The Value of Corporate Museums Gaining New Attention ~ Consolidating Corporate Vision and Creating New Connections with Society ~

Written by: Osamu Iguchi (PR Consulting Dentsu Inc.)

Corporate museums are gaining renewed attention as spaces for sharing founding principles and contemporary purpose both internally and externally.

We have introduced 33 corporate museums to date. Even for us, who have long supported corporate PR efforts, visiting these museums allowed us to rediscover each company's founding ideals and the evolution of their activities. It deepened our appreciation for these companies and renewed our fondness for them.

Corporate museums also serve as touchpoints between B2B companies and consumers (Photo courtesy: Yanmar Museum)

The corporate information we typically encounter is highly fragmented. Explanations of products through advertising, or statements about what the company actually does, are fleeting even when noticed.

This primarily applies to B2C companies, which still offer touchpoints through commercials. For B2B companies, however, contact points for the general public are scarce. Yet, stepping into a corporate museum means spending several hours touring the facility, viewing everything from past achievements to future themes.

Some even incorporate entertainment elements into the experience. Interest deepens with each step along the tour route, causing visitors to pause frequently and gradually slow their pace. Unlike viewing art in a museum, this journey of observing a company's origins and its contributions to societal development resembles the state of mind when intensely reading a biography. It offers an immersive experience akin to watching a documentary about the company's life.

While some companies may have built corporate museums as mere showpieces during the bubble era when funds were abundant, the corporate museums featured in this series often embody the company's philosophy from the outset. Many were established as part of anniversary projects, such as 50th or 100th anniversaries. This seems to place greater emphasis not just on external appeal, but on sharing the company's guiding principles internally, including with employees.

Some companies have expanded their content and added experiential elements, aiming to become broader touchpoints with stakeholders. They have evolved into "places where companies and consumers meet," creating experiential value for the wider world. They create lasting memories through learning, play, and experience. For companies, they are also being re-evaluated as a new medium for connecting with consumers.

Mikimoto Pearl Island welcomes Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco to its museum. Hosting members of royal families from around the world, it engages in public diplomacy (Photo courtesy: Mikimoto Pearl Island)

Indeed, several companies have established new museums or renovated existing ones in recent years. Newly established include Ito En, while renovations include Duskin and Kansai Electric Power. Their roles now extend far beyond simply conveying corporate messages. They serve as "industrial tourism resources collaborating with local communities," function as "employee training venues," and even fulfill "public diplomacy" roles by hosting visits from foreign dignitaries.

For employee training, specific objectives are set with diverse targets and methods. Examples include inviting employees from the company's global overseas bases to share its corporate philosophy, or conveying the company's stance to employees of partner companies within the supply chain to foster understanding and empathy. Their roles are thus highly varied. While digitalization has permeated and become established everywhere following the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities that provide content in these physical spaces seem to be experiencing a renewed appreciation for their meaning and value.

Classification of Corporate Museums by Purpose

Corporate museums are, in essence, the "ultimate owned media." While official websites remain the standard source for corporate information, many museums are located adjacent to corporate headquarters, factories, or research facilities. For information seekers, visiting such a museum means stepping directly into the company's domain.

Through this act, visitors can not only obtain information and experience within the museum itself but also sense the company's presence and value within the surrounding community. For example, if a museum is located at the founding site, it provides an excellent opportunity to understand the "corporate personality" – why the company was founded there and what role it now plays as a corporate citizen in that location.

The Shimadzu Corporation Founding Memorial Museum, designated as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property and a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Modern Industrial Heritage site (Photo courtesy of Shimadzu Corporation)

In the communications industry, we often focus on creating broader information exposure through news media and other channels. In other words, to reach a larger audience, we use methods like advertising and publicity to convey messages "broadly and shallowly." In contrast, corporate museums excel at conveying messages "narrowly and deeply." Why is this approach—communicating "narrow and deep" messages to foster empathy and cultivate long-term fan relationships—gaining renewed attention now? Let's explore this by categorizing the purposes corporate museums serve.

It's interesting that while the purpose may be the same, the specific functions each corporate museum possesses vary. Of course, some adopt multiple approaches in a layered manner, but for reference, I'll list a simple classification below.

Some corporate museums send curators to give lectures at universities and other institutions (Photo courtesy: Printing Museum)

One enjoyable way to engage with these museums is to grasp their characteristics through such categorization and personally compare the differences between them. Selecting and visiting corporate museums based on interest in their content and the proposed ways to enjoy them is also a good approach. Even in these efforts, corporate museums are surprisingly diverse. Their value as contact points that can enlighten visitors about the philosophy and culture behind a company's business through play and learning seems to be increasing once again.

The Museum Act and Corporate Museum Operations

Interest in corporate museums has recently grown across a broad spectrum of visitors, and they appear to be establishing themselves as a new leisure activity, including for inbound tourists.

Although the Museum Act was revised in April 2022, the current situation shows an overwhelmingly small number of "registered museums," with unregistered "museum-like facilities" existing at approximately five times the number of registered museums. A representative from the TOTO Museum, classified as a "museum-like facility," stated in 2022: "Becoming a registered museum would require us to regularly report our operational status to the prefectural or designated city board of education. Based on these reports, the board could request additional information or issue recommendations. As a corporate museum operated by a private company, we currently have no plans to pursue 'registered museum' status. However, we believe it is essential to continue examining how to maintain the balance between our independence and public responsibility."

