School of Journalism and Mass Communications Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences New Media and Technologies in the era of Convergence: Digital Audiovisual Content in Marketing and Distributing Cultural Products and the Arts in Greece. BY Nikos Gryllakis A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF DIGITAL MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM Specialization: Digital Media, Culture and Communication Supervisor: Dr. Maria Matsiola May 2021 i ABSTRACT The aim of the present study is to reflect upon the use of digital technologies for the marketing of arts and cultural events in the cultural organizations and foundations by conveying experts’ interviews and reviewing relevant literature. The key question that the study seeks to touch upon is whether cultural foundations and events exploit the amenities of the digital technologies and to what extent. The ways of production of digital audiovisual content will be of special focus to the dissertation and the strategy of digital campaigns of organizations as well. The primary foundations that the dissertation will be focusing upon are the organizations of Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Dimitria Festival as well as the major cultural foundation in Athens, namely the Onassis Foundation. Other significant organizations or foundations relevant to art have also been of interest to the dissertation. What the research seeks to examine is issues such as digital content creation, arts marketing, use of digital media and new technologies, brand identity and strategy building. Particular digital campaigns of foundations will be reviewed from a closer focus. The dissertation was conveyed during the turbulent times of the COVID – 19 pandemic, therefore the changing conditions of the media will not be overlooked. One of the special queries of the survey is to examine how the content of the organizations and events – festivals was distributed digitally, since physical events were banned in 2019 – 2020. The use of digital platforms for the distribution of digital artistic content will be touched upon from various perspectives. Keywords: digital campaigns, arts marketing, digital audio-visual content production, audience development and engagement, cultural events, cultural foundations, digital streaming platforms ii ACKNOWLEDMENT The deepest of gratitude is owed to the supervisor of this thesis, Dr. Maria Matsiola, for the guidance and expertise, as well as the interviewees that contributed to the content of the research. Pasqua Vorgia and Vasilis Bibas, Ifigeneia Konstantinidou, Achilleas Polichronidis, Eleni Skarpou, Katerina Nikolaou, Marina Zigneli and Lia Kesopoulou. A deep sense of respect to the committee members Prof. Tsourvakas and Prof. Paschalidis for their contribution to the completion of the thesis. iii CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDMENT ............................................................................................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ vi INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 4 THEORY AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 4 1.1. Defining Arts Marketing - Branding and Audience Engagement. .................................. 4 1.2. Digital Technologies in distributing and marketing the artistic content globally. .......... 5 1.3. Digital Technologies in distributing and marketing the artistic content domestically. ... 8 1.4. Festivals going digital: how movies migrated online | distributing the artistic product. 8 1.5. Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) and Dimitria Festival go digital | The locality of digitization........................................................................................................... 12 1.6. Research Methodology .................................................................................................. 15 1.6.1. Selection of the Experts Interviewees. ................................................................... 16 1.6.3. Evaluation interviews with communication experts............................................... 17 1.6.3. Conduct and analysis of interviews. ....................................................................... 17 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................... 19 THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL................................................ 19 2.1. The case of Thessaloniki International Film Festival | A film Festival goes Digital. ... 19 2.2. Thessaloniki International Film Festival and audio – visual productions and marketing 20 2.3. 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival visual identity | Storytelling in audio – visual marketing ................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................... 26 DIMITRIA FESTIVAL ......................................................................................................... 26 3.1. The case of Dimitria Festival | A Festival on demand .................................................. 26 3.2. Dimitria Festival – Distances | Audio – visual identity and communication ................ 27 3.3. Art distributed solely through digits | e – dimitria......................................................... 29 CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................. 31 ONASSIS CULTURAL FOUNDATION ............................................................................. 31 4.1. Digital Content of a major cultural foundation in Greece | The cases of Onassis cultural foundation ............................................................................................................................. 31 4.2. Enter Project | A project for the “here and now” through the world of digital platforms. .............................................................................................................................................. 34 4.3. Society Uncensored | The voice of society | digital audio – visual content production to the purposes of social impact. .............................................................................................. 36 iv 4.4. The Social Impact of a Cultural Organization becomes real | The power of digital technologies to the purposes of free speech. ........................................................................ 40 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................... 45 EVALUATION BY COMMUNICATION EXPERTS ....................................................... 45 5.1. Evaluation of the digital audio – visual content production for the purposes of cultural product marketing. ................................................................................................................ 45 5.1.1. Eleni Skarpou, communication expert and former communication manager of Dimitria Festival ............................................................................................................... 46 5.1.2. Marina Zigneli, Editor in chief of TFC Magazine ................................................. 46 5.1.3. Lia Kesopoulou, copywriter, brand strategist and social media manager .............. 47 5.1.4. Katerina Nikolaou, journalist, radio producer and communication expert ............ 47 CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................... 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 52 Appendix – Questionnaires ................................................................................................... 58 Questionnaire relevant to the audiovisual marketing for the promotion of cultural products .............................................................................................................................................. 58 Transcript of Interview: Achilleas Polichronidis, Graphic Designer, Partner of Red Creative Agency and Dimitria Festival ............................................................................................... 63 Transcript of Interview: Vasilis Bibas | Social Media Manager at Onassis Foundation ...... 65 Transcript of Interview: Pasqua Vorgia | Curator of the Talks and Thoughts series and in charge of the Digital Series #Society Uncensored ............................................................... 68 Questionnaire for the communication experts in Thessaloniki ............................................ 70 Transcript of Interview: Katerina Nikolaou | Journalist and Communication Expert at Sofouli Theatre ..................................................................................................................... 71 Transcript of Interview: Lia Kesopoulou | Communication Expert at