SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

PEST Analysis
Political
Funding has been put to question since the National Museum permanently lifted
its admission fee on July 1, 2016. The museum used to charge P150 for adults, P120
for senior citizens and P50 for students. The Board of Trustees of the National Museum
ratified the policy of free admission. Lifting the admission fee meant cutting one of its
sources of revenue used to maintain museum operations. But according to the National
Museum, they are supported by a solid institutional budget drawn from Filipino
taxpayers through the national budget.

Economic
Tourism is deemed to bring revenue to the country and consequentially, boost its
economy. In 2015, the Philippine Travel and Tourism Industry contributed a total of
P1.43 trillion to the local economy, which roughly comprises 10.6 percent of the
Philippines gross domestic product as reported by the World Travel and Tourism
Council. Tourist arrivals of 9.19 million and an amount of P579.8 billion for expenditure
are projected to contribute to a yearly growth of 6.6% in the Philippine Tourism Industry
(Remo, 2016).

These generally positive projections about the Philippine Travel and Tourism
Industry asserts great opportunities to put the National Museum forward as the best

establishment for an immersive experience about the Philippine art, culture and
heritage.

Another important thing to note is that, the millennials, the target audience are
known to be career-shifters and views their careers more as a means to self-discovery
than a means to an income. In January 2016, a report by Business Inquirer showed
statistics that 40% of Filipino millennials ought to quit their present jobs in 2 years. This
is attributed to their feelings of being underutilized, the lack of leadership development
and being overlooked for potential leadership positions (Abadilla, 2016). This trend
among millennials insinuates the possibility of their lack of sufficient income to dispose
for expenses other than their necessities.

Socio-cultural
The visitor statistics of the National Museum reflects that the highest percentage
of visitorship comes from College Students Visitors, which comprises 41.16% for the
National Museum of Fine Arts and 38.40% for the National Museum of Anthropology.
This huge chunk of visitors collectively comprises the millennial age group which
according to Time Magazine are people born from 1980 to 2000.

Filipino millennials are typecast to be highly dependent from the gratifications of

the internet especially the social media, and lives by the quintessential term selfie
generation which does not only pertain to the act of taking selfies but is also
denotative of their tendencies to be self-centered and self-absorbed. However, Filipino

millennials are positively perceived to be politically and socially active, and engages
themselves in the causes and principles they strongly believe in (Philippine Primer,
2016).
Nevertheless, the cultural participation of millennials in the Philippines is still yet
to be developed. Culture and heritage are not heavily embedded in their values as
politics and contemporary social issues are. Data from the National Museum of the
Philippines showcases an apparent dominion of the count of millennial visitors over
other visitors such as tourists, children, senior citizens etc. but during the focus group
discussion their inputs and insights generally reflect disinterest from the museum-going
activity. A high museum visitorship does not necessarily translate to effective
engagement.

In terms of leisure lifestyle, the Filipino millennial is prominently engaged in

activities that are sociable, educational and relaxing. They are also fond of travelling to
places that could refresh and renew their minds, however they are not fond of doing
activities that are physically exhausting. Millennials also choose their friends over family
members as leisure-time companions. This could imply the millennials desire for
independence and sociability in their activities.

Technological
The projected trend for these age groups is their declining engagement in
traditional advertising media particularly radio, newspaper, magazine and television.

There is however a significant spike in their engagement with the internet and out of
home media, this reflects the age groups shift to more non-traditional media of
advertising.

In fact, the digital lifestyle statistics this age group reflects the burgeoning impact
and presence of the Internet in their daily lives. The Internet is now accessed more
prominently in Smartphones that desktop or laptop computers, which implies that the
Internet has become more convenient and readily accessible to many. Moreover, the
Internets prime function to most individuals has become leisure and no longer school or
work matters. To put it briefly, the millennials truly are digital natives because the
Internet is apparently embedded in their lifestyles.

Globally, museums are already resorting to the aid of technology in improving the
museum experience of their visitors. Technology is no longer just a supplement to the
entire museum-visit experience, but already comprises an integral part of it. In the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York have invested in technologies to make the
museum experience more interactive, even working with the smartphones that guests
carry with them (Shu, 2016).

Legal
Through Republic Act No. 8492, also known as the National Museum Act of
1998, the National Museum is recognized as a trust of the government and is
independent and autonomous from other government agencies. Section 23 of this

mandate grants the National Museum an Endowment Fund amounting to P500,

000,000 appropriated from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine
Amusement and Gaming Corporation. The said fund is utilized to enact section 7 of the
mandate, which are the museums duties and functions.

