Mistakes made by the former distribution giant could drive your institution into bankruptcy as well
Do you remember Blockbuster? It was a U.S. distribution company founded by David Cook in 1985 and went bankrupt in 2013.Its business was focused on rental purchases of home video products and video games, and content distribution.
Why this example? Because I see that most museums make the three mammoth mistakes that Blockbuster made that led to its bankruptcy.
The three mistakes made by Blockbuster
- Not having been able to read the changes and to adapt.
In ten years, from 1985 to 1995, Blockbuster opened 4,800 stores in the United States alone. and then expanded to 25 other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, Britain, Portugal, Denmark, Israel, Mexico, Argentina and Italy.
The question is.: how was it possible to go from 9,000 stores in 2004-the chain’s heyday-to a single nostalgic bastion in Bend, Oregon? Why didn’t Blockbuster change its strategy?
Now, take the world of culture. It is losing appeal, it is there for all to see: according to Federculture, 38.5 percent of adults in Italy do not participate in any kind of cultural activity. Given, then, these numbers, why do museums continue to behave the same way and not do a self-analysis trying to understand why a visitor decides not to go to their museum and spend time there?
- Failing to listen to the needs of their target audience.
Reed Hastings, a serial DVD renter from Blockbuster, was fed up with paying €40 each time for a late delivery of a DVD. So in 1996 he had an idea: open a virtual store by instituting a monthly payment for rentable movies: Netflix was born, you know it right?
At the cultural and museum level, 47%, of Italians, although they can read and write, cannot understand information and interpret reality: so why don’t museum directors adapt their tone of voice to this audience and provide tools and platforms for “cultural consumption” in step with the times?
- Physicality vs. automation.
To rent a movie or game, it used to be necessary to go into a physical Blockbuster store, choose from the available titles, take the (empty) case, bring it to the cashier, wait for the DVD to be retrieved, pay, and leave (which is why many people also bought other things in the meantime–popcorn, candy, Häagen-Dazs ice cream). Its “killer,” Netflix, on the other hand, offers the possibility to “try out” the service for a month with a couple of clicks, without moving from home or the couch: this allows it to attract more and more new customers who try the new platform, perhaps on a boring evening, and, if they are not satisfied, they can cancel when they want. If they do not, they will continue to pay a monthly fee to see, without limits, the entire catalog.
If we take this reasoning to the museum level, it comes in handy to recall a Harvard Business Review study, which points out that 65 percent of customer decisions are made before they even meet the vendor. What does this mean for a museum? It means that by the time a visitor gets there, he or she is already informed about the same, about the works there, about other things to do in the city. So why don’t most museums focus on building a mechanized, automatable customer acquisition system?
The future of culture
As a result of this reflection, I am convinced that if we want to ensure a future for culture, we must necessarily go through certain reasoning that avoids the cultural failure on the horizon.
It is from these reflections, from a careful examination of people and their needs, as well as listening to their frustrations, that the Amuse® Method was born, a paradigm shift, approach and mindset that can empower the world of culture to remain competitive in a market that is changing radically.
The Amuse® Method:
- enables it to constantly attract visitors;
- ensures a high experiential level for guests within the facility;
- continue to “sell” other services and products to people who have already bought in the museum (because customers you have already acquired are more likely to re-purchase, if treated well of course).
As Reed Hastings himself once said,
“Once in a while you can create great wealth in a short time, but you have to be very lucky. When you build an organization, you have to put in a great deal of work.”.
Where to start to do all this? From here http://ognimaledettomuseo.com/
amuseapp – the digital revolution for cultural places
amuseapp is more than just an audio guide-it is an innovative digital platform that transforms the visitor experience and helps museums increase revenues.
Customized itineraries with theArtificial Intelligence. Unlike traditional audio guides, amuseapp uses artificial intelligence to create customized itineraries based on the needs of each visitor: children, people with sensory disabilities, experts, students, and many other categories.
Accessibility in 30 languages. Today, only 20 percent of museums offer content in more than two languages. With amuseapp, cultural venues can break down this barrier, automatically generating text and audio in 30 languages and making cultural heritage accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Chatbot real-time virtual tour guide. Using a customized chatbot, amuseapp offers visitors an always-available virtual guide who can answer their questions and enrich the visitor experience.
Easy and safe donation collection. With amuseapp, cultural places can collect donations directly through the app, quickly, securely and intuitively.
Feedback for continuous improvement. amuseapp allows you to collect visitors’ opinions about the visitor experience, providing valuable data to optimize your services.
Available in app or web app mode. The amuseapp web app allows visitors to access the museum’s digital content without having to download any apps. The amuseapp mobile app is designed to offer a more advanced and customizable experience. By downloading it from the official stores, visitors can benefit from extra features.
One solution, multiple benefits. With amuseapp, cultural venues can offer an innovative, inclusive and interactive experience while improving their sustainability model.
Learn more about amuseapp.