums provides visitors to their website with access to all their press releases they
give the media, and newsletters. They talk about why its important to give donations to the
museums, but not necessarily their budget.

(4) How supportive is UM of PR/AD activity?

The museums are not currently utilizing all their potential pr activity they could. However, they
are using some. UM has social media pages and would like to expand them to a further audience,
they also use various flyer/emails/ad campaigns to get peoples attention.
2. Past projects
Found! When panther statues were re-found and returned to ISU they UM had a lot of
great press behind it. They worked hard to get the panthers in peoples heads and talking
about before they even arrived. UM passed out flyers talking about the panthers and got
the word buzzing around campus. In the VEISHEA parades the statues were finally
revealed and everyone was very interested to see them.
Christian Petersen Art Museum Opening- When the museum opened it did have a lot of
talk behind it, but the UM did a good job at letting people know what was happening and
where it was going to be.
Immersive Laser Installation- One of the most popular exhibits that the museums did was
the laser one. It brought in many students and many of them returned multiple times to
see it again. It really did a good job at giving students the type of art they wanted to see
and brought more attention to the museums.
3. Public perception
(1) How well known is UM?

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The University Museums at Iowa State is one of only 10% of museums in the nation to get
accreditation by the American Association of Museums. They are very well known for their
sculpture and art on campus.

(2) What is the reputation of UM?

Besides being one of only 10% of museums to get accreditation, Iowa State holds the nations
largest collection of sculptures by Christian Peterson. They also were voted Americas 25 most
beautiful in 1991. University Museums is highly respected and something Iowa State takes pride
in.

(3) How do your client want to affect this reputation?

They would like to become even more well known. Specifically by attracting more students to
the museums, ultimately causing the museums to gain more attention therefore earning them an
even better reputation.

4. External environment
(1) What is the major competition for UM?
There is not much competition for the University Museums. Iowa State is a major part of the city
of Ames and this is where most of the museums are located. The only slight competition would
be museums in the city of Des Moines but it's roughly forty minutes from Ames.
(2) What significant opposition exists?
Not many students know about UM. There is little activity on social media, which is a huge
advertising outlet. There are also a limited number of ways to get students involved with UM
outside of class trips or class assignments.

(3) Is anything happening in the environment that can limit the effectiveness of a potential
PR/AD program?
There are currently no environmental factors that would limit the effectiveness of a PR/AD
program.
About the public

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1. Identifying all publics by category (audit of publics)
(1) Who are consumers, producers, enablers, and limiters of UM?
Customers- Students
o Students go to the museums to see what they have, often for their classes.
Producers- Professors
o The professors are often the ones that send the students to the museums.
Enablers- Alumni, Donors, Grant writers
o The UM gets much of their funding from alumni and donors to ISU, as well as
through various grants.
Limiters- Other colleges
o Other colleges may compete to bring to students to them, taking them away from
ISU and the UM.

(2) Which public(s) is (are) the key public(s) and why do you think they are most important
for UM?
Current Students and potential students. These are the people that are most likely to attend the
museums. The current students can use it as it is right now and they often get sent to go for
certain classes. The prospective students can look at the UM as a reason to come to ISU they
want to see what the university has to offer. They also may go tour the museums while they tour
the campus as a whole.

(3) Which publics are intercessory publics?

Parents and friends of students- Parents can influence students as to where they go to school and
what they study. That can impact their use of UM. Friends can influence students on whether
they go to the museums for a class or not, and could stop them from going all together by having
them do something else.

(4) Who are the major opinion leaders for these publics, if any?

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Some professors may be concerted an opinion leader for the students. If they are having a large
amount of students go to the museums or talk about them, they can influence how they act about
the museums and what they think.

2. Analyzing publics
(1) What is the nature and type of each key public?
The key publics are current and potential students. They are anywhere from the ages 18-25.
These are young adults who are attending these museums trying to better their knowledge.
Students also go to these museums for different classes and write reviews on art pieces. The
other key public is parents and friends of students. They are typically the same age as the other
students and the parents are anywhere from their 40s-60s. The older generation tends to be
more interested in the history of the museums. Social media and the internet is the best way to
get the younger generation's attention. The University Museums need to find a better way to
promote their collections and find better ways to make their website stronger.

Original Focus Group Questions

Engagement questions
By show of hands, how many of you have heard of Iowa State Museums?
By a show of hands, how many of you have been to an Iowa State University
museum? Put your hands down if you had to go for a class.
If you havent been to a university museum outside of class, why not?
Exploration Questions or probes
Do you go to other museums for leisure? (Ex: visiting museums while on vacation)
Did you enjoy your time at the museum? (ISU or otherwise)
What are some of your favorite activities to do outside of class?
Exit question.
Are there any exhibits you would like to see at UM?
Are there any additional comments you would like to share about UM?

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 Sources

Barnes, N. G., Ph.D., & Lescault, A. M., MBA. (2015). The 2015 Inc. 500 and Social Media.
Retrieved February 24, 2016, from
http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/socialmediaresearch/2015inc500/
Nancy Gebhart [Personal interview]. (2016, February 03).
Williams, C. (2015). Chris Williams Social Media Usuage. Lecture presented at PR 220 in
Design 1001, Ames, IA.

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