National Museum Wales brings in Sumo to revamp site branding and deliver publicity material

The organisation runs seven museums across Wales, including the National Museum Cardiff and the Big Pit.

Sumo was awarded the 18-month contract following a creative pitch against five other consultancies. The project includes radically changing the style and content of the museum’s brochures and building on existing brand guidelines.

NMW head of marketing Helen Baker says, ’We chose Sumo because we wanted to find a design consultancy with an appreciation of the sector and its visitors, but also one with design ideas that cut through the busy marketplace and the all-important sensitivity to lean museum budgets.’

Sumo has previously worked for other cultural sector clients, including the National Gallery and the Natural History Museum.

Part of Sumo’s brief was to respond to the market research that NMW had carried out to profile visitors. Baker says, ’This study provided tremendous insight, which enabled us to dramatically change our marketing strategy for our seven museums.’

The research found several of the properties generated large numbers of repeat visitors, while others only attracted one-off tourists.

Sumo creative director Sarah Hanley says, ’At the moment the branding is very uniform and covers all seven venues. But each one has a very distinct personality, so we want to create work that reflects this.’

Three designers have recently spent time at each location to gather information for the brief, and Sumo is working on a new image bank. Hanley says, ’The previous photographic material felt a bit staged so we’re working on a natural style using real people, not models.’

The first six booklets will roll out in April and Sumo will continue to work with the NMW on upcoming seasonal campaigns.