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Museum board looks at advertising push

Museum board looks at advertising push

Suggestions include adding vehicle navigation ads

Tim Leeds

The board of the county museum Monday agreed to re-examine its advertising campaign, including looking into adding high-tech commercials via car navigation systems.

John Gilbert, manager of the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum, asked the board for suggestions on advertising following his review of the advertising done in the last few years.

At the end of the discussion, John Brumley, archaeologist at the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump, suggested that adding listings on car navigation systems such as Magellan and OnStar might benefit the attractions.

Those advertisements can be set to pop up only when a vehicle is within a certain distance of the town, he said. Brumley said that he has tested his system in and near Havre and several attractions are not listed.

"We have to tap into it, " he said.

The group discussed consolidating the advertising efforts of the museum and Wahkpa Chu'gn, with better-designed ads and more selective placements.

Board member Raela Hulett asked about also using the local radio — the list of past advertising provided by Gilbert was only in printed advertisements.

Anna Brumley, manager of Wahkpa Chu'gn, asked how the shared expense would be managed by the two entities' separate budgets.

She suggested smaller advertisements, with ads for the buffalo jump having a line promoting the museum at the bottom, and vice versa.

"If you make them big, the bigger they are, the more they cost, " she said.

Gilbert said having larger advertisements would help promote the sites.

Elaine Morse, chair of the museum funding foundation board, said most advertising should focus on the buffalo jump.

"Wahkpa Chu'gn probably draws from further away, " she said. "I think our museum is completely local. You've got to catch the people that are here. "

She said that the advertising campaign should be set and working as soon as possible, with possible budgetary changes to accommodate the campaign. She suggested that some of the money provided by the descendants of H. Earl and Margaret Clack to make up for shortfalls in the operations budget could be transferred to use for the advertising.

The board of the county museum Monday agreed to re-examine its advertising campaign, including looking into adding high-tech commercials via car navigation systems.

John Gilbert, manager of the H. Earl and Margaret Turner Clack Memorial Museum, asked the board for suggestions on advertising following his review of the advertising done in the last few years.

At the end of the discussion, John Brumley, archaeologist at the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump, suggested that adding listings on car navigation systems such as Magellan and OnStar might benefit the attractions.

Those advertisements can be set to pop up only when a vehicle is within a certain distance of the town, he said. Brumley said that he has tested his system in and near Havre and several attractions are not listed.

"We have to tap into it, " he said.

The group discussed consolidating the advertising efforts of the museum and Wahkpa Chu'gn, with better-designed ads and more selective placements.

Board member Raela Hulett asked about also using the local radio — the list of past advertising provided by Gilbert was only in printed advertisements.

Anna Brumley, manager of Wahkpa Chu'gn, asked how the shared expense would be managed by the two entities' separate budgets.

She suggested smaller advertisements, with ads for the buffalo jump having a line promoting the museum at the bottom, and vice versa.

"If you make them big, the bigger they are, the more they cost, " she said.

Gilbert said having larger advertisements would help promote the sites.

Elaine Morse, chair of the museum funding foundation board, said most advertising should focus on the buffalo jump.

"Wahkpa Chu'gn probably draws from further away, " she said. "I think our museum is completely local. You've got to catch the people that are here. "

She said that the advertising campaign should be set and working as soon as possible, with possible budgetary changes to accommodate the campaign. She suggested that some of the money provided by the descendants of H. Earl and Margaret Clack to make up for shortfalls in the operations budget could be transferred to use for the advertising.

 

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