Exclusive Interview with Gong Qiang, Director of the Future Digital Industry Research Institute: Cultural and Creative Enterprises "Cannot Rely Solely on Sentiment to Survive"

At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, the heat waves in the city have quietly surged. Before the interview, Gong Qiang specifically sent a message to confirm: "We don't have to wear formal clothes today, right?"

During this period, he has been constantly attending meeting after meeting and participating in activities, with formal attire seemingly becoming his "work uniform." Thus, on a rare "relaxed" afternoon, a reporter from the Daily Economic News (hereinafter referred to as NBD) met him, who had changed out of his formal wear and was dressed in a refreshing manner.

As the Director of the IP Cultural and Creative Sub-committee of the Sichuan Cultural and Tourism Creative Industry Alliance and the Dean of the Future Digital Industry Research Institute of Sichuan Tianfu New Area, Gong Qiang's new work "Digital Future: Cultural Creativity and Tomorrow's Business" was officially published in April. This book, which encapsulates his years of industry practice and academic reflection, attempts to depict a systematic picture for the cultural and creative industry amidst the tide of transformation.

"I wrote this book because we have all felt confused while chasing new technologies and new concepts, and it's easy to forget what we were originally trying to do," he said candidly. "I hope to build a framework for thinking, a 'target', to help everyone see clearly what digital cultural creation really is, where our core competencies lie, and ultimately how to 'imagine things that haven't happened yet.'"

In Gong Qiang's view, "digital cultural creation" is not only a new economic form based on digital technology and cultural resources but also an innovative mechanism that profoundly changes the logic of cultural production and consumption—it is a "noun" but also a "verb." He believes that in the face of the surging digital wave, cultural creation enterprises need to establish systematic thinking, find their position in the dynamic balance of "content-technology-operation," and ultimately realize the grounding of sentiment through business logic, stating that "relying solely on sentiment is unsustainable."

Digital cultural creation: it can be a noun or a verb

NBD: You dedicated a chapter in your book to explain and define "digital cultural and creative industries," which seems to encompass a wide range of meanings in everyday contexts. Can you interpret the meaning of "digital cultural and creative industries" in simple terms? What are the differences between it and traditional cultural and creative industries?

Gong Qiang: Indeed, it is quite difficult to give a simple and clear "plain language" definition of "digital cultural innovation" (laughs). Starting from the term "cultural innovation," some people think "everything can be cultural innovation"; others say that cultural innovation refers specifically to certain cultural products. This divergence has also continued into digital cultural innovation. I try to understand it in two ways: first, by looking at it as a noun, and second, as a verb.

When considered as a noun, traditional cultural and creative products refer to those tangible products that you can touch and see. Digital cultural and creative products, on the other hand, lean more towards things supported by digital technology; they can be virtual, like NFTs, or a combination of virtual and real, such as VR experiences.

From an economic perspective, it can be a new economic form based on digital technology and cultural resources, centered on creative design, content development, and copyright utilization. This definition is more for use in policy formulation and industry classification.

I personally tend to regard it as a verb - a dynamic mechanism or model. For example, print media is a production process, and now people share short videos, which is also a form of information transmission, but digitalization completely changes the logic of its production and consumption. This innovation that reshapes the entire process of cultural production and consumption through digital means is what I understand as the verb "digital cultural creation."

Its core is to use technology to transform massive cultural resources from "stock data" into "incremental assets" to explore sustainable development, rather than defining a scope and saying, "what's inside is included, what's outside is not." I believe the key lies in adopting this innovative model; even if it is traditional cross-talk or comedy, as long as it is improved with digital concepts, it is digital cultural creation, not necessarily only those labeled as "digital" like NFTs and VR.

NBD: The book uses "pond lotus" as a metaphor for the iteration of digital technology, saying that we may be at the critical point of "day 29". (Note: The lotus in the pond opens a small part on the first day, and the number that opens each subsequent day is twice that of the previous day. By the 30th day, the pond is completely covered with lotus. The day when the pond is half filled with lotus is day 29.) So, in terms of the digital cultural and creative industry, how far have we come? What are the characteristic features? Or, what obstacles are we currently facing?

