Preston Hall Museum Essay Example for Free

Preston Hall Museum Essay Preston Hall Museum was originally built in 1825 by a solicitor called David Burton Fowler. The museum is situated on the A135, on Yarm Road. In 1828 David Burton Fowler died, and it remained in the Fowler family, until 1882 when his great nephew sold the house for 27,500 to Robert Ropner. The family lived there until the 1920s-30s. During the 1st World War, it was used as a base for safety. Stockton Borough Council bought the house in 1948. In the summer of 1953 the Hall was opened as Stocktons first public museum to commemorate the coronation of H. M. Queen Elizabeth II. The museum was developed later when the service wing was transformed into a Victorian Street of shops with working craftsmen. The museum provides opportunities to visit rooms from the 1880s to 1960s. The museum also offers special displays, events and changing exhibitions. The aims of Preston Hall museum are to provide a service that caters for people; who need educational purposes; interests in the arts; social events e.g. days out and art fairs.  The objectives are the goals set by the businesses; they can be short term, e.g. 1 year, or long term e.g. 5 years. Preston Hall Museum objectives are to provide; educational purposes; better services for schools and people who have interests in the Arts and leisure activities. It also wants to monitor advertisement campaigns. Overall, it wants to provide a better service for the community. The external influences that affect the museum are the opening and closing times. For example, the museum is open on weekdays from 10:00am to 4:30pm. This is a large period of time that students or children are at school and parents are working, meaning that a large part of the target market cant get to the museum, only on school holidays and school visits. Another external influence is the changes in lifestyle, for example a large majority of the younger market have games consoles, e.g. Xbox 360s and Play station 3s, this means that less of the younger market will be interested in the visiting the museum, therefore there will be low profits. Another external influence would be the council and government. Funding from the council and government would mean that the museum could afford to stay open due to the costs for new displays and events and promotional methods. Another of the museum external influence would be the availability of workers, if the museum can find people to work for the museum. Slept analysis  A slept analysis is an internal influence in a business.  Social- The change in lifestyles, for example more people concerned about their physical self and people having games consoles. Other changes in lifestyles could be using the Internet and eating out. Also the pressure groups in the local community e.g. the cleanliness of the museum and an improvement in the service of the museum. A further point would be the competition surrounding the museum, like cinemas, swimming pools and bowling. Legal- Legal influences could be if the museum is complying with laws like employment law. This would mean if the staff at the museum are being treated fairly and equally. Other laws which can be link in with the employment law are: sex discrimination act; males and females should be given the same opportunities in the same job and the disabled at work act; disabled people should have the same chance to work for a business as a person who is not disabled. Legal could often involve trade unions; if a business is treating and providing the staff to an efficient standard, e.g. maternity leave, or legal action will be taken against the business. A further point is the consumer protection law; the museum cant give away any personal details to 3rd parties. The office of fare trading; if the products promoted by a business arent what they claim to be. Economic VAT can affect the museum, so if VAT is added to prices the consumers will have to pay higher prices for the products. Excise duties will affect a business through what profit it makes and the prices of their products. Excise duties are taxes charged on products produced in the country. Corporation tax is a tax on a companys profits- if they are limited companies. Also the latest economic climate (the credit crunch) could mean low profits due to the lack of money people have to spend this means the museum might not be able to pay for labour or there electrical bills, possibly meaning it has to close down of the company. Political A political influence could be British Standards (BSI), BSI is the UKs National Standards body, and was the worlds first standards. BSI certifies products and provides product testing services. This could affect the museum by being recognised as selling and providing efficient products and services, if consumers recognise the museum as being to these standards, this will encourage them to go and visit the museum. Technological Technology could affect the museum through if it can keep up with the advancements in technology, e.g. promotional methods on the internet, booking on the internet and efficient cash registers- so they can maximise their profits and have awareness to consumers.  The task I have been set is important because if Preston Hall Museum does not make enough money to make significant profits, how will the museum be able to pay labour wages, electrical and gas bills, and be able to benefit from having the museum open. If they can increase visitor numbers, this would mean that these problems would not affect the museum. The tasks I have been set are to provide a brief introduction- what are the external influences that affect the hall, to carry out a SLEPT analysis, the target marketing of the Hall: to find out who is Preston Hall Museums target market and how to increase their target market. A further task I have been set is the current marketing mix- to give details on the museums product, place, price and promotion. Other tasks are market research- such as questionnaires, displaying my data clearly and to produce and give an overall marketing plan to try to increase the numbers at the museum. I am going to solve this problem by going through the questionnaires- to see how much consumers know about the museum (through advertising campaigns), how do they feel about the products on offer and are the prices right. Additionally, the consumers could give details on how to improve the museums 4ps. I will also try to solve this problem by putting the 4ps into a SWOT analysis, to see how well the museum is doing overall.