Findings from Focus Group Research Conducted on Behalf of the McNay Art Museum

Prepared by:

October, 2013 Findings from Focus Group Research for the McNay Art Museum

BACKGROUND The McNay Art Museum, the first museum of modern art in Texas, had had a visitor base of a steady 100,000 over the past few years. It would like to grow the number of visitors, and would like to understand why many museum-minded San Antonio residents do not visit. A quantitative research study will be conducted after this research to affirm findings found in this qualitative research.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of this research were to: • Understand what these San Antonio residents do in their leisure time and what role, if any, museums play; • See what sources of information consumers use in deciding how to spend their leisure time; • Learn what perceptions’ residents have about the McNay; • Gather reactions to two television and one radio (in Spanish) ad; and • After learning more about the McNay, understand how interested residents would be in attending it.

METHODOLOGY Two focus groups were conducted in San Antonio on October 16, 2013. Each group lasted a full two hours. Typically, ARA likes to handle recruiting by gathering lists from other museums of their visitors; this was not possible and recruiting was done using the facility’s (Galloway Market Research) database.

Group 1 was designed to be Established Museum-Goers. They attended / visited at least three of the cultural arts organizations on the list, and several were members. Several also collected art, visited galleries or had taken art appreciation or art classes. Most were married. Education-wise, most were college and post-graduate school graduates. They tended to be higher income than Group 2, and skewed Caucasian.

Group 2 were designed to be New / Progressive Museum-Goers. Their current involvement in the arts was less than Group 1, although they had participated in some cultural activates in the past. Income-wise, their incomes were slightly less than Group 1 and they skewed more Latino / Hispanic than Group 1.

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Both groups met the following criteria: • Shared or primary decision- maker when it came to deciding which museums or cultural attractions they would visit in the San Antonio metropolitan area • Mix of men and women, with a skew towards women • Mix of ages between 30 and 65 • Minimal household income of $50,000 • A few had lived in San Antonio for less than 5 years although most had lived there for a long period of time • Had not visited the McNay in the past 12 months; may have visited in the past 5 years; none were current McNay members • In visiting the McNay, had not come only because of a wedding, to take pictures on the grounds, or to attend a free outdoor event • Some had kids under the age of 11 at home • Minimally high school graduate • Passed security screening for past participation and current employment • Articulate and spoke English clearly and fluently

For those unfamiliar with the McNay Art Museum, several publications were used to give them a feel of the Museum: Visitor Guide, the McNay Art Museum: An Introduction , and the most recent edition of Illustrations, the quarterly guide for members.

Barbara O’Connor of Audience Research & Analysis moderated the groups and prepared this report.

RESEARCH SENSITIVITY Qualitative research has certain limitations. These studies are exploratory in nature; they are used to elicit a range of responses, stimulate dialogue, generate ideas, and develop hypotheses. Because of the limited number of participants, unstructured questioning procedures and the potential for respondents to influence each other, focus group findings should not be considered conclusive or projectable. Thus, more rigorous research is required to determine the extent to which other consumers exhibit the behavior and hold the attitudes and perceptions found in this qualitative study.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Leisure Time / Visiting Museums • These residents liked living in San Antonio and perceived that there were a great number of fun and interesting activities, celebrations and a fiesta to do. As one said, “ There’s so much going on in San Antonio all the time that it’s kind of hard to weed out just the museums in general because there’s always so much going on .”

• Attitudinal differences appeared between the two groups. Group 1, more established museum-goers, were likely to view museums as an activity they did in their free time more than were Group 2 respondents, who did not spontaneously mention attending museums as a leisure-time pursuit.

• For parents, activities that they could do with children (interactive, not boring, and safe – they could do no damage) were top-of-mind for leisure activities, not art museums.

• Many visited museums when they traveled. Most often, however, among these groups, museum visits were to museums of interest to children.

Cultural Activities • In addition to museums, there were a large number of other cultural events in the city. The Majestic Theatre performances were very popular. Also, a wide variety of other activities (music festivals, the fiesta, plays, children-specific events) were available and competed for these San Antonio residents’ time.

• These residents frequently noted inadequacies when it came to visiting museums in San Antonio. The major issue is the lack of changing exhibitions – they are not motivated to return to the same museum to see the same show. Secondly, some San Antonians do not see themselves as being as cultured as residents of other cities. Third, there is considerable competition from “fun” festivals and events.

