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Table of Contents
1.0: Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1.1: Brief Description of the Place...........................................................................................................3
1.2: Evolution of the Place.......................................................................................................................3
1.3: Reason of Choice:.............................................................................................................................3
2.0: Critical Analysis of National Museum of Colombo............................................................................4
2.1: Brand Positioning of the Colombo Museum.....................................................................................4
2.2: Brand Symbol...................................................................................................................................4
2.3: Brand Uniqueness.............................................................................................................................5
2.4: Brand Products.................................................................................................................................5
2.5: Brand Services..................................................................................................................................5
2.6: Brand as a Person:............................................................................................................................6
3.0: Positioning Strategy and Impact of Recent Event.............................................................................6
4.0: Recommendations............................................................................................................................7

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1.0: Introduction
This essay aims to critically analyze and evaluate the National Museum of Colombo as a brand
in the international market. A detailed analysis of its position will be provided in terms of its
image as a brand in the market, the brand equity and brand strategies that have been used by this
place to position itself as a brand in the international market. The essay provides a brief
introduction of this place in its historical perspective and how it evolved. Different brand
theories will be applied to evaluate its market position and how it changed in the light of recent
events in Colombo. In the end, recommendations will be provided to for improving the image of
this place as a brand and repositioning its place it the market.

1.1: Brief Description of the Place

The Colombo Museum or the National Museum of Colombo is one of the oldest museums in the
world. It was constructed back in 1877 by Sir William Henry. Urge to build a museum was first
brought in 1872 when a royal society highlighted a need for a public museum to preserve the
natural heritage of Sri Lanka. The museum has a wide range of archaeological artefacts
representing the culture and history of Sri Lanka (Museum.gov.lk, 2019).

1.2: Evolution of the Place

Colombo Museum is the oldest museum in Sri Lanka that has preserved the history, art and
culture of the country. The museum has developed over time on the international level as a brand
of Colombo, attracting thousands of tourists every year around the world. National Museum of
Colombo is divided into departments of cultural, science and National Museum Library (Lanka,
2017). Government of Sri Lanka extend its services to tourists by providing facilities for
Museum tour. There are different shops where tourists can buy traditional things and food.

1.3: Reason of Choice:

National Museum of Colombo is chosen because it emerges as a brand in the international
market, attracting many tourists around the globe. The museum has been extending its services to
people for years and has all the characteristics of a brand such as symbols, products, services and
personality.

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2.0: Critical Analysis of the National Museum of Colombo
This section provides a critical analysis of the National Museum of Colombo as a brand in the
international market. Appropriate place branding theory will be applied to comprehend the
evaluation. Different facets of place branding for museum such as brand uniqueness, symbol,
product, services, and personality will be critically analyzed to understand its position in the
marketplace.

2.1: Brand Positioning of the Colombo Museum

An essential concept in marketing a brand is brand positioning, which refers to the idea the
customers have about the brand in their minds. Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre (20150 suggest that
it relates to the overall perception of a brand in the minds of customers and in what way the
products and services of a brand differs from its competitors. Brand positioning for the National
Museum of Colombo is its architect and building that provides the target customers access to its
products and services. Customers of this brand form a perception from the buildings about their
visit to this place. People around the world make their way to the National Museum of Colombo
to experience the rich culture and natural heritage of Sri Lanka, perception and opinion are
formed by the people in reference to the archaeological artefacts from the old and modern world.
National Museum is operative under the department of National Museums with a core objective
to protect the heritage of Sri Lanka and conserve the wide range of art collection which portrays
the image of this place as a great treasure of history in the minds of people.

