In the middle of the industrial era 4.0, some millennials have not been fairly concerned about the museum's existence. This fact is shown through the latest study results in 2020 - 2035, which reveals that the millennial generation has the majority number from the portion of communities to become the target market.
"The main important thing is, it is necessary to bring up interests to millennials in visiting museums," said Dr. Ayu Helena Cornellia., BA., MBA, as a lecturer at STP AMPTA Yogyakarta on Tuesday night (15/12). She conveyed this statement in an online discussion with the theme of the Museum in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: Promotion Problems and Solutions.
The research results she conducted in 2018 presented several obstacles in developing the museum as a tourist destination. For instance, the museum's lack of management has also never recruited exceptional staff in public relations or marketing.
Ayu revealed the management is not optimal because it has limited funds or budget for marketing communications. In addition, regarding human resources, some of the museum managers are not passionate enough about it, so they often seem less friendly and other things.
"The mindset is still focused on product-oriented, not consumer-oriented. It is necessary to reveal this fact, considering that the millennial generation is Indonesia's biggest target from the market," she said.
In an online discussion organized by the Tourism Studies Study Program, UGM Graduate School, Ayu said that her research results in 2018 showed that about 10 percent of museums have unclear status. Therefore, it was only reasonable for them if they didn't have any marketing plans.
Therefore, according to her, it is important to create a marketing model. This marketing model is mainly related to government policy.
"Even so, I will currently focus on the marketing strategy, namely integrated marketing communication or often called promotion. This strategy is affected by the existence of the digital era that demands us to be able to have positive promotion if you want to be well-known," Ayu said.
Ayu stated that there should be public relations planning in various businesses currently occupied, both profit and non-profit, because, at present, everything is well-updated throughout Social Media.
Even so, she said, there must be an appropriate balance between the promotion content and the content uploaded on social media. So, please avoid the lameness between social media content and reality.
"So, if we indeed have tourist destinations, museums or attractions, we can do all of that. Our promotion goal is also to make the museum an enjoyment. Museums can also become co-working spaces so that millennials are expected to be more interested in studying in a museum than studying in a cafe," she added.
Ayu said that the Sonobudoyo Museum was nominated as the beautiful museum because of its content on Instagram. Some netizens have seen these contents, and Sonobudoyo Museum can build a well-personal-branding.
"Accordingly, managing to be active and improving social media can be the keys. A museum does not have to emulate other museums. To make the museum well-known as well as to develop it, the museum must have particular characters. It is necessary to have a website, and as frequently as possible, organize special events so that people are even happier to visit the museum," she explained.
Drs. John Soeprihanto., MM., Ph.D. as the discussion participant, also agreed that the current effort is focused on attracting millennials as the future target of the market to visit museums.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Photo: Campa Tour
Translator: Natasa A