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Sources of Information • There were many sources and it was relatively easy for consumers to find out what there was to do in San Antonio. Although citing many places where they received information, the Current and Our Kids’ publications were the most popular. Residents cited many other resources – print publications including “Weekender” section of the paper, local papers, kid- specific newspapers, the San Antonio Express News, and the San Antonio Magazine . They listened to talk radio. Compared to other cities in which ARA has done research, San Antonians seemed to be more likely to be Facebook “friends” of local institutions. They did not, however, mention television or television ads unaided as a source of information.

• Many mentioned that museum banners also provided information about museum events.

• Websites used included the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau site, the San Antonio Arts site, and specific museum websites.

• Many received email blasts or postcard mailers from institutions.

Museums Visited • By design, these San Antonians had not visited the McNay’s exhibitions in the past year, although some had in the past. Most, however, had been to San Antonio’s other major museums – the Children’s Museum, the Witte, and SAMA.

• Although they had not been inside the Museum, several had been to weddings or outdoor visits to the grounds at the McNay.

Perceptions of the McNay • These consumers had many positive perceptions of the McNay, even though many had not been there at all or in a long time. These included: gorgeous landscaping and grounds, beautiful and historic building that had been someone’s home, being quiet and peaceful, and that it was an art museum. Perceptions of the types of art varied from contemporary art to Renaissance art, “ expensive ” and “ famous ” works of art, and glass.

• On the negative side are challenges for the McNay to overcome, as residents perceived the Museum not to be child-friendly, somewhat uninviting to the average middle class person / elitist, limited (only had art), strict with its rules for viewing art, and with an out-of-way location.

• These respondents perceived that the McNay was unique from other San Antonio museums, largely because of its lovely grounds and the building, rather than the art itself.

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• Other than hosting permanent and special exhibitions, there was little awareness of other activities sponsored by the Museum, such as conversations / lectures, performances, and family programs. There was a great deal of interest in family programs once participants became aware of them.

• None were aware of Second Thursdays with free beer, food trucks, music, and for $5, a visit to the Museum. There was a great deal of excitement about this – and the November 14 event will probably have many focus group respondents in attendance.

Typical McNay Visitor • When asked who they thought was the typical McNay visitor, respondents pictured middle- aged and older people, somewhat upscale (favorite shops ranged from Macy*s to Nieman Marcus), intelligent (historians, professors), art lovers, predominantly women, did not have to work, and made a museum visit a social occasion (lunch included).

• Interestingly, none of these respondents imagined themselves as the typical McNay visitor.

Reaction to Current Marketing Materials • The Visitor Guide generated many suggestions for improvement. While it provided the necessary logistical information (hours, prices, etc.), it did not do a good job of explaining the McNay’s contents as well as it might. o Consumers found the hours of operation to be acceptable. o They were delighted with the reasonable admission prices, particularly when they learned that children 12 and under were admitted free of charge.

• In order to give them an idea of what the Museum contained, respondents spent a few minutes looking through the McNay Art Museum: An Introduction . Many thought the book gave a first-rate overview of the types of art at the Museum – and that there was something there for everyone. They were also interested in the life of Mrs. McNay, and others were curious about her home.

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The Impressions magazine was very well received and gave these residents an even more positive feel for the Museum. It showed a variety of exhibitions – from Cut and Costume to Nightmare Before Christmas – which were of interest and also gave readers valued information that there were several – and changing – special exhibitions. Other things they liked about this member-only publication included the picture of “normal” people on page 14 and the listing of all the activities that the Museum had to offer.

Advertising • There was no unaided recall of any print, television, mall or radio advertising for the McNay. A few recalled the Fox News morning show discussing the Rockwell exhibit and bus wraps.

• Of the two television ads shown to consumers, there was preference for the Rockwell one over the Cut and Costume one. The Rockwell one spent more time on individual pieces of art, while the Cut and Costume one spanned the exhibition, without stopping to focus on any one costume. For both ads, consumers voiced that way too much time was spent on providing information on how to become a member: a primary objective of the ad, they thought, was getting them to the Museum and membership (or not) would follow.

• Those fluent in Spanish liked the Spanish Univision radio ad, calling it attention-getting, friendly, and family-focused. The consensus of the group was that Spanish-language advertising made sense, given the high proportion of those of Latino or Hispanic heritage in San Antonio.

Interest in Visiting the McNay • By the end of the session and having learned a bit about the McNay, consumers were asked to rate their interest in visiting. On a five point scale (where 5=extremely interested and 1=not at all interested), the average rating of 4.5 indicated a high interest in seeing the McNay. There were several general themes as to why people wanted to come: o New awareness of all that the Museum offered o Availability of programs for children o Events, programs and activities for adults o The variety of art to see

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RECOMMENDATIONS / CONSIDERATIONS

The McNay is competing for visitors in a city where there are a great number of activities going on, many of which are more “fun” in nature. It needs to give residents reasons why it should visit.

