BEYOND A ONE-WAY
COMMUNICATION: THE FUTURE OF
PERFORMING ARTS MARKETING IN
THE DIGITAL AGE - A HONG KONG
PERSPECTIVE
29th January 2016; Chulalongkorn University
Speaker:
Benny Lim (Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies |
Fellow, Morningside College
Chinese University of Hong Kong
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATION
Hong Kong in the Digital Age
 Marketing in the Digital Age
 Hong Kong’s Performing Arts in the Digital Age
 Possibilities in Performing Arts Marketing

HONG KONG IN THE DIGITAL AGE
HONG KONG HAS EVERYTHING
SOME STATISTICS
2nd fastest internet speed in the world (Akamai,
2015)
 73% of the population has internet access (GOGlobe, 2014)
 83.2% households with broadband (GO-Globe,
2014)
 63% of population has smartphones – ranked 7th
in the world (Google, 2013)
 4.4 million Facebook users (GO-Globe, 2015)

MANUEL CASTELLS’ NETWORK SOCIETY
Contemporary social, political and economic
practices, institutions and relationships are
organized around the network
 Several key characteristics

CHARACTERISTICS OF NETWORK SOCIETY



Hong Kong is a Knowledge Economy (considering
ICT Development; HR Development; Level of
Innovation; Business Environment)
Hong Kong is also a Global Economy
(International Financial Centre; Highly
urbanized society)
‘Network Enterprise’ in Hong Kong and it’s
impact on Labor > Space of Flows and Timeless
Time
CHARACTERISTICS OF NETWORK SOCIETY



“In a society whose principal economic, political and
social activities are organized as – or mediated by networks, access to those networks constitutes an
important threshold of inclusion and exclusion, a
condition of power and powerlessness, a source of
dominance and subjugation.” Barney, D. (2013). The
Network Society.
Polarization (between those with access and those
without)
Hong Kong, a Culture of Real Virtuality (Impacts/
effects of the media)
LOOKING INTO HONG KONG’S
CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Social Homogeneity in Hong Kong (+)
 International migration in Hong Kong (+)
 Hong Kong is a Hierarchical Society (-)
 High literacy and English educated (+)
 Subjective Experience of Time > Fast and
Efficient (+)
 Communication Pattern (+)
 Spatial Layout > Urban concept (+)
 Material Culture (+)

(+) for technological development/ influence (SCOT)
TECHNOLOGICAL DETERMINISM
MARKETING IN THE DIGITAL AGE
DEFINITION OF MARKETING
TRENDS




Creation of Online Personalities (an image
portray to the public)
Blurring between marketing (advertising) and ecommerce
Targets customers’ discretionary income
Allocation of digital marketing budget (on the
rise)
TRENDS

Shift towards of Customer Centric (from an
online perspective)

Timely, real time marketing

Voice of customers need to be heard

Usage of specific functions of online/ web
applications
ISSUES


Young and Volatile (Continual discussions if emarketing can replace traditional marketing)
Hard to predict future trends > linked to training
of digital marketing experts
HONG KONG’S PERFORMING
ARTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
WHAT HAVE WE ESTABLISHED SO FAR?
Hong Kong is technologically developed
 Digital marketing is a forward trend



Assumption: Hong Kong should have fully
embraced digital marketing
True, but not for the performing arts!
FROM A PRODUCTION PERSPECTIVE


In Hong Kong’s performing arts, technology
serves mainly in documentation (recording) and
support (such as video projection/ multimedia)
Time delay / Live Projection / Interactivity are
seldom seen
FROM A MARKETING PERSPECTIVE


1.
2.
3.
4.
The trend is to print
Common form of Digital Marketing
Promotions – e-posters, e-brochures, e-mailers
Company webpage
Social Media promotions – posting of e-posters
etc. / setting up an event page
Social Media advertising
ONE WAY COMMUNICATION
POSSIBILITIES IN PERFORMING
ARTS MARKETING
PRODUCT
VENUE
PRICE PREDICTION
TRAINING
THANK YOU
Email: bennylim@cuhk.edu.hk