Rebranding : A Guide for Historic Houses, Museums, Sites, and Organizations

If you’re part of the leadership team of a small historic house museum or historical society, you might consider rebranding -- either renaming your organization or developing a new look – to make your organization more appealing to a younger, more diverse audience. Here’s a guide to doing that.

The name “Historical Society” or “Historic House” has a bad rap. Before potential visitors even know your museum, they may assume it’s not for them, even if you lead progressive, inclusive tours and host innovative programs. If you’re part of the leadership team of a historic house museum or historical society, you may have considered rebranding -- either renaming your organization or developing a new look – to be more appealing to a younger, more diverse audience or to reflect changes to your mission, interpretation, site, etc. Using examples from museums of all sizes across the country, this book helps you decide whether to move forward with a rebranding effort and give you a concrete outline to work from. The book will help you:Decide if you should rebrand (and that you’re not just putting lipstick on a pig)Nitty-gritty details about how to go about itHow to react when someone says you’re making a huge mistakeHow much it will cost and where you can cut corners How to evaluate what you’ve done. Rebranding: A Guide forHistoric Houses, Museums, Sites and Organizations is a step-by-step guide that helps Executive Directors, Board members, and staff at history organizations decide if it’s time to rebrand and, if so, how to go about it. The book will guide readers through the process of deciding if a rebranding is in order, testing ideas, developing a plan and budget, implementing the launch, and even handling naysayers. It’s an essential guide for anyone rebranding a history organization.