Some of my favorite museums in the world were built to showcase industrial brands. The SPAM Museum in Austin, MN provides quirky entertainment and teaches lessons about marketing history. My Dad and I loved the tour and had SPAM burgers to celebrate. Hormel spent millions on that museum, but has seen a nice return on their investment.

They built their brand with some creativity and a building. Of course, having Monty Python mock you helps as well. Watch the video below and give yourself a good laugh. By the way, I learned at the SPAM Museum why this was so funny to Brit baby boomers. During WWII, America  sent millions of cans of SPAM to England, which was almost the only meat available. The children raised during that time had a SPAM heavy diet.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE

I first learned about industrial museums 25 years ago when visiting the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA. Again, the displays were creative and I learned much about business marketing and risk taking. Here’s an excellent video that shows the highlights.

I recall the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam also being excellent. The Economist also mentions the Kohler Design Center in Kohler, WI, the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick, England, the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, WI, the John Deere Museum in Moline, IL and the Hershey Experience in Hershey, PA.

Beyond good travel destinations, though, I challenge you to think about how these successful companies built their brands by telling their stories in a creative way. So what’s the story of your business? How do you share it? Most of us won’t be building museums to ourselves, but we need to think about sharing our stories and building our brand.

That’s a good topic to contemplate as this year ends and we look to 2013.