I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in on a session on product development by Robert Lieber on February 10, 2010 at the Association of Partners for Public Lands conference here in San Diego.
Robert works for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in San Francisco. He is truly a brilliant branded product developer. Here are some highlights from his presentation:
Retail is dynamic, you want to be turning inventory, and always changing displays and adding new products when you can. Products you develop have a larger margin than books, so while they are an investment of time and resources, they have a larger payoff as well.
You want to create products that educate, celebrate, engage, and promote your site.
You can tell interpretive stories through a product category. One example on Alcatraz (the former Federal Prison that is now a national park) is the theme of recreation. The first product they developed is the Alcatraz baseball. The baseball's packaging tells some of the story of recreation at the prison... there will be other products in this category that flesh out this story.
Sometimes products help flesh out the time period: What was it like to live in San Francisco when Alcatraz was active? They found period cartoons and turned them into decals.
In some cases, the product is a reproduction, like this inmate's cup. Or they might create a product to help raise money for preservation, like this "Save The Rock." Wildflower seeds help tell the story of the garden restoration project.
They have also taken actual historic text, like regulations, and designed a whole product line of metal signs, mugs, magnets, and other items. These are popular with parents and teachers!
If you run a museum shop, I'd encourage you to spend some time in the Conservancy's online store. I guarantee you will be inspired with new product ideas!
