INA + smArtapps = ❤ 2 years of collaboration
The entire smArtapps team is very glad to have co-hosted a workshop with the National Audiovisual Institute at SITEM. Bertrand Maire, Deputy Director of Communication, and Mileva Stupar, Head of INA’s Cultural and Educational Action Department, joined me and Oriane to present the collaboration between our two institutions.
You missed that? It’s a shame: our workshop was sensational! At least, this article will let you know what was said. 😉
INA and digital: a long-standing strategic positioning
The National Audiovisual Institute’s mission is to collect, preserve and transmit the national audiovisual heritage. The institute currently captures 168 radio and television channels and preserves a heritage of more than 16.2 million hours of radio and television recordings.
As part of its missions, INA is confronted with several issues, including how to promote and transmit its archives, in the context of exhibitions and various cultural productions.
To answer that problem, INA deployed a vast digital strategy. Currently, the institution manages 6 websites, hosts 2 Facebook accounts, 2 Twitter accounts and 2 Instagram accounts. This online presence enables the Institute to present all of its activities — whether they are part of its public service mission or the commercial exploitation of archives — and to bring to the attention of the public numerous audiovisual archives.
The digital tour guide: a relevant tool for capturing new audiences
In addition to this online presence, an off-the-wall exhibition policy has been closely associated with smArtapps for two years. Since the INA does not have a proper place to display its archival documents, the Institute is regularly partner of other institutions to propose exhibitions within them.
The exhibition “L’esprit français” presented at the Maison Rouge inaugurates the collaboration between INA and smArtapps. For the National Audiovisual Institute, this project was an opportunity to play a role in the curation of content, by offering a selection of its archives. This unpublished content was accessible via the “tour guide” application.
“A tour guide app is both a teaser and a souvenir of the exhibition!” says Mileva Stupar, Head of INA’s Cultural and Educational Action Department.
Another highlight in our common history is the recent realization of the “Barbara, du bout des lèvres” app, inseparable from the exhibition of the same name, installed on the grids of the Palais Brongniart until January 10th. At the origin of this exhibition: Mathieu Amalric’s biopic dedicated to the singer and presented at the Festival de Cannes. For the occasion, INA proposed to Mathieu Amalric to select in its funds several photos of Barbara.
From the beginning, “Barbara, du bout des lèvres” is designed as a digital exhibition. Only the photographs are hung place de la Bourse. As soon as night falls, these photographs come alive thanks to video mapping. This system of projections slightly modifies the appearance of the photographs and leads the walkers to carry on them a new look. Thus, according to the time when one discovers the exhibition, the portraits of the singer do not tell the same story.
Visitors and passers-by access the content of the exhibition via the application, thanks to image recognition. The phone, pointed toward the photograph, recognizes it immediately and automatically proposes the associated content. This content can be an archive of INA or a commentary by Mathieu Amalric explaining why, among all the portraits of the singer, he chose this one.
Connected exhibition, moving narrative and integrated public space, “Barbara, du bout des lèvres” allowed INA to meet new audiences.
“The tour guide application offers a popular gateway to new audiences, who access more and more content via their mobile phone” says Mileva Stupar, Head of INA’s Cultural and Educational Action Department.
Q & A: What future and monetization for “tour guide” applications?
As it is important for us to provide you with the most accurate answers possible to your questions, we reserved a time of exchanges at the end of the workshop. Two major questions were quickly asked: the monetization of applications and that of their future.
What is the ROI of your application and how to measure it? Is it a direct financial return? Thus, you can offer your application as a free download (like Paris Musées), paid download (like Culturespaces) or opt for a freemium option as in the Louvre, where some content is paid, and other not.
At smArtapps, we believe that the ROI of your application is also measured by the growth of your attendance. “Tour guides” applications are not destined to replace physical visit but to make people want to discover the places in real life. To measure the profitability of your application, it is therefore necessary to rely on several criteria, including the profits it generates and the new visitors it brings, which may never have come otherwise.
Another question concerned the sustainability of the “tour guides” applications. Do they still correspond to visitor habits? Are webapps, which do not require any download, more suitable today?
More than making applications, our mission is to design solutions that enhance the visitor experience and facilitate his access to knowledge. This is why we remain attentive to changes in the habits and uses of visitors. Currently, mobile applications seem to be the most relevant tools to accompany the public during their visit. Interested in an article with all our arguments on the subject? Tell us: 35 claps and we explain everything!
As demonstrated by the INA archives: although the forms taken by this support have evolved considerably over time, the need for mediation has not diminished, quite the contrary, and this is the most important.
