Reconnect: Cultural Content and Audiences in the Digital Environment

Abstract Several studies have addressed the challenges faced by cultural and creative professionals and businesses since the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Some success stories have surfaced around larger organizations that managed to adapt quickly because they had been preparing for the digital era. The focus of the study presented here adds the much-needed viewpoint of those individuals who form the target audiences and are vital for the future of any CCI organization. These are the results of a public survey aimed at informing directly cultural organizations that experiment with new creative approaches and are adjusting to the transformations that have taken place. Findings are vital for organizations from smaller cultural markets while key conclusions shed light on the new disposition of the public towards existing and future formats of cultural offers online that are valid for contemporary audiences in general. These cover several key observations regarding the most popular type of cultural content and events online; the engagement rate of different audience groups; the most preferred duration of culture in video format; gender affinities influencing the engagement with cultural content online; the motivations and barriers for attending cultural events online, ways to keep the audiences informed, and finally, which new forms of cultural and creative offers would the public be willing to attend online in the recent future. The article demonstrates that knowing the target audience and using data analytics on public dispositions while creating new content can empower CCI organizations. This claim is also based on the successful experience of pilot offers created by CCIs that have benefited directly from the research results of Intercultura Consult’s 2021 project. Work continues in a new project empowering cultural organizations to incubate experimental offers (digital dimension including). The goal is to enhance their connection with key audiences.