Pandemic has made museums more digital: online offerings grow, but with little strategy

The Covid-19 pandemic has turbochargedmuseums’ digital offerings. This is what emerges from surveys conducted by theOsservatorio Innovazione Digitale nei Beni e Attività Culturali (Digital Innovation in Cultural Heritage and Activities Observatory ) of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano at the conference Extended Experience: the challenge for the cultural ecosystem. This is the third survey on the level of digitization of Italian cultural institutions (and in particular museums, archaeological areas and monuments): the analysis provided quantitative references about the approach used by institutions to plan their digital strategy, the digital skills in place, the investments in digital and the tools adopted. Comparison with data collected over time enabled a critical analysis of emerging trends in the sector, with respect to new needs for investment in digital and new technologies and skills that are emerging. At the same time, analysis continued on the online presence of Italian museums, both in terms of services offered on websites and activity on social media, with an in-depth look at the type of content offered online and the level of interaction with audiences.

According to the Observatory’s findings, the pandemic has had a strong impact on the cultural ecosystem by confronting it with new challenges, but also with new opportunities in response to the changing needs of users. Over the past year, the offerings of cultural institutions have become increasingly digitally oriented: today in almost half of Italy’s museums, monuments and archaeological areas online workshops and educational activities are offered (48 percent), as are tours and guided visits (45 percent). The number of museums that have published the digitized collection on their website has also grown(from 40% in 2020 to 69% in 2021), and 13% have also ventured into offering podcasts. Despite this, institutions based on a real strategic plan that includes digital innovation still represent a minority (24%, exactly the same as a year ago). In short: more digital content, but no strategy.

Initially, the Observatory notes, cultural institutions responded to the challenge of the first lockdown by producing products of often “artisanal” quality. As these have begun to establish themselves as a tool for knowledge transfer, however, the level of professionalism in the creation of the content itself has also increased. Today the biggest challenge institutions are facing is to create attractive products, created specifically for digital enjoyment, that are not merely a transposition to the online channel of the experience offered in presence.

The percentage of museums, monuments and archaeological areas that offer the possibility of online ticket purchase is also growing, rising from 23% to 39% of museums that have a ticketing system (accounting for 65% of the total). Security, in its various areas, is another focus of attention in this particular period. In particular, the survey showed that in the past 3 years, 55% of museums have invested in systems for health protection and physical distancing, and 42% in video surveillance systems for monitoring areas, which are proving to be extremely useful in ensuring that exhibition spaces are visited in compliance with regulations for people’s health.

In 2020, museums witnessed a sharp reduction in ticketing revenue (by an average of 56 percent). Income from other commercial services also declined resulting in a greater reliance on public and private funding, from making up 53 percent of revenue in 2019 to 59 percent in 2020. However, the changes in recent months have also opened up reasoning on the new business models to be adopted to ensure that the innovation process is sustainable and takes on a structural and not just extemporaneous connotation. As for digital content, the supply models have been diverse. Most cultural institutions have chosen to provide it, at least in an initial phase, free of charge. This choice can become a strategic line when one wants to use the digital product to increase engagement, use the online as a stimulus for physical visitation, or to obtain information about the audience that can be used for marketing activities. In contrast, 22 percent of museums experimented with paid models, and in particular with selling individual digital content (13 percent, mainly for educational activities and virtual tours) and/or a package of services (9 percent, for courses and podcasts). Less frequent were models involving advertising or sponsorship, subscriptions or memberships, donations and “freemium” content. Paid examples cited by the Observatory include that of MUBA (Children’s Museum of Milan), which offered for sale via eCommerce an experiential box containing a book, stickers and activity proposals supported by materials and video-tutorials viewable online via QR Code, to allow users to experience the museum from home as well. Other experiences mentioned are those of the MArTA in Taranto, which requires a donation to access the virtual tour, and the Royal Museums of Turin, which allow audioguides to be downloaded as podcasts using freemium mode.

Again, among the most innovative experiments, the Observatory cites the Pinacoteca di Brera, which allows people to subscribe to Brera Plus+, a platform that takes the form of an extension of the museum space and allows the physical experience of the work to be enriched by providing the public with additional and in-depth content (multimedia content, special programs, concerts, live streaming events, etc.). Another example is the Legendary Ticket at MAXXI in Rome valid for 100 years after purchase. The new models have also been experimented with by theaters; for example, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples offers streaming of its shows for rent, for a limited period of time.

As for the public’s reaction about the digital content offerings, museums were satisfied with both content offered for free (for which 86 percent of them were satisfied with the public’s response) and content offered for a fee (62 percent were satisfied with the response).

“Digital channels have gone from being predominantly a means of promotion and information to being a real tool for the dissemination of knowledge,” said Michela Arnaboldi, Scientific Director of the Digital Innovation in Cultural Heritage and Activities Observatory. “Today, 95 percent of museums have a website (an important growth, more than 10 percent, compared to 2020) and 83 percent an official account on social media (a growth, compared to 76 percent in 2020, driven by the strong increase in presence on Instagram). Thanks to digital, the opportunity has opened up to rethink the relationship with the user as an extended experience, in time and space, in that it is not confined to the place and time of the on-site experience, but potentially continuous and accessible from anywhere and at any time.”

“The possibility of enriching the onsite experience through digital is one of the areas of application of technologies of greatest interest to cultural institutions, so much so that 70 percent of them adopt at least one tool,” says Deborah Agostino, director of the Digital Innovation in Cultural Heritage Observatory. “Among the most popular are QR Codes and Beacons (33 percent of institutions use them), the more traditional audio guides (32 percent, stable compared to 2020) and touch screens (32 percent). Finally, one in four cultural institutions makes an application available to their users. In this area, the data are essentially stable compared to the previous year as museums have preferred to focus their investments on other aspects considered a priority in order to reach audiences even at a distance and to welcome them safely once they return to their presence.”

“Today a widespread awareness seems to have been reached that physical and digital are not mutually exclusive, but rather complement each other,” says Eleonora Lorenzini, director of the Osservatorio Innovazione Digitale nei Beni e Attività Culturali. “However, if in the first period of emergency a certain level of approximation in the production of digital content was acceptable, it is now necessary to invest in purpose-built products and the skills necessary for their creation, management and promotion. This is in order to avoid a mere translation into digital of services previously offered in presence and to offer, instead, a specific selection for online fruition to be integrated with the direct physical experience, so as to ensure usability that was unthinkable only a few months ago. All this presupposes the adoption of a strategic logic or at least over the medium term. Unfortunately, there are still a minority, 24 percent (exactly the same as a year ago), of institutions that have a strategic plan that includes digital innovation. However, a comprehensive planning of interventions is proving to be increasingly necessary to face an uncertain future, but one that is rich in prospects for those who know how to properly structure themselves to seize them.”

Pandemic has made museums more digital: online offerings grow, but with little strategy

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