The Branding Potential for the Digital Transmission of Live-Operas to the Cinema: An International Comparison of Estonia and Germany

Today, opera houses are confronted by new (global) digi- tal media offers that enable people to remain outside the opera house while attending a live-opera, e.g. via live- streamed opera performances in the cinema. This is a chal- lenge for media managers in these fields because they need to find new ways to work with these new opportunities. Within a cultural marketing context, branding is highly relevant. Based on the brand image approach by Kevin Lane Keller (1993), we use a complex qualitative-quanti- tative study in order to investigate if, and how, the brand images of live-opera performances and live-streamed operas differ between countries and cultural contexts. By comparing Estonia and Germany, we found that the per- ception of live-opera is rather a global phenomenon with only slight differences. Furthermore, the ‘classical’ opera performance in an opera house is still preferred, with a corresponding willingness to pay, while the live-streamed opera offer may provide a modern touch. The study may help media managers in adapting their brand management to include new digital product offers and to find targeted differentiation strategies for increasingly competitive markets.

• View at Publisher

Free Full Text ( Author Manuscript , 1mb )