Parents are actively seeking new and different things to do in San Antonio, and would welcome the McNay as another place to go with children.

There is a strong perception that children are not welcome at the Museum and that there is nothing there to engage them. Suggestions might be to strengthen advertising and event listings (and include pictures) in kids’ publications, and highlight wherever possible that children 12 and under are admitted without charge. For school children, who visit, consider sending home information about the McNay – the Illustrations magazine was hugely popular in these groups and gave people a good sense of what was there.

One common issue consumers had with the McNay and other San Antonio museums that diminishes their interest in museums in general is the perception that the exhibits are stagnant and unchanging. These consumers are motivated by having something new to see; they do not want to go back to see the same thing. While the McNay today focuses advertising efforts on the “big” special event, there are other temporary exhibitions (e.g., Night Before Christmas) that created interest in visiting.

There was considerable interest in Second Thursdays, and this is a good way to get non-visitors to the Museum grounds and to let them see McNay as an entity. Promoting Second Thursdays strongly should be a good way to entice non-visitors to come to the Museum.

Consideration might be re-allocating the current media mix dollars as there is low recall of advertising, with the exception of a mention on a talk show and a bus wrap. (Spanish-language advertising should continue.) Not only do they not recall the television ads, but they generally do not indicate that television is one of the resources they use to find out about activities at museums.

The lack of outreach and visibility in the community may further confirm residents’ feelings of the McNay’s exclusivity in the community. Suggestions include a presence at the numerous community fairs and festivities or other places residents gather, promoting the Second Thursdays, billboards and banners, strengthening the presence of the Museum at visitors’ centers / hotels / other tourist venues, and giving free passes to those who go to weddings or events there, among other ideas.

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There was no recall of the television ads currently being run. Suggestions for further television advertising include, if it is to be run: • Focus more on the art than the gallery space • Spend less time on membership (they need to visit first before considering membership) and more time on things like Second Thursdays, admission prices, etc. • Mention that children 12 and under are admitted free of charge

Consider developing a tagline to explain and help brand “theMcNay” that would generate interest in the Museum. Some thoughts from this non-copy writer include: • One woman: how her love of art started a world-class museum. theMcNay. • Gorgeous grounds. Spectacular art. Free beer. theMcNay. • There’s something here for everyone. The McNay Art Museum. • Discover a home with great art. theMcNay.

The Visitor Guide could be used as a marketing piece at the Visitor Center, hotels, events, etc. with some minor changes. Suggestions for the Visitor Guide: • Front cover should have pictures of works of art and the full name of the Museum should be used to indicate that it is a guide for an art museum. • On the floor map, show larger pictures of the types of art that can be found in each section of the Museum • These San Antonio residents had a perception that the McNay was not for children. This was reinforced by the listing of rules, particularly the first one “Please help us care for the art by not touching. We ask that you stay at least 12 inches from any work of art, including furniture along the gallery walls.” Consideration might be given to making this a more friendly more welcoming document by removing the “rules “section (and perhaps placing it on a placard near the Admissions desk). • Play up the fact that Admission is free for children 12 and younger. • Explain what Second Thursdays and First Sundays are. • Three shots are of outdoor spaces and art: the Liberman Ascent, a photograph of the Stieren Center, and George Rickey’s Horizontal Column of Five Squares; there are no large size pictures of indoor art. • Consideration might be given to using a photograph such as the one on the membership inset or on page 14 of Impressions as they showed that every day, normal-looking people visiting the Museum and participating in its activities.

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DETAILED FINDINGS

LEISURE TIME. The group discussions started with a conversation on how these participants spent their leisure time: • Golf • Movies • Bingo • Painting • Travel and sightseeing • Housework • Work in yard • Street fairs • Read • Entertaining • Shop • Community events

Parents indicated that their leisure time activities were centered on children.

“For me, it’s all about my kids. It’s like, what event is going on today.”

As such, parents’ leisure time included: • Library activities • Scouts • Anything that is free • Swimming • Historic areas • Chauffeuring children • Movies

Interesting, none of these respondents spontaneously mentioned museums, performing arts, or other cultural activities as key leisure time activities.

There appeared to be a great deal going on in San Antonio.

“There’s so much going on in San Antonio all the time that it’s kind of hard to weed out just the museums in general because there’s always so much going on.”

