Museums in China Market Products

Zhu Can

Museums in China have just begun designing and marketing art-based products in museum shops and online. These products are designed to promote museums， promote art， culture， history， and enhance the public awareness of aesthetics and social value in the historical treasures these museum hold. While museums and other culture and art institutions in China are still testing waters and marketing products whose designs were hatched probably only a few months ago or a year or two ago， their counterparts in Europe and North America are selling museum shop products which have been evolved over a period of many decades.

A magnificent view of the fa?ade of MoMA in New York

The Palace Museum in Beijing leads China in designing and marketing museum shop products. It was not until 2016 that the keeper of Chinas imperial art treasures began to market shop products. So far， it has designed and marketed nearly 10，000 products largely through internet. Also in 2016， the national government issued a policy encouraging museums across the nation to develop cultural derivatives. In 2017 alone， the Palace Museum garnered a billion yuan in sales for its art-based products. In 2017， 2，500 museums， art museums， and memorial museums across the nation were busying themselves designing and marketing their own signature products.

Though the Palace Museums design products add up to a phenomenon and the museum enjoys a flourishing success as the trendsetter， most culture and art institutions in China are still exploring potentialities and many are making no headway. Many derivatives are just cute and playful gadgets， representing a small step toward better understanding and better products.

In the United States， designer products by cultural institutions such as museums， media， bookstores are often considered “cultural currency”. People who buy and own one of these products often consider themselves a community. It is a way people come together， identifying themselves with a similar background of education， aesthetics， wealth， and lifestyle.

The Museum of Modern Art （MoMA） in New York City is definitely a leader in this museum product industry. The MoMA pulls in 2.5 million visitors a year and the MoMA Design Store brings in one third of the annual revenue of the MoMA. The products marketed at the store are more than souvenirs such as bookmarks， fridge magnets， key rings， and coffee mugs. The MoMA is no longer satisfied with the products that visitors take home as a memory. Instead， the MoMA hopes to create a lifestyle that shapes peoples worldview and life. It can be said that the MoMA Design Store， which sells museum shop products for several billions a year， contributes significantly to the prestige and profitability of MoMA. The MoMA Design Shop adopts a series of business measures to promote sales. For example， members of the MoMA get 20% off on the designated days， bringing in visitors and steady cash flow. And apparently， the business measures help bring in visitors. In 2011， ， a retrospect show in honor of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen， as well as accessories created for his runway shows， pulled in 620，000 visitors in three months. In three months of 2015，  allured 660，000. In 2016， ， brought in a record number of 750，000 visitors in three months.

Museum products are more than a symbol of that specific museum that a visitor can bring home. A museum can hold various cultural events to promote itself and the value it stands for. Take the Metropolitan Museum of Art for example. The annual Costume Institute Gala （Met Gala） was established by legendary fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert in 1948. It began to evolve into a more glamorous affair. Since the 1980s， the Met Gala has long evolved into a luxurious， blockbuster event and is considered “the jewel in New York Citys social crown. In the past 20 plus years， the event has raised 175 million dollars for the fashion institute of the museum. Whats more， the event keeps the Met in the heart of the media coverage and public attention. The exhibitions it holds attract large numbers of visitors.

There is a big difference in what museums in China promote their products and what museums and other art and culture institutions do in the United States. As e-business is more prosperous in China， most museums in China present their designer products in online shops such as those in Taobao and Tmall， two major e-business platforms operated by Alibaba， the worlds biggest e-commerce dotcom based in Hangzhou.