Livestreaming emerged as a dominant tool across China’s digital landscape in 2020. The media’s direct audience engagement and e-commerce links saw an ever-broadening adoption through the late 2010s, but COVID-19 lockdowns catalyzed this process. Livestreaming is now an essential strategy for practically all consumer-facing industries in China from tourism operators and airlines to cosmetics brands and real estate agencies.
Chinese cultural organizations, irrespective of size, focus, or resources have also embraced the innovation. Since February, China’s cultural sector has creatively leveraged livestreaming to serve engagement, branding, and revenue generation needs. In turn, some of the country’s technology giants, such as Alibaba and Kuaishou, have brought these strategies to Western museums offering a dynamic way to reach Chinese audiences at a time of heavily restricted travel.
The phenomenon of museum livestreaming is the focus of Jing Culture & Commerce’s latest report “Digital Connections: How Arts Organizations Can Leverage Livestreaming in 2021”.
Download Museum Livestreaming Report
“Digital Connections” presents the following case studies;
- The Palace of Versailles’ use of livestreaming to expand its China strategy
- How the British Museum planned and executed a livestream
- Why Beijing’s UCCA is building its programming around livestreaming
- The National Museum of China’s Global Treasure Hunt Relay
In addition, the report offers the latest livestreaming data, the voices of museum directors, curators, marketing directors, and livestreaming influencers, and insights on how to launch a broadcast and integrate livestreaming within existing strategies.
Numerous Chinese and Western cultural institutions pivoted to livestreaming in 2020. Image: Peter Huang
The past year has led cultural organizations around the world to radically rethink audience engagement and pivot to digital strategies, this need will continue into 2021 and beyond. “Digital Connections” makes the case that livestreaming can become a powerful new engagement tool for cultural organizations globally.