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CULTURAL ACTIVITIES. These San Antonio residents described the cultural climate of San Antonio as “ very active” and “year round.” Cultural opportunities seemed to abound for adults but were limited for children.

“I think they do great. There’s stuff for every age. The variety is good. I lived in Phoenix for a little bit; here has a little more variety than Phoenix did. Here it spans from children’s exhibits at the Children’s Museum or Witte, here to the McNay. Or if you want to see more contemporary, the San Antonio Museum of Art. There’s a great deal of variety for every taste that is here in San Antonio.”

For children to enjoy cultural activities and museums (and for parents to enjoy taking them), there had to be interactive things to do, things that did not involve sitting or walking for a long period of time. They did not like to return to museums unless something had changed, generally a new exhibition.

These cultural activities included: • Fiesta (April) • Opera • Cinco de Mayo • Plays • First Fridays • Music • Broadway at the Majestic Theatre • Museums Symphony • Music festivals (Jazz festivals, South-by- • Nutcracker and other ballet Southwest)

Many – particularly parents -- kept their eyes open for Groupon. Retail Me Not, and Living Social coupons for events in the city.

Group 1 respondents spontaneously mentioned that they attended museums; by design, these were consumers who frequented more cultural activities than did Group 2 consumers.

“I very much enjoy going to art museums. Seeing paintings that I’ve only read about, and seeing places that I’ve never seen before.”

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Museums were not spontaneously mentioned as one of the cultural activities that these Group 2 residents participated in. Visits to museums were prompted by something:

“With us, it’s generally if my kids see an advertisement for it, and they want to go to it, then it’s like we check it out. Ads at school. Sometimes the kids’ little paper.”

“There’s like a children’s magazine sometimes. You can pick them up at the doctors’ offices. They have advertisements in there.”

“And then a lot of times, they go because of school, and they want to go again. My son, he would go to the Witte a lot when he was in elementary school. And as he got older, kind of stopped. And we thought about that the other day, saying, ‘Let’s go again.’ We haven’t been in a while, so we try to do that at least once a year, just to go see what they have.”

“We also got something in the mail recently. There’s one that’s doing like a samurai thing.”

Respondents did note some limitations in museums in San Antonio, particularly the lack of changing exhibitions, the fact that some San Antonions do not see themselves as being as cultured as other cities, and competition from “fun” festivals and events.

“At some point, we kind of saw everything over a period of a couple of months. Then you kind of go back and start doing it again. It’s kind of limited in that sense.”

“Somewhat limited. The time that I have available, my wife and I work a lot, so it seems it’s not always convenient to be able to go and do and see things when we want to. And then there’s not enough of a draw to take vacation time and see again some of the things that we’ve already seen here. So we have a tendency to probably leave a little bit more. . . .We’ve got the Witte and it’s a nice museum, but it’s kind of small. The art museums, they’re nice, and some of the traveling shows are wonderful to see. But sometimes I want to see other things.”

“Having moved here from Fort Worth, which is a city very, very rich in their museums. I’d say the exhibits, the size, I don’t know that the community is as supportive of the arts as it was in the other cities.”

“You go to the Witte again, and 80% of what I saw last time is still there. There’s not that much different. I think if the exhibits came through, or things came through that were different, then yeah, I think you’d get the people to go out and look at it.”

“I don’t think we’re as cultured, as like Austin is more eclectic and younger and hip. I just think we’re kind of laid-back here. San Antonio isn’t as much of a museum-going as like maybe Fort Worth, bigger cities, New York, things like that.”

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“We have events throughout the year that are more geared towards party and fun. And you’re not looking at arts, and you’re not looking at culture. Yes, it’s all about our Hispanic heritage, but it’s a celebration of it. Then a tour of cities, our huge draw is the River Walk. As a resident, I go to the River Walk often. But when we have visitors coming in, chances are 90% of the time, they’re spending downtown, and doing stuff there, and not venturing out to a museum, or an art show, or something like that.”

Many indicated that they often visited museums when they traveled. For those with children, the museums visited often centered on what children in the family would like.

“We have family up in Dallas. One year, we decided, let’s be tourists. We went to the Dallas Museum. They had the King Tut exhibit going on.”

“We went to Houston and they had the NASA Museum, the Children’s Museum – the kids loved it.”

“The last time, we went to the train museums and stuff like that. The kids thought it was really cool, even though they don’t like trains.”

“When the kids were growing up, we always made it a point, wherever we visited and we did travel a lot, we’d go to the Children’s Museum, or to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, or in San Francisco.”

