Cees van Riel, vice president of the Reputation Institute and academic at the Rotterdam School of Management, presented a study on the most reputable art museums in the world. The meeting was organized by the University and Corporate Excellence, a think tank promoted by some major Spanish companies, and was held on February 6 at the Prado Museum's board room, the host of the event.

A total of 40 representatives from Spanish museums such as the Museo Nacional del Prado, the Reina Sofía art center, the MNAC in Barcelona, the Bellas Artes in Bilbao and the Thyssen, Sorolla and Lázaro Galdiano museums, among others, took part in the event, as well as executives from sponsoring entities such as Axa, Caixabank, Iberdrola, Samsung and Telefónica. Also taking part in the event were the vice-rector for Communication, Juan Manuel Mora; the general director of the University Museum, Jaime García del Barrio; and the director of the AXA Foundation, Josep Alfonso Caro.

The research Why people love art museums, carried out among visitors and non-visitors to museums in ten countries, shows that the reputation of these centers reaches 79 points on a scale of 100, compared to 64 for companies. As a result, van Riel invited companies to unite their brand with that of museums, seeking formulas for collaboration that are mutually beneficial. He also highlighted the place of the Louvre and the Van Gogh Museum on the podium of global reputation according to the report.

From a business perspective, the director of the AXA Foundation, Josep Alfonso Caro, who has been collaborating with the Prado Museum for more than twenty years, stressed the need for joint efforts between sponsors and cultural institutions in order to achieve common goals.

Juan Manuel Mora, Vice Chancellor of the University, highlighted the changes that occur in the governance and communication of non-profit organizations when the value of reputation is taken into account. "Reputation management makes it possible to govern in a more ambitious way, adding intangible objectives to economic ones." In addition, it invites to undertake "a strategic communication, which brings value to the institution and introduces the need to do a solid job, which basically consists of doing things well and telling things well," he stressed.

With this meeting, the University of Navarra and Corporate Excellence intend to initiate a series of meetings dedicated to the reputation of museums. After several years of work in the field of reputation, and in particular the reputation of universities, this new initiative aims to share reflections and experiences on the management of intangibles in the artistic and cultural sector.