I’ve known my friend Jeff Martin for several years, mostly from afar, and have always been in awe of his creativity. His approach to museum work—what many in the field would call out-of-the-box—along with
everything else he has going on, stands out. From running an independent bookstore in Tulsa to hosting Museum Confidential at Philbrook Museum of Art, now wrapping its tenth season.
Now, Jeff is heading to the Seattle Art Museum, bringing his time in Tulsa, where he’s known as the “Literary King of Tulsa,” to a close, as recently covered in The New York Times.
Adam Rozan: Hi, Jeff. Congratulations are in order! Can you share what you currently do, and what you will be doing in the coming weeks?
Jeff Martin: Thanks, Adam! I’m about to leave my role as Director of Communications at Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. I’ve been here for 17 years, so it’s an emotional choice. But I’m excited to head west for a new gig as Chief of Creative Strategy and Storytelling at SAM.
AR: That’s exciting, and an interesting title. What does it mean to you?
JM: It’s a new position, so that always leaves some open questions and opportunities to define and design it, but mostly I want to make the museum more relevant to guests and the broader community.
AR: Let’s talk about your time at Philbrook, which, from an outsider’s perspective, is easily characterized by creative, successful, and unique marketing efforts for a museum. What are some of the projects you are most proud of?
JM: The concepts and campaigns I’m proud of would take hours to list, so I won’t, but my biggest impact (at least I hope) is that people consider the museum a regular part of their lives in a way they never did before. Last year, I put a directional sign up on the busiest street leading to Philbrook. It read “Stuffy Old Museum” with an arrow directing folks to turn. When I started, that would have been a true statement. Now it’s ironic.
AR: That’s fun and definitely an ironic way to celebrate the Philbrook’s unstuffiness. What advice do you have for museums, not just art museums, to boost their creativity and playfulness in their work, and to, well, try new things?
JM: Don’t do creativity by committee. Find interesting voices and talents and let them cook. Use tools not usually employed by museums to reach people. Humor for instance. And please don’t take yourself too seriously. We aren’t dismantling bombs. Fun is ok.
AR: What advice would you give to people trying to promote new ideas or alternative approaches in museums?
JM: Accept failure as part of the process and know that if one or two great ideas take hold, the others usually fade away with no major impact. And leadership should be ok with that experimentation. We show art that only exists because people thought outside the box, yet often, as an industry, we
try to do the exact opposite.
AR: Can you take a moment to describe what I think is a classic Jeff
Martin video, your Museum Next video?
JM: Ha. I’m assuming you mean the one where I interviewed myself. It was during the pandemic, and Jim [Richardson] asked that I do a recorded video for my presentation. Almost everyone was doing Zoom-style videos, and I was just sick of that aesthetic. And instead of a soliloquy, why not an interview? With myself. So, we did a classic split-frame single shot on a couch in the gallery employing the same basic tech Haley Mills used in the original Parent Trap. But that small innovation was so refreshing in that moment.
AR: Do you have a way that you describe your work or approach to marketing?
JM: Absolutely. I call it the “Fun Menu.” Most people have a list in their mind, whether they know it or not, of the things they like to do with free time. It’s direct for everyone. Read a book, take a hike, ride a bike, see a movie, whatever. Our goal is to get museums on your fun list. It doesn’t even have to be on top of the list. But if it’s not even a consideration, there’s no chance of real engagement.
AR: Let’s talk Museum Confidential? How many episodes and series will you have done by the time you leave the Philbrook?
JM: We’re just about to wrap the 10th and final season, which was planned actually before I accepted the SAM role. We’ve done around 200 episodes altogether, counting live shows, etc.
AR: Museum Confidential has built a loyal following, has fans, and maintains strong numbers. What do you attribute this to, and can you share the analytics behind it?
JM: The key to our success in many ways is just that we kept going. Many museums start pods and don’t see immediate engagement and stop. We didn’t get a big following until four or five seasons in when the NYT did a piece on us and blew up our numbers. We’ve had some killer guests too. That always helps broaden the reach.
AR: Recognizing that Museum Confidential took four or five seasons to build a following is an important reminder and helpful to see such programs as marathons, not sprints. I have to be honest, my favorite part of the podcast is the museum-based infomercials. How did those originate? What are some of your favorites?
JM: That’s always been my favorite part, too. And it’s a challenge. I’ve written all of those and made a promise to never repeat them. Our producer, Scott Gregory, voices them. As a public radio show, we don’t have sponsors per se, but I’d like a break or two. So, we just started picking odd things. The more obscure the better. Some of my favorite “underwriters” of MC include benches, frames, black tape on the floor, non-reflective glass, and humidity control.
AR: And can you talk about the investment? What is Philbrook’s investment in the podcasts, and what’s the ROI? What do you measure: future attendance, brand impact, or something else?
JM: The cost to make the show over the years is ridiculously low. I did it as a pure passion project to make Philbrook more relevant in the industry. More listeners on the coasts than in Oklahoma. So, the ROI wasn’t in dollars but in acknowledgment.
AR: There was a moment, and I think we’ve moved past it, but are we still in a museum podcast phase? Are museums still creating or hosting podcasts? If yes, what’s happening, and if not, what changed?
JM: We never made the pivot to video. It was too late for us to make that stylistic shift. It needs to be both Audio/video. The next one will be.
AR: Do you have any predictions about what will replace podcasts for museums? Where does social media at museums fit into all of this, and what’s the future for social media at museums?
JM: I’m really doing a lot of research into the radical attention movement. I’d suggest folks look it up. Part of me thinks that the secret may be to have a space that’s almost fully dedicated to an in-person and present experience, which is counter to what I’ve been saying forever. But we have to be open to change.
AR: Thanks, and good luck with the new move and the new position.
JM: See you soon!