Sacre bleu! Should the Louvre stretch its brand?!

After months of rumour the French government has finally come clean about its plans for "stretching" the Louvre museum. It will "rent" the name, expertise and some of its treasures to a new museum being built in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. In return, they will get the rather tasty sum of between $800 million to $1 billion.

This bit of brand stretching has created more than a bit of a fuss in France, with the New York Times reporting that over 2000 people have signed a petition accusing France of "selling its soul". The former director of Les Musees de France squealed that "One can only be shocked by the commercial use of masterpieces of our national heritage, cultural objects are not consumer good."

OK, so marketing the Mona Lisa isn't the same as promoting pasta sauce, but can't the same rules of consumer goods branding be applied? Firstly, the Louvre is sticking to its core business of museums, which is a good start. They're not trying to create a Louvre Art Holidays business, or sell Louvre art insurance (though why not). Second, the move makes huge business sense. There's the small matter of the billion dollars. And only 35 000 of the 300 000 works are on display at any one time. That makes 265 000 bits of "stock" sitting gathering dust. Finally, the museum is probably going to be pretty bloody amazing given the amount of money being thrown at it. The museum will be the centrepiece of a new district being created with $27 billion of investment.

Also, there are successful examples of museum brand stretching. The Guggenheim Museum has satellites in Venice, Berlin and Bilbao (on the right) and is also planning to get in on the Abu Dhabi action. More modestly, the Tate has regional outposts in Liverpool and Cornwall.

So, will the "Louvre of the Sands" go down in history as a great example of awakening, stretching and growing a dusty old brand? Or a case of stretching the brand elastic to breaking point?

Comments

[Benito]

CDG train to Gare du Nord where you have The Metro to wherever. Opera there are chapeer hotels than Louvre depending on your budget. Hotel Opera st Georges is ?120 for two people per night approx. Walking and using the Metro costs very little and you can choose what to doGet the little red Paris Bible essential for walking. Sacre Coeur and Montmartre (metro is Anvers or Pigalle)Tuilleries GardensSorbonne + Luxembourg GardensMontparnasseLes InvalidesMusee de L'Armee+ avoid planned night trips by tourist companies they are very expensive and are for tourists' !psYou wont have time to visit Disneyland, Versailles and tour Paris itself

[David Taylor (brandgym)]

Alan

I like your points about the Da Vinci Code and the IM-Pei pyramid, as I bet the cultural snobs hated both of these 2 initiatives! Yet they have both helped promote the "core product" of the Louvre musuem.

And as you are absolutely right to point out, they had an excellent core product before they though about stretching.

[Alan 'Brand' Williamson]

David

Here's the appropriate brand mantra: "First take the product to the people, then bring the people to the product" with the addendum "...And get paid handsomely while doing so".

The blockbuster film and book The Da Vinci Code featuring the Louvre is a great example of a low-cost brand building promotion, but the Abu Dhabi Louvre deal takes co-branding to a whole new level.

But none of the above would have been possible if the Louvre didn't stay focused on its big brand idea: Home of the world's most important art collections (Chapter 5 of your new book - Brand Vision) supplemented with constant refreshing and renewal of its art collections and its physical structures such as the IM Pei-inspired Glass Pyramid in 1989 and the planned new developments over the next few years.

Alan 'Brand' Williamson
Destination Brand Developer
http://www.brandopia.typepad.com