National Mining Museum Scotland

The National Mining Museum Scotland

The National Mining Museum Scotland was established in 1984 with the aim of preserving the surface physical remains of the Lady Victoria Colliery. The colliery was sunk in the 1800s by the Lothian Coal Company. In the past four decades, the museum has been categorized as one of the most visited places in Scotland, thus generating increased revenues for the government. Some of the museum’s collections include a library, Cornish and beam engines and East Lothian among others.

Type of business

The National Mining Museum Scotland falls under the category of the visitors’ attraction business. The museum has been in existence for the past three decades and it has a collection of items that are more than a century old. Object collections in the museum include arts, geological specimen, safety equipment, and model. The reference library at the National Mining Museum houses various types of books, journals, and magazines that broadly cover the history of the coal mining industry. Currently, the museum has over 18,000 photographs and nearly all the photos can be viewed on a touchscreen computer within the facility (National Mining Museum Scotland, 2018). Scotland is among countries in Europe that relies on tourism as a source of their income. After the creation of the museum in 1984, the government has since played an integral role in the renovation and addition of new buildings and structures as well as places for the visitors. Subsequently, the ability of the museum to attract a huge number of visitors has since increases immensely. The country also relies on the museum as a powerful marketing tool to attract foreign direct investment. The Old Power House is a unique place within the museum for holding events.

Definition of marketing

Marketing is termed to as the process of creating a relationship with and at the same time satisfying customers. Marketing can also be described as a management process that entails the movement of goods and services from concept to the consumers. The concept has 4 elements that are commonly called 4Ps of marketing and they include product identification, price determination, implementation of a distributional channel for ensuring that goods reach consumers and promotional strategies.

Evidence of orientation of adoption of marketing within the business

The National Mining Museum Scotland relies on various marketing strategies for capturing the attention of clients, not only in Scotland but also around the world. The venue attracts different types of events (majorly weddings) and visitors that would want site see, on an annual basis. In the quest for ensuring that its reputation is maintained and that its client base is expanded, the National Mining Museum Scotland uses marketing and advertisement. Below are some of the marketing and promotional strategies that have been adopted by the business.

Website:

One of the marketing strategies that the museum has adopted in the use of websites. The website is designed in such a way that it provides potential and existing clients with an opportunity to learn more about the business, identify upcoming events, hire a venue and contact the business. The business has a 24 hours customer care representative that will offer help to the clients or interested consumers (National Mining Museum Scotland, 2018). The dependence on the website as a marketing tool has been critical in capturing the attention of a large audience around the world. Consequently, the number of visitors visiting the museum has in the past year been on the rise.

Social media:

The National Mining Museum Scotland also uses social media as a powerful marketing tool. The business has Facebook and Twitter pages where individuals can access and learn more about services that are offered in the museum. The social media pages are updated on a regular basis by the marketing with relevant information on the various events and tourist attraction sites that the museum has to offer. Individuals can also access the business’ Facebook and Twitter pages and learn more about the prices for the tours, hiring of venues and shopping of some of the items. The use of social media marketing has been beneficial to the museum in that it has provided it with an opportunity to tap into untapped markets around the world.

Television commercials:

Television commercial is a traditional form of marketing that is applied by the National Mining Museum Scotland. In Scotland, an estimated 75% of the population has access to television sets (Andrews, 2017, p.34). The use of the marketing technique has been instrumental in attracting domestic visitors to visit the museum and learn more about the history of the coal industry or hold events such as weddings.

Benefits that the market orientations currently bring to the business

The marketing orientations that are embraced by the National Mining Museum Scotland have been beneficial in various ways. Firstly, a combination of websites and social media has contributed to an expansion in the business’ customer base. In the past two years, for instance, the museum’s market segment has increased significantly. The number of visitors visiting the museum from Europe has trebled in the past decade and this is an indication that the marketing strategies adopted by the business have been successful. Another benefit of the marketing orientations is that they have led to an increase in the revenues generated by the business. According to the organizational leadership at the museum, sales improved from 2017 to 2018 and this was majorly attributed to an increase in the number of visitors and the number of clients hiring venues for events.

Impact on marketing practice on the particular nature of tourism

The demand for the tourism sector varies depending on the time of the year. In the case of the National Mining Museum Scotland, a high number of visitors are registered during public holidays and the month of December. During the other times in the month, the museum registers an average number of clients. The museum has in the past two years implemented various measures that are aimed at helping it deal with seasonality (National Mining Museum Scotland, 2018). The implementation of aggressive marketing and advertisement by relying on its websites and social media platforms has played a critical role in attracting more visitors annually from various parts of the world, irrespective of the time of the year. The museum tries to maintain the prices of their services regardless of the seasons and this helps in strengthening its reputation. Having won the “Best Experience” Award, the museum is currently a major attraction point in Scotland. The museum also offers high-quality services to the consumers and this has helped in marketing it not only in Scotland but also around the world.