Similarly, the Mizkan Museum (nicknamed MIM), established in Handa City, Aichi Prefecture—the company's founding location—and actively engaged in community activities, stated during a 2023 interview that it does not intend to promote itself as a tourist destination in accordance with the revised Museum Act. However, regarding the museum's operational stance of charging admission fees rather than offering free services as a corporate entity, Director Yoshihisa Niimi commented as follows:

"While attracting a wide audience to this area is important, we want people who are genuinely interested to visit. If included in travel agency tours, those without interest might find it boring. Our predecessor facility, 'Vinegar Village,' was free, but we deliberately made 'MIM' paid. Those interested will pay to come. We decided it should be paid to raise staff awareness and maintain a professional mindset."

Even with the fee, surveys show high satisfaction, and many respondents say they'd definitely recommend it to others. "We have numerous repeat visitors coming for their third time. I believe word-of-mouth from these people leads to the next visitors. To attract repeat visitors, we also need to leverage digital tools. While the physical space remains unchanged, we aim to constantly update our content. We also plan to collaborate more with local schools, creating mechanisms like combining field trips with outreach classes. For example, students could use the museum as a research topic, visit for a tour, then conduct further research and present their findings in class. We're gradually starting to develop such educational curricula."

Looking at the earlier classification of corporate museum objectives, it fulfills its role as a corporate citizen, providing educational opportunities for local children in coordination with regional administration. It also serves as an opportunity for visitors to enhance or improve their own awareness and actions through interaction. It is clear that it functions organically as an entity with truly multi-layered roles.

A Museum as an Immersive Space for Understanding Corporate Character

The late Yoshiharu Fukuhara, then-president who spearheaded the establishment of the Shiseido Corporate Museum, stated in his book My Dual-Track Life (Iwanami Shoten): "Just as individuals possess personal virtue, companies possess corporate virtue." After visiting several corporate museums ourselves, we sometimes reflect on how each was a place where we could sense the company's corporate virtue. It seems museums are not isolated entities; they powerfully convey the underlying social significance of the company and its character as a corporate citizen.

This ability to sense such corporate character, or "corporate virtue," may stem from the immersive experience of being fully immersed in the unique space of a museum.

While the term "immersive" is treated as a trend word in marketing and branding, global companies often conduct immersive training (deeply immersive experiences) for personnel entering corporate activities.

These programs aim to deeply instill corporate philosophy and values, teaching participants how to embody the company's unique behavior through group sessions. Crucially, this isn't about suppressing differing opinions or enforcing conformity; the primary goal is to let participants physically experience the company's existing culture firsthand. Rather than a gradual process of feeling and adapting to it, the idea is to immerse participants completely in that culture over a short period, thereby speeding up communication. This also enables them to express opinions actively and without hesitation. In this sense, visiting the corporate museum—or rather, "participating in the corporate museum"—is precisely an immersive experience where one is fully submerged in the corporate culture and ethos.

It's rare for a company to provide such an immersive, engrossing environment. While entertainment facilities or VR gaming environments use digital technology and tools to create that "immersion," corporate museums don't rely solely on such technology or gimmicks to achieve it.

Instead, they narrate the facts held by these companies as brand stories, building up those sentiments within the hearts of the public. Even if it's a static space with a series of panel displays, the presence of a narrative allows visitors to experience that immersion. When combined with a guide's passionate explanations and hospitality, it stirs the heart even more profoundly. If this experience resembles "intensely reading a biography of a great figure" or "watching a documentary about a company's journey," the engagement with the company through its story becomes exceptionally high.

Corporate museums with entertainment elements have always drawn attention, but even those without such features play a role in corporate communication and consistently deliver solid results. Looking at individual facilities makes it hard to grasp overall trends, but examining the characteristics of corporate museums operated for diverse purposes, as in this case, reveals certain trends.

Moreover, shortly after starting this series, information about corporate museums began surfacing everywhere, and honestly, it felt like the trend suddenly emerged all at once.

Many corporate museums also operate virtual museums (Photo courtesy: Mahobin Memorial Museum)

However, as physical structures, facilities inevitably incur significant initial costs. First, companies with existing museums should refocus on their purpose, reaffirm their objectives, develop content aligned with those goals, and definitely incorporate them as part of their communication strategy.

Even companies without dedicated facilities can renovate a section of their own building into a museum. Alternatively, they could execute communication activities—including internal outreach—by setting up pop-up displays, even for short periods, showcasing their origins, philosophy, and future vision.

Once content is ready, starting with an online presence is perfectly viable. The key isn't merely having a museum structure, but firmly anchoring the company's core principles within it to engage employees and fans. The case studies in this book were researched and written by PR practitioners who are self-proclaimed fans of each museum, offering insights from PR professionals throughout.

To readers responsible for corporate communications, I strongly recommend reading these stories and visiting various museums. It will spark your imagination about what kind of stories your own company could weave and share. You can enjoy this journey not just as a professional task, but also as a museum enthusiast.

The book compiling this series (Volume 1) is available here.

[From the Web Dentsu Inc. Editorial Department]

Thanks to the support of many people, this became a long-running series spanning roughly two years. First and foremost, the editorial department would like to express our gratitude for that.

Corporate museums operate on two pillars: "building a fan base for the company's business development" and "contributing to society's sustainable development." Neither is about "selling at all costs." It's about "being close to" fans and society, and "interacting" with them. In the first interview article, Mr. Naoya Takayanagi of Taisho University pointed out that "providing real spaces (= experiences) is crucial for this."

PR does not mean "advertising." It means public relations—building and deepening relationships with fans and society. During the pandemic, we lost many "real spaces." Some museums were forced to close. Yet, without the real, true relationships cannot be built. Through this series, we at the editorial department have been prompted to reconsider the very essence of PR.