"There is no communication without culture, and no culture without communication.
Umberto Eco
As Umberto Eco rightly pointed out, "there is no communication without culture, and no culture without communication". Communication and culture are intrinsically related from the very first moment in which communicating is part of culture itself and of the cultural object itself.
When we talk about cultural communication, we are talking about a type of communication oriented to value and serve the cultural and creative industries, whose main economic profitability derives from the cultural value itself.
While it is true that cultural communication does not differ from purely corporate communication in terms of the tools it uses, nor in terms of the main objectives of more corporate communication (generating new business, improving reputation and building new professional relationships), it is necessary to adapt them to the needs and characteristics of this industry. We are talking about a sector in which the main agents incorporate creativity as a central component of their production and have an artistic, cultural or heritage content with a dual nature: economic and cultural (in terms of the generation of meaning, significance and identities). Their goods, services and activities are often protected by intellectual property, copyright and related rights and, finally, they are linked to an audience that is difficult to anticipate.
To talk about cultural communication, we must focus on communication and stop thinking in terms of dissemination. That is to say, we should not only link communication to the final phase of the product, understanding the public as a mere end consumer. Communication must be considered as another 'to do' and go hand in hand with the whole process of design and construction of the project. The objective of cultural communication is, in addition to converting the public into regular visitors or consumers of our cultural products, to achieve the collaboration and active involvement of these audiences.
In the same way, it is important not to set strictly sales objectives. Thus, leaving this ultimate goal aside, cultural communication is a key tool in the management of relations with the target audience, with other agents, organisations and institutions, to generate new opportunities for topical debate and a fundamental element to reinforce the brand image and reputation of the brand.
Cultural communication must be attractive, suggestive and clear with the aim of positioning itself as something indispensable for the consumer's quality of life and motivating them to choose our proposal. Moreover, it must be very much in touch with the reality of the moment and know how to adapt quickly.
The reality of the cultural sector is not easy. According to the study by the consultancy firm EY 'Rebuilding Europe: the cultural and creative economy before and after covid-19' 2020 was dramatic for the CCIs (Cultural and Creative Industries), with a loss of 31% of turnover and an accumulated loss of 199 billion euros, being the first to suspend most of their activity. Moreover, they will probably be the last to resume their activity without restrictions.
In this sense, and although it has been happening for some time now, the cultural sector, always so closely linked to offline communication, has undergone a digital transformation in recent years that has been boosted by the arrival of Covid-19. The pandemic had a tremendous impact on the country's cultural fabric, which had to reinvent itself in order to improve and strengthen its online presence.
But, at the same time, the confinement highlighted people's need to consume culture and the great opportunities that digital channels offer the cultural and creative industries to communicate and build loyalty with their target audiences. Digitalisation processes have accelerated and hybrid models have emerged between new technologies and the content and activities of traditional cultural industries. See the offer of large museum institutions over the last year. And with the reopening of cultural spaces, online activity has not disappeared. In fact, in most cases it has been consolidated and will remain. Cultural communication has also been no stranger to this process, and since last year it has adapted to the above circumstances by using more innovative tools, such as social networks, gamification tools, use of streaming... in accordance with the new consumer habits of users.