Corporate Museums: Heritage as a Brand Value

1 ABSTRACT Nowadays, the museum-temple definitely cannot be any more a link between the past and a present, already strongly launched into the future. In fact, it does not hold the confrontation with other means of mass communication and limps to accomplish the delicate task of providing adequate contents and interpretations to the modern visitor. At the same time, another type of museum is rising and encountering the favors of the public: the Corporate Museum. Born within the company itself, it began its existence as a pure marketing and communications tool, becoming later more and more a generator of culture and knowledge, and finally a tourist attraction. The corporate museums today are still struggling to be recognized as a category on its own, but the fascinating peculiarities that characterize them and that we are going to plumb in this text, will open a new perspective on an institution with multiple potential and complex but critical characteristics. In order to exploit all the possibilities presented by this institution, it is important to research the similarities and differences with traditional museums, the conflicts of interest that rise during its establishment, its relationship with the territory and its enormous value as a promoter of the brand heritage. To achieve this goal and to indicate further avenues of research and analysis, it has been done a study on the most important theoretical texts published in the last decade, as well as professionals in the field were contacted, who wanted to share their experience, thus making a practical contribution to this work. In parallel, the author of the thesis has had the opportunity of a direct working experience in the Lamborghini Museum, where has been able to analyze the practical aspects of the establishment and the management of a corporate museum. Keywords: corporate museum, brand heritage, cultural heritage, heritage brand, communication, marketing, museology, territory, functions, Lamborghini Museum.