Jitske Naberman (founder of HoneyDew) launched the Dutch Museum Gift Shop. This webshop sells museum articles, allowing museums to compensate for disappointing visitor numbers. With a clever PR campaign, HoneyDew put this webshop in the spotlight. Naberman even managed to spark interest in Vienna for products from her webshop!
Approach
HoneyDew specializes in developing websites, apps, logos & strategies. Naberman, founder of HoneyDew, worked as a webshop coordinator for the Rijksmuseum in 2019. "I discovered that many museums don't have a webshop or a well-functioning one. In collaboration with the Rijksmuseum and Eye Museum, I started the Dutch Museum Gift Shop, a platform for museums. The online sale of the often unique and educational products found in museum shops is not usually high on the museums' priority list, which focuses on their core task: managing the collection. But especially now, a webshop can mean additional income."
To draw attention to this webshop, Naberman had a press release written and set up a newsroom on Presscloud. She then shared this content with media that cover films, art, museums, and e-commerce.
Content
In the press release for the Dutch Museum Gift Shop, one of the highlights in the webshop is featured: a personal coffee blend by film director David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive), now available online in Europe for the first time.
"Lynch is an avid coffee drinker, consuming about 10 cups a day: 'Even bad coffee is better than no coffee at all,' is his motto. Without coffee, no film: 'I drink coffee when I work. Not only is the flavor great, but I like to think there's good ideas in every bag.' He tasted hundreds of types to lend his trust and name to his own two blends, Espresso and House blend, from organically grown coffee."
By highlighting such an example, the webshop immediately captivates the imagination. Moreover, the Dutch Museum Gift Shop cleverly leverages the name and fame of David Lynch. Another smart move: the press release also features the head of retail and marketing from the Rijksmuseum. By giving a place to such an independent ambassador, the message becomes less commercial.
Result
Naberman's message was picked up by the art site Villa D’arte and will soon appear in the print edition of Twinkle. "Also nice to report: we even received an order from Vienna in our webshop. Great, this way museums even reach consumers outside of the Netherlands!" The Dutch Museum Gift Shop was also proclaimed Product of the Month by MKB-Amsterdam.
