The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council's (MLA) statement of change announced in April says: "The duplication with other agencies will be avoided and activities done more appropriately by other bodies, such as marketing our sector to the public, will be stopped so backroom costs are kept to a minimum."
At the same time, the MLA confirmed that it will no longer fund the Campaign for Museums to deliver Museums and Galleries Month (MGM).
In one fell swoop, the marketing of museums and galleries goes back to where it was ten years ago. Or does it? Marketing is now an integral part of most museums' business plans. National museums and major regional museums do it well.
Renaissance hubs promote their museums and certainly use the marketing opportunities presented by MGM. But who will now do the marketing job for the museum sector as a whole? And does it need the inspiration of an umbrella campaign?
The Campaign for Museums was founded in 1996 as a charity with this specific purpose. MGM, first held in 2000, has successfully delivered a marketing platform that all museums and galleries can be part of.
This May, hundreds of additional events, many inspired by the MGM arts programme, were registered on the database shared with the 24-Hour Museum. This was fed to other sites and used by the websites of tourism bodies VisitBritain and Enjoy England, potentially reaching 16 million users.
Media coverage (at an estimated value of £1.5m) stimulated numerous museum visits and raised awareness among decision-makers.
This year's partnership with Aardman for the Museums at Night weekend encouraged nearly 100 museums to organise evening events that combined music, food and sleepovers with a showing of The Wrong Trousers.
In Gateshead, Bath and Oxford, collaborative events attracted thousands of people. As arts minister Margaret Hodge said at the launch of MGM 2008: "This is a great way of reaching new people."
So, in my view, museums and galleries do need a sector-wide marketing campaign. They benefit from a creative campaign that encourages them to develop their product to satisfy their target market, promoting it in competition with everything from theme parks and home entertainment; and competing not just for visitors, but for income and funding as well.
MGM not only raises awareness, it also encourages museums to work together and try new ideas. And on a very small budget, it reaches millions of potential visitors.
Since 2000 it has grown and developed, and should change again; a blueprint exists for a new "Museum Fest" from 2009 onwards. The MLA should think again about who should be marketing museums.
Ylva French is the executive director of the Campaign for Museums
At the same time, the MLA confirmed that it will no longer fund the Campaign for Museums to deliver Museums and Galleries Month (MGM).
In one fell swoop, the marketing of museums and galleries goes back to where it was ten years ago. Or does it? Marketing is now an integral part of most museums' business plans. National museums and major regional museums do it well.
Renaissance hubs promote their museums and certainly use the marketing opportunities presented by MGM. But who will now do the marketing job for the museum sector as a whole? And does it need the inspiration of an umbrella campaign?
The Campaign for Museums was founded in 1996 as a charity with this specific purpose. MGM, first held in 2000, has successfully delivered a marketing platform that all museums and galleries can be part of.
This May, hundreds of additional events, many inspired by the MGM arts programme, were registered on the database shared with the 24-Hour Museum. This was fed to other sites and used by the websites of tourism bodies VisitBritain and Enjoy England, potentially reaching 16 million users.
Media coverage (at an estimated value of £1.5m) stimulated numerous museum visits and raised awareness among decision-makers.
This year's partnership with Aardman for the Museums at Night weekend encouraged nearly 100 museums to organise evening events that combined music, food and sleepovers with a showing of The Wrong Trousers.
In Gateshead, Bath and Oxford, collaborative events attracted thousands of people. As arts minister Margaret Hodge said at the launch of MGM 2008: "This is a great way of reaching new people."
So, in my view, museums and galleries do need a sector-wide marketing campaign. They benefit from a creative campaign that encourages them to develop their product to satisfy their target market, promoting it in competition with everything from theme parks and home entertainment; and competing not just for visitors, but for income and funding as well.
MGM not only raises awareness, it also encourages museums to work together and try new ideas. And on a very small budget, it reaches millions of potential visitors.
Since 2000 it has grown and developed, and should change again; a blueprint exists for a new "Museum Fest" from 2009 onwards. The MLA should think again about who should be marketing museums.
Ylva French is the executive director of the Campaign for Museums
