Editor's note: Michael Straus is president of InterActive Research Corp., a group of full-service research companies including InterActive Research of Atlanta and Project Research, Inc. of Minneapolis.

The company's original product is mature, perhaps in need of a makeover. A new product is under development, but requires definition and direction. Where does a company turn for market information and guidance? A logical first step for most consumer product companies would be to conduct in-depth marketing research.

But what if the company is a museum and the product is art appreciation? Could it also benefit from marketing research? The Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, N.C., preparing to embark on a bold growth plan for the 21st century, decided to give research a try and discovered it can be highly effective in ensuring future success.

The museum, nestled in Charlotte's affluent Eastover community, enjoys a reputation as one of the Southeast's leading cultural institutions. Offering a little something for everyone, the Mint's holdings include American and European paintings and decorative arts; pre-Columbian, African and Spanish Colonial art; historic costumes; the definitive collection of historic North Carolina pottery, regional crafts and one of the premiere collections of European and American porcelain and pottery in the nation.

But Charlotte had grown and changed in recent years, and it was time to reconsider the museum's collection mix. The city's population includes a sizable segment of art-savvy newcomers from northern cities who have been exposed to some of the country's great art institutions. Was the Mint's vast and diverse collection the best way for a small museum to present art to the public? And just who was this public?

In addition, NationsBank, the city's leading corporate citizen and an ardent proponent of uptown Charlotte, had recently given the Mint the historic Monta...