Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1991-92

MARKETING The Gallery undertook an extremely successful major expansion of its commercial activities with the development of new and innovative marketing strategies. This reflects the Gallery's current Corporate Plan objectives, in particular, the maximisation of commercial potential of the Collection through the expansion of merchandise relating to the Collection. Merchandising serves the two-fold purpose of generating revenue for Gallery programs and acquisitions and of creating new audiences. Some merchandise items are presented to include interpretive material about the work, e.g. calendars illustrating Vida Lahey's work. Following the extraordinary profitability of the merchandise produced jointly with the Australian National Gallery for Ms Ita Buttrose launched . the exhibition Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters from the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, the t w o Galleries have The Gallery Shop at David Jones in Sydney, continued the merchandising partnership by creating a joint commercial entity. Together, the Galleries have begun to Brisbane and Melbourne. produce exhibition-based and Collection-based merchandise for sale in their respective Gallery Shops and in a number of newly established interstate and regional outlets. Designers from both Galleries are producing merchandise for forthcoming exhibitions, such as 'Surrealism', and for other Collection-based ranges. iI f * S ) I I - r , Recognising the retailing potential of art merchandise, David Jones Australia and the two Galleries have established outlets for The Gallery Shop at David Jones, in Sydney, Brisbane IN and Melbourne. Each new outlet was launched by Ita Buttrose and each launch was accompanied by an exhibition o f artworks. Such close working relationships between major State Galleries and with a major department store breaks new ground in Australian marketing. Public reaction has been excellent, with healthy turnovers recorded in each outlet, J. : particularly in Brisbane, where the first jointly-produced Collect on-based range was launched. This range, produced in conjunction with the launch of The Gallery Shop at David Jones, Queen Street, Brisbane, featured flower studies by well-known Queensland artist She is pictured at the Vida Lahey. Seven works were displayed in the store to mark the launch, representing an Brisbane Shop launch unprecedented form of promotion for the with (from left) Mr Greg AV Collection. Lectures about the exhibition and the Roberts, Manager, Public New sets of boxed cards - ' P,.. Programs; Mr Doug Hall, based on works in the ( ( artist, presented to capacity audiences at David Director; Ms Suzie Gallery's Collection ¼ , Jones by the Gallery's Curator o f Australian Art Campbell, Production were produced as part of / and the Senior Education Officer, reinforced the and Design Co-ordinator, the Gallery's expanding Th connection between the merchandise, the Publications, Australian merchandise program. . National Gallery; Mr - . ' ' S Gallery and the artist. Such exposure t o artworks Kevin Munn, Assistant within the familiar environment o f a department Director Marketing ' NO store serves t o break down any preconceived Australian National Gallery; and Mr Harry , . . , , barriers t o access experienced by Gallery non- Le Grand, Group Visual S visitors. A number o f first-time visitors t o the Merchandising Manager, Gallery have been recorded as a result o f this David Jones (Aust.) program. Pty Ltd. The Gallery has since embarked on a program of establishing merchandise outlets in regional Queensland, providing access to the widest variety of art and Gallery services for its regional audiences. The first such outlet, the Queensland A r t Gallery Shop at the Wide Bay Gallery, 26