Factors that influence the levels of demand for the product (PESTLE)

Political factors: Political stability in Scotland has played an integral role in increasing the demand for some of its tourist attraction sites. Millions of visitors stream to the National Mining Museum Scotland to experience some of the unique services that the museum has to offer.

Economic factors: The GDP of Scotland has in the past two years increased and this implies that the disposable income for the civilians has also improved (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy, 2017, p.63). Subsequently, this has contributed to the rise in the number of domestic tourists that visits tourist destinations such as the National Mining Museum Scotland in the country.

Environmental factors: The National Mining Museum Scotland is concerned about the protection of the environment and this is evidenced through its various environmental protection initiatives. The integration of the National Mining Museum’s Sustainability Action Plan, for instance, is an initiative by the museum that is focused on reducing environmental impact and this has since led to an enhanced reputation for the brand.

Technological factors: Dependence on marketing strategies such as websites and social media platforms has been critical in contributing to an improvement in the demand for the tourist destination. Majority of the visitors that visit the museum annually, learn about it through the internet. Tourists can also conveniently make payments to the museum via its website.

Social factors: The levels of demand for the services offered by the National Mining Museum Scotland are also impacted by social factors. The educational sector in Scotland utilizes the museum for research. Market segments such as families, societies, mature devotees and leisure day-trippers visit the tourist destination for recreation and leisure.

Importance of good quality information

Good quality information is important for businesses and specifically the marketing process. Consumers will always gain useful information about the services and products offered by an organization through its social media pages and websites. Marketers have to ensure that they deliver the right message to the consumers pertaining to the products and services (Belch, 2017, p.60).

Type of information that will be useful to the business

Below is the information that will be used by the National Mining Museum Scotland.

• The types of services that are offered by the museum
• The ticket prices for all the services and products
• The business models that can be implemented in improving the revenues generated by the museum

Possible sources of information

Some of the sources for the information on the business will include the museum’s website, relevant books, and journals that highlight the museum and magazines. Information will also be collected through qualitative techniques such as interviews and questionnaires. By relying on interviews, for instance, a researcher will visit the museum and interview one of its managers.

Current markets targeted by the business

• Educational sector: The museum targets primary, secondary and tertiary education. Students from various universities and secondary schools around the UK can visit the museum for research purposes.
• Families/ young explorers: The tourist destination targets families from both Scotland and around the world.
• Travel companies: Travel companies are also a targeted market for the National Mining Museum Scotland. The firms work in collaboration with the museum in offering touring services.

An explanation of the marketing mix

Product: The National Mining Museum Scotland is located at Newtongrange, Midlothian, Scotland. The museum has over 60,000 items and some of them include archive materials, books, and photographs (National Mining Museum Scotland, 2018). One of the primary objectives of the museum is to serve as an attraction site and venue for events for both domestic and international tourists.

Place: The museum attracts both domestic and international tourists. National Mining Museum Scotland’s strategic location at Newtongrange, Midlothian, Scotland makes it accessible to visitors from various geographical regions across Scotland.

Price: The entry prices for adults into the National Mining Museum Scotland are £9 while concession charges are £7.00 (National Mining Museum Scotland, 2018). There is free entry for all the children. However, on some occasions, entry charges for adults fluctuate depending on the seasonality.

Promotions: The museum relies on various promotional strategies with the aim of attracting consumers. Some of the marketing techniques embraced by the museum include social media marketing, sales promotions, and website marketing.

Suggestions on the changes to be made

There are a few changes that can be made to the museum’s marketing mix with the aim of improving its performance. Firstly, the museum needs to partner with either British Airways or Turkish Airlines with the aim of marketing its brand around the globe. Integration of content marketing as a promotional strategy can also be instrumental in improving the museum’s ability to tap into the untapped markets around the world.

Bibliography

Andrews, J. (2017). Advertising Promotion And Other Aspects Of Integrated Marketing Communications Printe. [S.L.]: Cengage Learning Custom P.

Belch, G. and Belch, M. (2017). Advertising and Promotion. NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

National Mining Museum Scotland (2018). National Mining Museum |. [online] Nationalminingmuseum.com. Available at: https://nationalminingmuseum.com/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2018].

Perreault, W., Cannon, J., and McCarthy, E. (2017). Basic marketing: : A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach. New York: Mc-Graw-Hill Higher Education.