SOURCES OF INFORMATION. Participants were asked how they received information about museums and what exhibitions were happening there. The Current and Our Kids were among the resources most frequently used. Responses included:

• Driving by the Museum and see an advertisement there

“My daughter saw it [outside advertisement at the McNay] , and she texted me on my way over here because I hadn’t been home yet. She got tickets to go to the Costume exhibit this weekend. She saw the billboard, or the boxes on Austin Highway.”

• Social media 1, particularly Facebook - liking the organization’s page on Facebook (Witte, Children’s Museum, McNay, Majestic Theatre were mentioned)

• Friday “Weekender” section of the San Antonio paper

1 Note: ARA asks about social media in most qualitative research these days. Consumers in San Antonio seem to have a higher usage of social media than do most other cities ARA has done research in.

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• Bought a new Nissan and received four free tickets to the Witte

• Current – when they could find it. Many mentioned that it was difficult to find these days.

• The Reporter

• San Antonio Express News

• Our Kids

• Talk radio (1200) , NPR, KLRN

• Banners

“The banners. They do a lot of those. They post those all over. Mainly in the Broadway area.”

• The San Antonio Magazine

• Northside Recorder , other neighborhood papers

• Go to a specific museum’s website

• Blogs – Little Daily Planner (family friendly), My SA

• Event listings on the Convention and Visitors Bureau website or on San Antonio Arts website

• Email blasts or postcard mailers from various organizations (Witte, McNay, Children’s Museum, Magik Theatre, Symphony, Majestic, Broadway Across America, HemisFair Park, SAMA)

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MUSEUMS VISITED. By design, these respondents had not visited the McNay galleries within the past 12 months. They had, however, visited other San Antonio museums:

• Children’s Museum • Texas Cultural Museum

“They rotate - they have different things and events going on. It keeps things more interesting.”

• Witte • Wax Museum • SAMA

Although these respondents had not visited the McNay in the past year, many had visited in the past: • For their own wedding pictures • Cultural event • For a wedding • Art class • Visiting the grounds • Visiting the exhibitions

“I guess there hasn’t been too much of a draw for us to go back. . . I haven’t heard anything else to draw us back to it really.”

One recalled less than pleasant experiences with the staff at the McNay:

“And then we went to a couple of other events and it was the same type of reception. I realized that most of the people that volunteer at the museum are just that volunteers. But I think if you are in the business of customer service, which a museum is for the community, that there’s a certain decorum that should be reciprocated to your patrons. ”

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PERCEPTIONS OF THE MCNAY. These participants were asked to write down their remembrances and perceptions of the McNay, whether they had gone or not:

About the art • Variety of art – Renaissance, Mediterranean, Southwest • Glass art • Canvas art, floral arrangements, marble and stone • Rockwell exhibition • Beautiful portraits • A great deal of donated art • Contemporary art • Stagnant and unchanging exhibitions • Nightmare Before Christmas • “Not sure what’s there, but they are famous ones” • Pricey, expensive works of art

“Scared that I was going to touch it and break something. But it was one of those where I wanted to admire it from afar, but I was so scared to get too close to it…. I remember just feeling a little anxious when I was around a lot of the art because I didn’t want to trip and fall and touch something you can’t. [Do you feel that anxiety at other art museums, or what it something particular about the McNay that made you feel that way?] I think it was just there. I think it was just the atmosphere. It was just really quiet.”

• McNay is the stepchild of the Witte; mixes up the two • Artists recalled: Georgia O’Keeffe, Warhol, Rockwell, Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet • Small selection of art - was viewed both positively and negatively. Positively because small could be more discerning about showing only quality pieces and because it was a more “doable” museum visit. Negatively because it might mean there was little to see, only a small amount of known art, and /or infrequent changes to exhibitions.

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Indoor space • Was someone’s home

“I think that might be why people get nervous around it – it was someone’s home...it’s like going into your grandma’s house, it’s like, ‘Don’t touch that’.”

• Home itself is historic • Beautiful building • Quiet / peaceful • Sterile / strict

“Because it was a home. I even remember looking at it for my daughter’s wedding. And they’re very, very strict. . . this feeling carried over to my thoughts about the museum.”

Outdoor space • Outdoor was beautiful • Gazebo • Outdoor sculptures • Lush landscapes / beautiful landscaping • Jazz brunch • “Really beautiful kind of garden atrium-type thing in the middle”

Perception of being exclusive / elitist • Somewhat elitist, in part due to its location n Alamo Heights

“I feel like the museum has almost an elitist attitude versus San Antonio Museum of Art, which is extremely welcoming, very friendly, but not as formal. Their staff is, regardless of what day of the week, you go over to SAMA, they’re really friendly. And the McNay almost has this turn-of- the-century idea that the museum is for a certain class of people, and if you don’t fit in that class, that you’re really not welcome.”

