AKA, an award-winning, fully integrated creative and media agency, is sharing some insights from its SVP of arts & culture, Kevin Bradley, following a month-long paid sabbatical.
Bradley offers strategic marketing insights to iconic cultural institutions across America, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Frick, the National Gallery of Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and many others.
When planning his time off, Bradley chose to leave his everyday life in New York City and seek inspiration—7,000 miles away. Bradley travelled to India, experiencing the country as a tourist, as a visitor, and as a museum enthusiast far from his home nation.
He deliberately placed himself in the shoes of the audiences he helps museums engage: international travellers.
Lessons learned
His first finding was that context is reassuring.
“Travelling outside of your country requires a huge leap of faith,” Bradley says. “There’s a sense of adventure, but also a discipline I didn’t fully realize when I planned my trip.
"Travelers from countries like India or China coming to the US are stepping into the unknown—so anything we can do to provide context, information, and content around a museum visit is helpful and reassuring.”
He also learned that flexibility is necessary.
“When my train arrived early, and I sat on a dusty street at 5:00 a.m. waiting for my hotel to open, watching cows stroll past—or when I had to switch trains after the nation’s buses shut down due to a horrific fire—several moments required real flexibility."
He carried that thinking back to his work, asking: “How can museums show greater flexibility to their guests? What structure and information can we share so that if travel plans change, institutions can meet international visitors where they are—and welcome them with kindness and empathy?”
Bradley’s final takeaway came through conversation. “Chatting with people throughout my journey, I realized many weren’t familiar with what I consider global cultural powerhouses in America,” he says.
“It reminded me that we need to continually share museums’ stories, values, and history. Even if your institution has a ‘known name,’ you still need to challenge assumptions."
Bradley joined AKA in 2014 and has over 20 years of experience in strategic marketing and advertising for non-profit arts institutions in both visual and performing arts. He has a PhD in urban social and cultural history from Emory University.
He previously served as head of marketing communications for Sotheby’s North American division and as marketing director at Virginia’s Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre.
His current clients include The Met, National Gallery of Art, the Broad, The Frick Collection, New York Botanical Garden, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
He has also worked with The Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society, and the American Museum of Natural History.
In September, AKA celebrated its 15th anniversary since launching in the US, with a growing national client base now spanning theatre, arts and culture, attractions, destinations, and sports.
Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.
