VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages
Abstract
Brand museums are used as public relations spaces by organizations that seek to create nostalgic feelings in the public and use their heritage as a competitive advantage. In order to strengthen their corporate image by focusing on their roots, banks start “bank museums” that narrate corporate histories as a part of corporate identities. In this context, this study examines two Turkish bank museums. As Türkiye’s first bank museum exhibiting the history of Ziraat Bank, Ziraat Bank Museum was opened in 1981 “to carry the richness and experience of the Bank into future.” Ziraat Bank Museum exhibits the transformation of the banking system in Türkiye. Likewise, as old as the Republic of Türkiye, İşbank founded İşbank Museum in 2007 to convey the history of İşbank to future generations. In İşbank Museum, a brief history of both the Republic of Türkiye and İşBank is presented to the visitors through documents, photographs, objects and promotional materials. Ziraat Bank Museum and İşBank Museum are analyzed by using case study analysis to claim that bank museums provide banks to position themselves as cultural institutions witnessing and symbolizing the foundation and development of the Republic of Türkiye. Hereby, Ziraat Bank Museum and İşbank Museum can be regarded both as “memory spaces” and as public relations spaces through which the banks change their raison d’etre from financial dimension to cultural and societal dimension, and provide customers authentic and nostalgic brand experience.
Dr. Ebru Akçay graduated from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Letters, Department of American Culture and Literature in 2013. She completed her master’s degree at Ankara University, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Department of Public Relations and Advertising in 2015. She received her doctorate degree from Ankara University, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Department of Public Relations and Advertising in 2020. She is currently working as a assistant professor at Başkent University, Faculty of Communication, Department of Public Relations and Publicity.
Senem Gençtürk Hızal graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Communication, Department of Public Relations and Publicity in 1998. She completed M.A and Ph.D. in Public Relations at Ankara University Graduate School of Social Sciences. Hızal is working as a Professor in the Department of Public Relations and Publicity at Başkent University. Her research interests lie in the area of advertising, public relations, and the media industry within the context of history.