2.2: Brand Symbol

A brand symbol is a characteristic of a brand that shows its visual representation. It represents
the characteristic personality traits of the brand and contributes to its recognition in the market
(Lloyd and Woodside, 2013). Brand symbols include the name of the brand, which in this case
is, National Museum of Colombo. The name symbolizes it as a place of a great source of
knowledge and creativity as it includes the products and services that give its customers the idea
about its significance. Other than that, the logo of the brand also acts as a brand symbol. For this
museum, the logo is the white building representing the uniqueness of its Italian architecture
style and creates its value in the competitive market. Slogans are another form of a brand
symbol, which the brands use to express their ideas and to stay connected to their customers. In
this way, the customers can get easy access to the brand and help them to realize its value. For

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the Colombo Museum, there is no such slogan, but the different art galleries and National
Museum Library contribute to making its value in the international market.

2.3: Brand Uniqueness

Brand uniqueness refers to the exclusivity of a product or a service offered by a brand. Kemp,
Childers and Williams, 2012) argue that brand uniqueness provides a competitive advantage to
the brand in the marketplace and contributes to its distinctiveness in the minds of people. Brand
uniqueness in case of the chosen place is its special Italian architecture style that was built in
1877 and is still maintained by the Government of Sri Lanka, and nine divisions of this museum
ranging from ancient art galleries to the National Museum Library. The nine divisions of
Colombo Museum hold a wide collection of the antique and historical specimen, which makes it
unique in the minds of its customers. These divisions comprise of different cultural, social and
scientific aspects. There is a range of objects, statues, sculptures and books in the art galleries
which makes the Museum distinctive and special.

2.4: Brand Products

Brand products are the most vital component of a brand as it determines the market position of a
brand and defines its competition with the other brands. Products offered by the brand are
tangible goods with numerous aspects such as the product design, pricing and its features. It is
vital for a brand to focus on the development of its product to break the competition in the
market once launched (Fetscherin et al., 2014). National Museum of Colombo markets its
products through its architectural design of the building. Museum’s architecture provides access
to the students, government officials, the general public, researchers and tourists to experience
one of the oldest museums in the world. Art exhibitions, seminars and literary festivals on
different occasions adds value to the brand in the competitive market and brings more customers,
not only from national level but from an international level as well.

2.5: Brand Services

Similar to products, services play a vital role in determining the brand’s position in the market.
Better services widen the customer base and attract from customers from the market (Leckie,
Nyadzayo and Johnson, 2016). National Museum of Colombo provides many services to its
customers including, E-card facility for the museum and library membership. There are different
shops inside the museum to provide food, and other related stuff to its customers to make their
tour experience better. Museum itself arranges guides who take its customers to different

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divisions in the museum and provide them with information regarding the artefacts. One special
service provided by the museum in the auditorium, where customers can watch cultural and
historical movies and attend different seminars. As the museum is big, the department of national
museum extends its services to its customers by proving them a bus facility to move around and
take a tour.

2.6: Brand as a Person:

Brand as a person determines the perceptions of the brand in the minds of the customer as
something valuable, credible, effective and intellectual. The brand is expected to adopt the
personality of its customers so that it can interact with its customers in a more innovative, active
and formal way. Veloutsou and Taylor (2012) suggest that brand personality differs from brand
to brand in the market and include two core elements; self-expression of its value and its long-
term relationship with its customers. Later can also be considered as customer loyalty to the
brand. The brand as a person is more of an on-going process which needs strategic decision-
making and effective marketing of the brand. Brand has to make sure that it meets the
requirements of its customers. In the case of the National Museum of Colombo, the brand has
successfully been able to develop a trustful long-term relationship with its customers by proving
them with numerus facilities and services. The great art exhibitions, youthful interactive
sessions, and museum tour allow the chosen brand to develop a more active and formal
relationship with the customers, making itself as an intellectual personality in the minds of the
customers. Maintenance of the unique building style, preservation of old artifacts and a library
full of old collection of books keep the customers loyal and satisfied to the museum. Other than
these basic services, the chosen brand extends its services to its customers by proving internship,
employment and fellowship opportunities so that more people can become a part of their brand.