“If you’re not part of the communities around the McNay, you’re not really supposed to be there.”

• Exclusive / does not welcome everyone

“I don’t see some of the things we talked about that you don’t see outreach to the community of, this is going on here now, come on in. Seems like it’s a kind of, if you don’t already know about it, you don’t come every Wednesday, then you’re just not going to know. You know what I mean? Like a private club or something.”

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Types of people • Not a child-friendly place

“They don’t want fingerprints, kids. And my kids, their interest level is not there yet. We do take them to other museums, where they can interact and do things.”

“It’s not a kid-friendly place for my seven and eight year olds.”

“My kids are loud. . they’re just so loud. That’s why I wouldn’t take him.”

“When I think of the McNay, it’s just a more grown-up setting.”

Location • Not close to anything thing else of interest • Not a barrier if there was art of interest • Hidden location / out of the way

“I know you kind of have to feel your way when you find it. It’s not right off the artery.”

“There’s nothing unique, nothing that was a must-see that would get you to get out there and make a special trip.”

These respondents perceived the McNay to be unique among other San Antonio museums, largely for its outdoor spaces, the building, and its location away from other museums.

“For me, I think it’s the grounds that make it unique for San Antonio.”

Most did not perceive that it was the art that set it apart from SAMA, the Witte, or other museums. Some did, however.

“To go there and there is a Van Gogh and there’s a Renoir, and there is Matisse. In conjunction with their touring, contemporary exhibits, which I think they do a really nice job of.”

Other than art and weddings, some of these respondents believed that the McNay had art classes, and gallery talks.

They were unaware that the Museum had conversations / lectures, performances, and family programs. There was a great deal of interest in family programs once they were aware.

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None were aware of Second Thursdays with free beer, food trucks, music, and for $5, one can go into the Museum. There was a great deal of excitement about this – and the November 14 event will probably have many focus group respondents in attendance.

“Are you making this up?”

TYPICAL MCNAY VISITORS. These respondents were asked who they thought the typical McNay visitor was. (This was done using a stick figure drawing exercise; several examples are included.) There were a number of commonalities among responses: • Middle-age and slightly older • Somewhat upscale – shops from Macy*s to Nieman Marcus • Intelligent – professors, historians • Art lovers • Mostly women • Many do not work because they don’t have to • Tie in museum visit with lunch

When asked, all respondents indicated that the typical visitor they drew was not an image of themselves; they did not view themselves as the typical visitor to the McNay.

Following are several of the drawings of the perceived typical visitor to the McNay.

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LACK OF MUSEUM RESTAURANT. While many did not know there was no Museum restaurant, those who noted its absence hope there could be one. In fact, several of the stick figure drawings coupled a museum visit with lunch.

“The McNay has an absolutely beautiful Impressionist collection, as well as the building itself. Unfortunately, they do not have a café or anyplace to eat. So when you go, or when you take your guests, and halfway through the exhibit, you want to stop and have a cup of coffee or rest for a little bit before seeing the traveling exhibit, and it’s not available.”

“Sometimes a girl friend and I will go out without the kids. You can actually take the time to look and study the artwork, and read it, and find out the history and look at it. But you can’t take the time if you’re really trying to figure out the schedule because you then have to figure out where to have lunch.”

REACTION TO CURRENT MARKETING MATERIALS. Respondents were shown different marketing materials in order to give them some sense of the McNay.

The Visitor Guide . While the Visitor Guide is generally something that visitors get when they come to the Museum, the piece could also serve as a marketing piece if it were placed in hotels, convention centers, visitor centers, and other places frequented by tourists to San Antonio.

In general, the Guide was seen as providing information needed for a visit, such as a floor map, hours, and admissions fees.

Consumers generally found the hours of operation acceptable to them. For those who worked, the extended evening hours (Thursday) and weekend hours provided sufficient accessibility.

These participants were pleasantly surprised at the reasonable admission prices. They were surprised – but pleased—to find out that children 12 years and under were admitted free of charge.

“I totally thought that it was a lot more expensive, and it’s not. . .based on the location, the type of art, the location over there – there’s beautiful homes.”

