About this episode

The episode discusses how Harvard Art Museums considered using AI in marketing to enhance visitor engagement and the associated challenges.

In 2025, Harvard Art Museums considered using generative AI in a marketing campaign to increase visitor engagement and membership. Looking to boost attendance and appeal to a younger audience base, and facing intensified competition for leisure time, the Museums’ marketing team explored animating a canonical artwork using AI-generated avatars as part of a digital campaign. While the approach promised novelty and attention, it raised internal concerns about brand authenticity, interpretive authority, donor relations, and reputational risk. Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Julian De Freitas and Harvard Art Museums Director of Marketing John Connolly join host Brian Kenny to discuss the case, Harvard Art Museums: When Art Meets Artificial Intelligence. They explore tensions between innovation and brand stewardship in cultural marketing, organizational barriers to new technology adoption, and the strategic use of emerging technologies in brand management.

People in this episode

Host: Brian Kenny

Guests: Julian De Freitas, John Connolly

Topics covered

• museum marketing
• AI in art
• visitor engagement
• brand authenticity
• digital campaigns

Keywords

• AI
• museum marketing
• visitor engagement
• brand authenticity
• digital campaign

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Business School

Books & works: Harvard Art Museums: When Art Meets Artificial Intelligence

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