Museum of Brands

Consumer history for the community

The Museum of Brands is unique. As the only UK museum dedicated to consumer history and brand heritage, it takes visitors on a journey through 200 years of social, cultural and lifestyle changes in the UK through the things people bought. With a £10,000 grant from Kusuma Trust they aim to reach 8,000 learners in 2022-2023 through onsite visits and digital media, and connect with their local community in North Kensington.

Schools are keen to get children back into museums following pandemic restrictions, and enrich their learning with relevant trips. The Museum of Brands will develop affordable, self-guided tour resources for primary schools, allowing more schools to visit and use tablets to enrich their workshops with media such as adverts and jingles. They will provide online activities to support students’ learning before and after their visit, and translate key resources into other languages to improve access for visitors. The Museum of Brands offers workshops and guided tours on customer profiling, sustainability in packaging and gender in advertising – some of the few relevant educational visits available to students of subjects like Business Studies. They will work to align their resources with relevant GCSE and post-16 courses and better support student learning.

The Museum of Brands welcomes 50,000 visitors a year.
In 2021, the Museum of Brands engaged 7,067 learners, exceeding their target of 3,583 despite being closed tothe public for five
Each year over 100 volunteers support the work of the Museum of Brands.

Supporting the local community

The Museum of Brands wants to be a place for young people in the local community to create, learn and feel inspired byconsumer history. Free summer holiday workshops for local families and young people exploring the relationshipbetween brands and identity will provide fun for local families during the school break.

At least 20 of the Museum of Brands’ volunteers will be trained in new skills including marketing, front of house and workshop delivery, improving their employability – most of whom will secure paid roles.