3.0: Positioning Strategy and Impact of Recent Event

Brand can influence its perception and opinions in the mind of customers as a part of its
positioning strategy. Market positioning determines the capability of brand to present itself as
competitive in the market (Proctor, 2014). Positioning strategy followed by the National
Museum is more tilted towards an intangible and nostalgic posting model. It is characterized by
heritage, which connects its customers emotionally to the brand. This mode focuses on the
purpose of this brand as a treasure of archaeological artifacts and its value. National Museum
employs this model rather than the rational model because of its historic and cultural attachment

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to its customers. It provides a range of services to its customers that keeps them connected.
Museum is a not for profit organization that has a purpose to call customers around the world to
experience its richness in the arts and literature. It connects people from different cultures and
provide them with knowledge about the past era. Target audience of this museum include the
students and teachers who have access to the library and other divisions to learn. Government
officials and tourists also widen the customer base. Competitors of this brand are The
Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum who have a competitive advantage in the
marketplace. Recently, the market positon of National Museum got disrupted due to unfortunate
event of explosion in Sri Lanka. The Eater bombing incident in April, 2019 (Staff, 2019) has
affected the amount of tourists that make their way to Sri Lanka every year to visit this museum.
Explosion was a result of target killing specifically on the tourists and Christians living in the
capital Colombo, Sri Lanka. This has affected the image of brand in a negative way and resulted
in the decrease in tourist influx to Sri Lanka this year.

4.0: Recommendations
This section provides few recommendations on how the National Museum can improve its
market position and attract new customers from different sectors such as business, history buffs
and culture seekers.
i. Museum needs to widen its customer base. It should focus on other customers as well
other than the students, teachers and tourists.
ii. Museum should a stronger presence online as most of the people search online about
it first if they want to visit.
iii. Museum should focus on the other aspects of art such as music and dance to attract
more customers.
iv. Museum should make effective cultural and historical slogans to people feel more
attached and connected to it.
v. Government should fund this organization to develop a research center so that young
people can engage themselves in preserving the museum.

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5.0 References:
Museum.gov.lk. (2019). Colombo National Museum. [online] Available at:
http://www.museum.gov.lk/web/index.php?
option=com_regionalm&task=regionalmuseum&id=6&Itemid=73&lang=en [Accessed 26 Jul.
2019].
Lanka, S. (2017). National Museum | Colombo, Sri Lanka Attractions. [online]
Lonelyplanet.com. Available at: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/sri-
lanka/colombo/attractions/national-museum/a/poi-sig/450639/357443 [Accessed 26 Jul. 2019].
Heding, T., Knudtzen, C.F. and Bjerre, M., (2015). Brand management: Research, theory and
practice. Routledge.
Lloyd, S. and Woodside, A.G., (2013). Animals, archetypes, and advertising (A3): The theory
and the practice of customer brand symbolism. Journal of Marketing Management, 29(1-2),
pp.5-25.
Kemp, E., Childers, C.Y. and Williams, K.H., (2012). Place branding: creating self-brand
connections and brand advocacy. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 21(7), pp.508-515.
Fetscherin, M., Boulanger, M., Gonçalves Filho, C. and Quiroga Souki, G., (2014). The effect of
product category on consumer brand relationships. Journal of Product & Brand
Management, 23(2), pp.78-89.
Leckie, C., Nyadzayo, M.W. and Johnson, L.W., (2016). Antecedents of consumer brand
engagement and brand loyalty. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(5-6), pp.558-578.
Veloutsou, C. and Taylor, C.S., (2012). The role of the brand as a person in business to business
brands. Industrial Marketing Management, 41(6), pp.898-907.
Proctor, T., (2014). Strategic marketing: an introduction. Routledge.
Staff, T. (2019). Here's What to Know About the Easter Sunday Blasts in Sri Lanka. [online]
Time. Available at: https://time.com/5574723/easter-sunday-blasts-explosions-sri-lanka-what-to-
know/ [Accessed 26 Jul. 2019].