Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library
Seeking a more audience-focused membership program
Winterthur partnered with our team at Radiance Insights to strengthen its membership strategy and identify opportunities for growth.
Winterthur wanted to grow membership and revenue while making its membership program more accessible, compelling, and truly aligned with audience needs. Key goals included simplifying the membership structure, improving retention and loyalty, strengthening the pathway from member to donor, and better understanding what drives audiences to join, renew, and engage.
Radiance was selected for its membership expertise and integrated research and strategy capabilities. Through market research, audience segmentation, pricing analysis, and membership modeling, the project aimed to provide Winterthur with an evidence-based framework for future membership growth.
A comprehensive approach to understand what was possible in the market
The Radiance Insights team and our partners delivered a mixed-methods approach of research and consultancy, focused on turning audience insights into actionable membership strategy to meet Winterthur’s goals:
Discovery & audience exploration: Stakeholder alignment and interviews with high-value audience segments to identify barriers to participation and engagement.
Market segmentation: A quantitative survey across key catchments, combined with existing audience data, to develop distinct personas using clustering analysis.
Membership testing: Conjoint analysis to quantify how changes to pricing and benefits impact likelihood to join and renew.
Scenario modeling: Forecasting uptake and revenue under different membership configurations to support decision-making.
Strategy: Refinement and design of the new membership program strategy.
Frontline optimization: A year on from the initial program launch, onsite sales training and a mystery shop was done to assess and improve the membership sales experience.
An actionable roadmap for growth
The insights and strategy provided Winterthur with a clear plan of actionable recommendations in both the short- and long-term – identifying easy wins as well as high-impact opportunities that will take more time to implement.
Audience strategy grounded in evidence: The segmentation identified distinct groups with different motivations: some seek learning and immersion, while others prioritize new experiences or social connection, enabling more targeted marketing and offer design.
Sharper membership proposition: The data shows that admission benefits and personal enjoyment are primary drivers, while some segments expect added value such as exclusive access or deeper content. This created a clear framework for structuring benefits by audience need and a pathway to encourage upgrades.
Awareness is both a challenge and opportunity: With fewer than 1 in 10 aware, the data highlights a significant opportunity to build brand awareness and understanding, particularly against competitors with stronger recall.
Stronger positioning: The data shows the gardens are the primary draw and a key asset to lead with, while perceptions of being “not for everyone” point to a need for more inclusive messaging and opportunities for broader audience participation.
Improved frontline conversion opportunities: The mystery shop identified specific, practical changes – such as proactively introducing membership and clearly communicating benefits – that will increase conversion at the point of sale.
Identified gaps in technology: The research and design processes highlighted critical gaps in Winterthur’s technology and systems that are currently limiting the organization’s ability to be more responsive to audience needs.
Excerpt from Winterthur’s membership brochure, highlighting personal enjoyment and value
Understanding the impact after implementation
The research gave Winterthur a clear, evidence-based roadmap for evolving its membership program – and the confidence to act on it.
Using the findings, Winterthur simplified its membership structure to make it easier to understand and join, introduced more flexible membership options to better meet the needs of prospective audiences such as the "Novelty Seekers" persona, and retained the core benefits most valued by its existing members. Membership communications were also refreshed to better reflect what the data showed mattered most: supporting Winterthur's mission, enjoying the naturalistic gardens, receiving strong admission benefits, and experiencing the sense of peace and serenity the institution provides. Programming was also refined to better serve both established and emerging audience segments.
The insights extended beyond membership design. Winterthur strengthened its frontline membership sales approach by encouraging staff to introduce membership during every visitor transaction, introducing "Ask me about Membership" badge lanyards, and launching a staff incentive program to encourage membership conversations and conversions.
These changes have delivered measurable results. Since launching the new membership structure, Winterthur has achieved a 6% increase in membership revenue, a 12% increase in membership revenue generated through onsite sales, and a 3% increase in member retention.
Perhaps most importantly, the changes have been positively received by members themselves. Feedback highlights that the more flexible membership model makes it easier to bring friends and family, increases the value of membership, and demonstrates that Winterthur is listening to its audiences.
"My husband and I are very happy that you will be instituting a more flexible guest policy. It makes it easier to remain members when we know that we can bring our friends more easily and often."
"It's very gratifying to know that you asked for feedback... We look forward to coming to Winterthur more than ever."
"I truly appreciate the opportunity to be able to bring someone other than the person named on my membership card... The positive changes Winterthur announced increase the value of membership without costing the institution a dime."
Together, these outcomes demonstrate how audience insight can be translated into practical changes that strengthen the member experience, improve operational performance, and deliver sustainable membership growth.