Could a Museum be a Brand?

I’m writing my first “tate experience” blog article on the cold concrete stairs in the turbine hall. The café was massively overcrowded as the rest of the museum. This is actually a very good sign, although it’s a bit annoying for me. Tate Modern attracts thousands of visitors every day and it is probably one of the most popular tourist attractions in London. Did somebody say people don’t like to go to museums? 

The audience could not be more diverse: People from all around the world, kids, teens, a couple on their first date, lonely individuals, artists, art lovers, school groups and English language students. One thing people want to see here is art, no discussion. However, I strongly believe this place has an attraction, which goes beyond art. Tate Modern became a place, where people just like to spend their time. It became a place, which people recommend to their friends. It has its consistency with the collection, but also variety with its exhibitions and events. People might come here just to visit the shop (something I do regularly for example). Visitors consume Tate Modern, some become a member of Tate Modern and some might see Tate Modern as their favourite place in London, where they look forward to coming back again and again. Tate Modern has a very distinct logo and commuting with the tube, you might face advertisements from Tate Modern every day.

All these characteristics sound like what businesses are desperately looking for. Being a very successful brand. People who have positive emotions and memories when thinking of the brand and of course also worldwide popularity and recognition.

However, are we allowed to call a museum a brand? Of course we are, brands and branding is used for almost everything today, which I think is absolutely fair as long as the product, company, location, person fulfils certain characteristics, which I will explore later on in my “tate experience”.

Through my regular visits in the next couple of weeks I will try to investigate what makes Tate Modern so successful and loved. I will try to dig deeper into my own emotions and feelings of why Tate Modern is one of my beloved places in London. And hopefully I will be able to draw some conclusions for other brands and how they can learn from Tate Modern.

Now it gets almost too cold and I need to move on. Hopefully the rain stopped. Otherwise, I will just spend some more time here, which is usually no problem, because I could spend hours in Tate Modern.