Roughly 3 years ago, the National Museum settled a dispute about their
endowment fund amounting to 301 Million Pesos, which went missing. On August 2013,
the Commission on Audit (COA) stated that a huge sum of the endowment fund of the
National Museum was taken out of the Land Bank of the Philippines. This alleged
misuse of public fund is deemed to be a betrayal of public trust (Ranada, 2013).

SWOT Analysis
Strengths

Strong brand name and presence recognized as the leading curatorial body for
the cultural heritage and natural history of the Philippines

The National Museums critical resources such as the popular works of notable
Filipino artists like Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, Botong Francisco and
Vicente Manansala to name a few.

The National Museum is a trust of the government and is duly funded to restore
and maintain their exhibits and collections

Conducts exhibits, lectures, workshops, book launches and seminars that

encompasses different topics in culture and heritage

Does not require an admission fee

Weaknesses

Lacks interactivity with the collections and exhibits

Museum staff and personnel are deemed to be unfriendly by its visitors

Does not have amenities such as a cafeteria or a souvenir shop that visitors look
for

The museum experience is static and lacks an interesting flow of information

Static and restrictive museum experience

There are no prominent forms of marketing and advertising in the past years

Opportunities

Make the museum experience more interactive by introducing technology

Have a stronger digital presence through an updated website and museum

applications which can be powered by the governments fiber optic internet plan

Optimize the museum experience for millennial visitors since they comprise the
biggest portion of visitors

Can be marketed more as a part of Philippine tourism

Create distinguishable marketing and advertising efforts

Threats

Other options for leisure activities such as going to the mall, going to the movies
or eating out

Declining interest and appreciation for traditional art

More contemporary museums or galleries which asserts more relevance to the

young art patrons

Marketing Mix
Product
The National Museums NCR branch is comprised of 2 buildings: The
National Art Gallery located at the old legislative building and the Museum of the Filipino
People located at the building which formerly housed the Department of Finance. The
National Art Gallery is comprised of the Spoliarium Hall which holds the most prominent
painting among its collections, Juan Lunas Spoliarium, and 25 other galleries each
holds a collection of prominent Filipino artists.

The Museum of the Filipino People, also known as the National Museum of
Anthropology houses the National Museums anthropology, archaeology divisions,
ancient artifacts and zoology divisions. The museum is comprised of 5 permanent
exhibits and several temporary exhibits throughout the year.

Price
The National Museum of the Philippines permanently lifted its admission fee
on July 1, 2016, it no longer charges any amount for museum access.

People
The National Museum is primarily led by a Board of Trustees which includes
the museum director who manages a directors office. The Directors office then
manages the different divisions of the National Museum namely: Administrative,

Anthropology, Archaeology, Arts, ASBMD, Botany, Conservation and Laboratory,

Cultural Properties, Geology, Museum Education, Planetarium, Restoration and
Engineering and Zoology.

The present National Museum Chairman is Ramon Del Rosario, the National
Museum Director is Jeremy Barns, CESO III and the National Museum Assistant
Director is Ana Maria Theresa Labrador, Ph. D.

Place
The National Museum has two components in Metro Manila namely the
National Art Gallery and the Museum of the Filipino People. The National Art Gallery is
housed in the old legislative building found in P. Burgos Drive in Ermita Manila while the
Museum of the Filipino People is housed in the former Department of Finance building
found in the Agrifina Cirlce, Rizal Park Manila.

The museum maintains online presence through their social media pages in
Facebook and Twitter, and also through their website although it is mostly outdated.

Promotion
The National Museums promotions are limited to tie-ups with other cultural
agencies, exhibition promotions through their social media pages and basic collaterals
such as tarpaulins and posters. The museum has not carried out any major promotional,
marketing or advertising efforts in the past years.

References
Abadilla, D. (2016, January 29). Forty percent of Pinoy millennials may quit jobs in 2
years. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from (business.inquirer.net/206328/40-ofpinoy-millennials-may-quit-jobs-in-2-years)
Philippine Primer. (2016, June 27). Millennials in the Philippines: Who are they and
what do they do? Retrieved November 28, 2016, from
http://primer.com.ph/blog/2016/06/27/millennials-in-the-philippines-who-are-theyand-what-do-they-do/
Ranada, P. (2016, August 16). Where did P331-M Nat'l Museum endowment fund go?
Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://www.rappler.com/nation/36562national-museum-endowment-fund-go
Remo, A. R. (2016, March 23). Tourism contributes P1.4T to GDP.
Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://business.inquirer.net/208861/tourismcontributes-p1-4t-to-gdp
Shu, L. (2016, May 1). How Museums Are Using Technology. Retrieved November 28,
2016, from http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/how-museums-are-usingtechnology/