Louvre Abu Dhabi: Social Media in Marketing Culture

For almost two decades, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been on a mission to boost its culture sector through projects that promote cultural enrichment, openness and tolerance, a move from previously conservative notions. The UAE's interest and commitment to developing its culture sector is anchored on its Cultural Mandate, a document highlighting the country's cultural vision for the next thirty yearsthe Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 Master plan. This new cultural movement has witnessed the birth of several new museums of which Louvre Abu Dhabi stands out as a museum that celebrates global cultures. In the wake of attractive new media technologies and new online audiences, museums are challenged to market themselves with new technologies in order to be attractive and remain relevant in contemporary society. A mixed analysis of data revealed Louvre Abu Dhabi's strategic use of social media to market its activities as well as promote the UAE. The study observed the use of only four social media including, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Louvre Abu Dhabi applied the marketing technique of corporate foresight in media selection and strategic messaging through images, questions and creating audience anticipation. This study argues that through social media, Louvre Abu Dhabi is able to market its activities and events and promote the UAE to global audiences online. By providing digital platforms for attracting audiences and gaining feedback, social media helps Louvre Abu Dhabi to fulfill its cultural function of propagating intercultural understanding and tolerance in the UAE.