Corinne Jongh, Head of Brand and Marketing, Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Corinne Jongh is the Head of Brand & Marketing at the Van Gogh Museum. She focuses on strengthening the museum's brand, creating conversation-worthy experiences, and making a positive impact in the world through cultural engagement. With a passion for connecting people to art, Corinne leads the museum’s marketing strategy, ensuring that every campaign ignites curiosity and enriches the global dialogue around Vincent van Gogh’s legacy and the Van Gogh Museum.

Building Trust Through a Human-Centred Brand: How the Van Gogh Museum Connects Local and Global Audiences

The Van Gogh Museum places a human story at the centre of its work. In this keynote, Corinne Jongh, Head of Brand & Marketing, explores how the brand positioning shapes the museum’s marketing, communication and digital strategy, while maintaining global reach and strengthening local focus.

At the heart of the museum’s positioning is not only Vincent van Gogh’s artistic achievement, but also the personal story behind the painter: his struggles, relationships, inner world, ambitions, and challenges in life. These deeply human experiences remain strikingly relevant today, allowing audiences across generations and backgrounds to recognise themselves in his story and form personal connections with his work and life.

This human-centred positioning is reflected in the museum’s exhibitions and public programming and forms the basis for its digital communication strategy.

By focusing on relevance and connection, the museum creates content that resonates with audiences’ lives and interests. Content that the public recognises and can relate to. Thereby inviting them into meaningful and ongoing relationships with Vincent’s story and his work. From personalised email journeys to platform-specific storytelling across social channels, the museum blends creativity, data, and cultural insight to engage both local and international audiences.

Through a carefully balanced mix of knowledge and storytelling, all marketing channels become spaces for inspiration, dialogue, and participation. By combining data, creativity, and human storytelling, the Van Gogh Museum demonstrates how cultural institutions can build trust and lasting connections in a rapidly changing world.