Engagement is about looking at the institution and its offerings from the outside. It’s about understanding where people’s heads and hearts are, and finding ways to meet them there, draw them in, draw them up, draw them out into the heady worlds of science, art, and history. It’s about making sure that museums remain relevant so they can maintain their position as essential institutions in the life, education and thought of this nation….  Read more

The basic principals of SEO are not hard: be honest, explain your content, link things up.

Use the page title, description and tags to genuinely help people find and understand the content of the page. Don’t put tags on the page for things that are not directly relevant to the content. Don’t title the page something it is not….  Read more

On March 6th I came home from work late and my 14 year old daughter was up avidly watching a video on the computer. She said it was very important and that I had to watch it. Later that evening I did. It was the Kony 2012 video….  Read more

Marketing is a big term. What is it in the context of a public facing institution like a museum? What is it when you do not have a large or consistent marketing budget or even a dedicated marketing department?…  Read more

If you are thinking about creating a new website for your company, or revamping the one that served you well five years ago, but just isn’t quite up to snuff anymore, then this is information that could help you launch (or re-launch) a website that truly addresses your most critical business development needs….  Read more

We launched the Free campaign for the Bronx Museum this week as they announce to the world, and particularly to the Bronx, that they are going free to the public.

Museum advertising often speaks primarily to the converted. This is an attempt to start up a conversation with museum virgins….  Read more

If you are under 34 the answer is probably yes.

Even a year ago 48% of 18-34 year olds check Facebook when they wake up. Sound familiar? It’s the morning paper. The difference is 28% do this before even getting out of bed.

48% of young Americans say Facebook is the way they find out about news. Silly, shallow, outrageous you say? Maybe not….  Read more

My family is not really on Facebook much. They forgot my birthday.

This reminded me of traveling in the Yucatan as a 22 year old and utterly forgetting my own birthday. Somehow the group I was with knew when it was even if I did not, and they actually engineered a make-shift surprise party for me. That was perhaps my most memorable birthday, though I’m not sure I would recognize any of those kind people if I bumped into them on the street today….  Read more

“What if company logos were honest” is a very funny blog post featuring the work of the artist and designer Viktor Hertz. It kind of gets you thinking though. I talk a lot about truth and why it matters for a brand. And yet look at all these great brands. They are jokingly being shown at odds with the reality of what they actually deliver.

I think this situation shows, among other things, that a brand is NOT just a logo. But at the same time, it points out how our brand associations really are not rational….  Read more

The key question a brand must answer is, “Who are we?” The best answer to this is one that is short and clear.

The answer cannot be, “this, and this and, oh yes, this.” No matter how complex the reality is, a brand’s keynote expression must be immediately graspable if it is to have real power. And it still needs to be true….  Read more