My role at the museum since early in the year of the museum’s opening, 2016, has been to lead the Evaluation Group and take responsibility for the ongoing market research and Visitor Survey. It may seem rather a “dry” subject, but to someone like me, a life-long marketeer and researcher, discovering what consumers thinks is the bread of life!
Finding out about what sort of people come to the museum, how they like it and what suggestions they would make to improve the experience is all grist to the mill. The evaluation group meet around four times a year to discuss latest results. We report to the Management Committee and regularly send out emails to those involved in the museum with comments from the visitors about the various different aspects of the museum – the shop, the permanent gallery, the special exhibitions, the cleanliness of the facilities etc etc. From this, we learn a great deal about what is going right and about what needs adjusting in the short or long term. We can feed back to those in charge at the museum praise for the staff but also peoples’ wishes for changes or improvements.
My own background is as a market research consultant and trainer. I am a Fellow of the Market Research Society and Associate Professor at the University Business School in Madrid. Following a career as a marketing analyst at Unilever and then as a board director at Research International, I went freelance in 2000 undertaking both qualitative and quantitative research. Since then, I have become more involved in local Pinner life and have enjoyed the chance to make new friends through work on a pro bono basis with charities such as the Heath Robinson Museum and Bereavement Care.
