Page 54 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2014

AC/E digital culture ANNUAL REPORT 2014between the ages of 25 and 35. It didn’t make any difference whether they smoked, took part in sport, or watched television at night.Nowadays, we have completely segmented and diversified publics who, even if they have things in common between them, are totally different, not so much for what they are, but for what they do in their lives. The fragmentation of these groups can be as wide as the “digital” segmentation criteria used.What media (digital ones, of course) do these users consume? Where? Do they read blogs, if so, which ones? Do they share their photos on Instragram or on Pinterest? Do they prefer to talk to their friends and family through WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger? And even, what’s their attitude to downloadinggo in search of new cultural content and experiences that will satisfy their need to know what’s new, guided in the vast majority of cases by the recommendations of their closest circle.We can put to one side the classical typology of users: digital natives (under 35 years of age), those who have adapted (between 35 and 55 years of age) and the reticent (over 55 years of age). What we find are consumers who want to form part of a cultural experience who, without doubt, know that it is in the digital space where they will find the whole value chain (information, e‐commerce, criticism, recommendations, new things, opinion and so forth). People may be more or less agile in having access to these resources but there can be no doubt that it is here that all the potential for creating this bond, this connection between the content and the consumer, resides and that is the case for any of their cultural expressions.Everything revolves around the idea of being customer‐centric in which the key issue is the process of getting to know the users and their behaviour. It is a question of placing the consumers in the middle of the marketing plans and of understanding them as the key link in the whole of the value chain. It is in this way that the model that was in use is evolving and being rectified because within it there were no powerful arguments for considering the consumer as just another link, and in the vast majority of cases, one that was found at the very end of the process. Marketing tended to take for granted that the consumer would always be there, loyal, docile, and receptive to any action or message. Events are confirming that this is no longer the case.Customer‐centric models are based on strategies whose main aim is to align the conceptualisation, development, and marketing of content—and the brand behind it, be it personal or commercial—with the needs and wants of the customers who are most valuable, active or who even have the greatest prescriptive power.content? Dothey prefer touse methods ofdubiouslegality, or dothey prefer topay a sum ofmoney in orderto ensure thatthey have paid for what they want to see? Do they read books published on paper or on an e‐Reader, or both? If the latter is the case, what are their criteria for buying one book made of paper and another one in digital format? Do they find all the details of the works they will find in exhibitions they intend to visit through blogs, Web sites and social media or do they prefer to leave it all to chance? What applications have they got on their smartphone? Do they use it to generate content and publish it on their social profiles? And so on and so on, broadening knowledge about the consumers of cultural content as detailed as the segmentation criteria adopted.At the present time it is digital consumers, through their behaviour guided by the use of technology, who are transforming business models. They are not content with what they have in reach of their hand or mouse and they feel motivated and prepared toAC/EIt is the digital consumers, guided by the use of technology, who are transforming the business modelsWHERE WE ARE HEADING: DIGITAL TRENDS IN THE WORLD OF CULTURETHEME 5: CULTURAL SECTOR MARKETING AND CONSUMPTION THROUGH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CURRENT PAGE...54