Academics in Algiers confirmed today, Sunday, the “lack of cultural production marketing” in Algeria.
Professor at the National Institute of Management, Fayçal Zemmour, said in a symposium on the activities of the Cultural Economy Forum (3rd – 5th of April) that cultural marketing in Algeria is “weak”, stressing the need to create a “cultural industry instead of just cultural production” and this through “moving away from the culture of subsidies that the state provided and opening the door to individuals and private persons and assisting them.
In the context of his speech, the speaker highlighted the importance of cultural marketing strategies in introducing and promoting cultural works, as well as generating revenue through them, especially by marketing them through new media and communication technologies, notably social media.
For his part, Professor at the University of Algiers 3 Achour Fenni, stated that the situation in Algeria “is still in a production-selling perspective,” in which the product is presented as the producer wants it, and which traditionally depends on production, sale and distribution, and then promoting it through advertising as a way to attract customers and “has not yet moved to marketing” which depends on the needs of the customers, stressing the importance of giving them what they want.
Professor Fenni considered that in order to move to a real system of cultural marketing, several steps must be applied, which are “market study”, especially audience study, which he considered “absent” in Algeria, as well as “market segmentation”, meaning the transition from considering the Algerian market as a single market to several markets in addition to “Establishing a plan” or “marketing policies”, then move to the “implementation” and “monitoring” stages.
The activities of the Cultural Economic Forum, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Arts in cooperation with the National Economic, Social and Environmental Council, will conclude tomorrow, Monday, at the Abdelatif Rahal International Conference Center.
The closing day will feature the organization of a seminar on coordination mechanisms between ministerial departments, procedural and financial measures related to cultural investment, in addition to several workshops.