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There were some suggestions to strengthen the guide: • On the front cover, show examples of art that is at the McNay. This would help consumers understand that it was an art museum: looking at the front cover which lacked the words “Art Museum” plus two non-art pictures, did not give consumers a clue as to what the Museum was. • These San Antonio residents had a perception that the McNay was not for children. The listing of rules, particularly the first one “Please help us care for the art by not touching. We ask that you stay at least 12 inches from any work of art, including furniture along the gallery walls.” In addition, there were no pictures of children in the guide. • Consumers did not know what Second Thursdays and First Sundays were. These activities were noted in the guide, but not described. Later on in the groups, there was significant excitement about Second Thursdays. • Three shots are of outdoor spaces and art: the Liberman Ascent, a photograph of the Stieren Center, and George Rickey’s Horizontal Column of Five Squares; there are no large size pictures of indoor art. Additionally, some thought that the picture of the Stieren Center did not add any value to the booklet. • The picture of the fountain looked like it was not taken by a professional. “The picture on the back, it just looks like somebody took it with their Kodak camera and stuck it there.”

A Membership flyer was inserted into the Visitor Guide. The member benefits seemed to be fairly traditional and the membership prices were fair. Many of these consumers liked the photograph on the back cover (shot with a large number of people), as it showed that the Museum was well used and that the people looked like “normal” people (e.g., not extremely wealthy).

The next publication shown to respondents was the McNay Art Museum: An Introduction. So that they weren’t inclined to read the 64 page book, sections were tagged for them to focus on: Introducing Marion, The McNay Residence in 1929, European Art 1800s – early 1900s, American Art 1900 – World War II, Art after World War II, Contemporary Art, Prints and Drawings, and Theatre Arts.

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Some felt that there were too many pages centering on the Mrs. McNay and the history, and that these topics were of less importance than the art. Others were very curious about Mrs. McNay and her former home.

“I’d like to know who she was, and why she donated the house, and the history of it, and the pieces that were hers.”

“It’s not just a building. It has a history behind it.”

“She seems highly spirited. And I feel that there’s a disconnect between that and the way the museum is marketed to the community.”

Many thought they the book gave a good overview of the types of art there – and that there was something for everyone at the McNay.

“It has a good mixture of old and modern. I think it would attract more people, like those in their 20s and older.”

“I like the multiculture, that they put a little bit of everything in there. The variety of it.”

“My wife and I, we don’t appreciate one type of art over another. Art is just supposed to stimulate thought, and that’s how we kind of look at it. This looks like a museum we would enjoy.”

“I love the Museum. It’s got a lot of different stuff – I think that’s the feeling.”

The quarterly Impressions publication for members was very well received. It made these San Antonio residents feel even more positive about the Museum than they had before. It showed a variety of exhibitions – from Cut and Costume to Nightmare Before Christmas – which were of interest and also gave readers valued information that there were several – and changing – special exhibitions. They liked the listing of all the activities that the Museum had to offer.

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A number commented positively about the range of people – and they fun they were having – pictured on page 14.

“Wow. I didn’t know there was this much that went on there. I really didn’t.”

“I like the pictures on Page 14. It’s bright, it looks like fun. Something that you’d want to go to and check it out.”

“The Nightmare Before Christmas had my kids saw that somewhere, we’d have gone and seen it by now.”

When shown Our Kids, these San Antonio parents had not recalled seeing event listings for the McNay in this publication. They pointed out the difference in adveritsing in Our Kids , between the McNay and Witte.

“The advertising is so different. You see all this color – the Witte Museum – the dinosaurs. And then you see the McNay; it’s just wording.”

ADVERTISING. These respondents claimed to have heard or seen advertising for: San Antonio Children’s Museum, Witte, Institute of Texas Culture, the Majestic, the McNay, and SAMA. They particularly recalled the banners for the Witte.

“I remember a couple of billboard things. The Bodies Exhibit maybe. So the Witte has had some billboards.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw some TV spots for the dinosaur exhibit. And also the human body.”

“I want to say SAMA had for their “Aphrodite and Gods of Love” exhibit, I believe a year ago. Not only was it on television, but they team up with a restaurant so that it was a special menu that ran for the month.”

“In Texas Monthly, I might have heard something about the McNay or the Witte. And, going back on TV, there was, the Fox News has the morning show and they had someone from the McNay when they had the Rockwell Exhibit going through.”

On an unaided basis, the only advertising they could recall for the McNay was the bus wraps and mention on a TV show, showing the Rockwell exhibit. They did not recall any television advertising, print advertising, ads on NPR, or advertising outside the Saks Fifth Avenue at the North Star Mall.

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Respondents were shown two television spots – the one running currently for CU ! Costume and the Cinema and the previous one for the Rockwell exhibit. They had not recalled seeing either of these before.

