York Museums Trust
Challenge
York Museums Trust turned to Sumo to reinvigorate its brand and to work on- and offline to promote its broad catalogue of activities. The overarching objective was to inspire and inform new generations of visitors.
YMT had a set of marketing materials which needed restructuring and redesigning to reach their potential as a communication channel. Their other significant communications tool, since much of their target market is tourists, is their suite of five core websites which the Trust wanted to grow and improve on several levels. They were also looking to expand online with a growing collection of project and exhibition microsites, aimed at driving footfall to the venues.
The most challenging strand of the project in terms of complexity and visibility was the core websites for each of York Museums Trust venues. These act largely as pre- and post-visit information resources, aiming to give visitors an overview of facilities and activities at each venue. The positioning of each venue is quite different; from the large York Castle Museum to the single art space of St Mary's and the 'corporate' York Museums Trust website, though the client was looking to benefit from a clear brand style and economies of scale across the five websites.
The exhibition microsites we've produced so far, The Sixties microsite, York Castle Prison and Kirkgate Victorian Street sites, provided us with the same challenge – to give visitors an idea of the experience of being at the exhibition – based upon completely different subject matter, giving us room for creative flashes.
Territories is the project title for York Art Gallery's community outreach projects. They were looking for a website to appeal to funders and participants which made a point of being open and accessible.
The Grand Tour website provided us with a different kind of challenge – it was confirmed at short notice that York would take on the concept developed by the National Portrait Gallery in London so the website, guide maps and marketing materials needed to be produced to particularly tight deadlines.
Idea
We really wanted to get to know the Trust and its attractions and so began a detailed research process. We spent time at each of the four venues, canvassed target market perceptions and talked to the staff and associates working on current and forthcoming projects. The result was a fresh yet sympathetic take on the original brand introducing new elements of colour, style and font. The venues have diverse audiences and the wider application of the brand was flexible enough to clearly reflect the identities of each of the attractions and the content of the individual events being promoted. We have since updated the identity again recently, fulfilling the brief of a more understated set of marques.
In developing the core websites we concentrated on providing well-structured information with bright, inviting content. The sites are built on the same templates and the same general structure, with adjustments to suit each venue. The content is updated by staff using Sumo’s user-friendly Content Management System, and this continually-changing information plays a key role in encouraging visitors to return time and time again.
At the front-end, the microsites are diverse in design and structure whilst the back-end CMSs use standard Geisha modules to manage content. We incorporated bespoke illustration, sound and Flash animation to create a real feel for the exhibitions.
Across all the sites we looked for opportunities for the Trust to cross-promote their venues and exhibitions, including a banner management system. We also help them to make the most of e-marketing with newsletter sign-up boxes on every page and a bespoke e-newsletter template. We have refined these over time in light of new e-marketing research and developments. We have also helped the client to develop a corporate blog and trained them in using this as a marketing and search engine optimisation tool.
We have developed a very strong working relationship with York Museums Trust in the past four years. Most notably, the WOO website was a full collaboration; the idea stemming from discussions with the client about the effects of the current economic climate on the City of York. It is an innovative project, making the most of the internet as a tool for collaboration and universal creative input.
Response
In the first year after Sumo redeveloped the York Museums Trust websites in 2007, website traffic increased by over 300%. We produce over 100 print items for them every year, many of which are created from a suite of templates we developed for a creative but efficient process.