Several people commented that the commercials needed some kind of tagline, since most were unaware of the Museum.

“It is present in the commercial, and it’s present wherever the McNay is, is that the McNay is just out there. It almost needs a tagline to say, “The McNay: Experience ” whatever it is. It’s the same thing you’re taking for granted people know what the McNay is. That works for people who are familiar with it, but it may not work for everyone. It seems like it’s just hanging out there. One needs to discover there’s so much more in there, that if there was a tagline under the McNay that said what all that other stuff is, now you’ve kind of, at least, piqued somebody’s interest.”

Of the two ads, they preferred the Rockwell one. It focused on particular works of art, rather than scanning the exhibit as Costume and the Cinema one did.

Comments about Costume and the Cinema included:

“I don’t think the focus was on as much of what they were trying to get across and they should. Because they were panning across a room showing you kind of the Museum versus the art.”

“I don’t like the split bars. It’s annoying.”

“You saw half the dress, and then they panned to see the rest of it. It’d been better if they had the McNay logo in the top corner and then showing the whole dress.”

“It didn’t stop my attention. It was boring.”

“It reminded me of a formal wear commercial, like a bridal shop or Men’s Wearhouse.”

“It was like one of those local commercials you see for some store where they don’t have a big budget to spend on advertising so it was just cheaply done.”

The Rockwell ad was well liked, more so than the Cut and Costume one.

“I liked this one a lot better. You actually got to see the art. You got to focus on it for a few seconds before it went to the next one. Where the other one [Cut and Costume] just moved.”

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These consumers believed that too much of the space in both ads was devoted to membership: they believed that consumers first had to get into the door before they would consider membership. Instead, this space could better be used by showing more art, highlighting admission fees (particularly for those 12 and under), or promoting the Second Thursday events.

“I’m trying to figure out – are they trying to get me to go see that exhibition, or are they trying to make me a member for $55?”

“To me, they’re trying to sell it as, ‘I want you to be a member’ versus ‘Come see the Museum and Rockwell’.”

“Switch the amount of time for the membership and the exhibit.. . I think membership is something you focus on once you get people in there and they decide they like it.”

Other consumers commented that the ad said only McNay; for those who were unfamiliar with it, they might not know it was an art museum.

“Either I missed it or I didn’t hear ‘museum’. I just heard ‘McNay, McNay’. What about people that don’t know what it is?”

The Spanish-language Univision radio ad that is currently running was played during the groups, as a number in each session were fluent. They liked the ad, more so than the television ones. The speaker was very excited and expressive about the exhibition.

“Pirates of the Caribbean – that would catch anyone’s attention.”

“Her voice was very pleasing and lively and she was inviting.”

“It also gave off a family vibe. It said, ‘Bring your family’.”

Even the English-only speakers in the discussion agreed that the McNay should be advertising in Spanish, given the large numbers of San Antonio residents of Latino or Hispanic heritage.

“70% of the population in San Antonio being Latino? Why wouldn’t they??”

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INTEREST IN VISITING THE MCNAY. At the end of the session and after having learned a bit about the Museum, consumers were asked how interested they were in visiting. A five point scale was used, where 5 meant extremely interested and 1 meant not at all. Respondents were highly interested, giving it a mean rating of 4.5. They were also asked the reason for their ratings.

Among the reasons that consumers gave for giving a rating of “5” included: “The expansion, the new stuff, the family part. I had no idea it had all that family part at all.” “The gardens, the sculptures, the different periods of art.” “The kids’ programs. I like the movies and some of the family programs y’all have coming up are fantastic.” “There were a lot of things that I didn’t know about.” “Now with knowing the kids’ programs and what they have.” “I wasn’t aware of all that they had to offer for adults and children.” “There are things my wife and kids would like, and then Second Thursdays, I have free beer.” “Variety of different things. It’s not just art. It’s a lot more than I expected.” “When I came into this, I thought it was just an art museum, pictures on the wall, sculptures, things like that. I did not expect it to have events and such a broad spectrum of things going on.” “It seems like a place I could take my 10 year old and there would be some interest and something to keep him occupied.”

Those who gave an interest rating of 3 or 4 had the following comments: “I saw a lot of interesting things I think my son would be interested in.” “I wish they would do something with their customer service dealing with the public.”

No one gave a rating of 1 or 2 – no interest in visiting.

In addition to the typical focus group cash incentive, the McNay also offered attendees two free passes to the Museum. All respondents were excited and planned to use the tickets.

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