Gong Qiang: The metaphor of "pond lotus" is more about the astonishing speed of the development of digital technology itself. However, to be frank, the application of these technologies in the digital cultural and creative industry is relatively lagging behind.

If I must talk about stages, I personally believe that digital cultural creation is currently mainly in the first stage, which I call the later stage of "cyber migration." This means that we are continuously "digitizing" things from the real world and moving them online, such as scanning and archiving cultural relics, online museums, and so on.

The hallmark of this stage is that the cultural consumption scenarios we are accustomed to have almost all adopted digital experience methods. The "hurdle" or turning point we face is whether the depth and breadth of "cultural digitization" can break through. The current challenges include: insufficient digital awareness, the need for refinement in legal policies and management, a singular resource supply, and the need to enhance public participation.

Find a balance in "Content-Technology-Operations"

NBD: You mentioned a "content-technology-operation" model, believing that this is the core capability of digital cultural and creative enterprises. How should we specifically understand the relationship between these three aspects? Does it mean that enterprises must excel in all three?

Gong Qiang: The triathlon? It's too difficult, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, it is not realistic. This "content-technology-operation" triangle is more like a thinking framework that helps enterprises find their positioning and focus points. For most small and medium-sized enterprises, you must at least excel in one of the areas and have your core advantages in a certain link.

First, let's talk about the content. The key is not about having open-source cultural resources (such as pandas, Three Kingdoms culture, etc.), but about the ability to deeply explore and transform them. Why has "Black Myth: Wukong" become popular, even though it is also based on the Journey to the West? I believe it is because of its different understanding and interpretation of traditional culture. Many people are still stuck in the stage of "how great my culture is," but the ability to develop and awaken dormant resources is what truly matters.

Let's talk about technology again. Cultural and creative enterprises are not tech companies, so there is no need for them to engage in high-end research and development. Technical capabilities refer more to the ability to adopt and apply technologies. For example, AI tools; the key is how to utilize them effectively, allowing technology to serve content expression and user experience.

Finally, there is operation, which involves business models, promotion, user connection, scene creation, and more. The development of cultural creativity cannot rely solely on sentiment. For example, Anaya's community operation and the NPC interactions in Xi'an's "The Longest Day in Chang'an" are both examples of operational innovation.

NBD: Focusing on the market aspect, the book summarizes five types of digital cultural creation business models, including "immersion". These new models sound very appealing; what changes in consumer demand are they responding to? Which model or models do you think will have more market explosive potential in the future?

Gong Qiang: The types of business mentioned in the book—immersion, revitalization, embodiment, empathy, and common good—are my summary of market trends. They all respond to the diverse and deepening needs of consumers, shifting from material to spiritual, from passive to active, from delayed to immediate, and from physical to virtual.

For example, immersive experiences are because people have higher demands for experiences and hope to be fully engaged; revitalizing experiences are about wanting to see how traditional culture can innovate in the new era; embodiment relates to our identity recognition in the digital world; empathetic experiences may involve socializing or entertainment for stress relief, or seeking art therapy; beneficial experiences reflect the trend of businesses doing good and focusing on social value.

Which model will have more explosive power in the future? It's hard to say. The market changes quickly, and breakthroughs in technology, innovations in applications, and operational capabilities all affect the outcome. It may not be a single model that dominates, but rather a fusion of multiple models or the emergence of unknown new models. The key lies in whether companies can keenly grasp unmet consumer demands.

Emotions take root, business breaks ground

NBD: Many traditional cultural institutions and cultural and creative enterprises are actively embracing digitization, but the transformation is not easy. From the perspective of business operations and strategy, what is the main challenge for digital cultural and creative enterprises to build core competitiveness and seize opportunities brought by concepts like AIGC? What role should the government play in this process?

Gong Qiang: Traditional institutions and enterprises want to transform, and the challenges are indeed not small. Lack of technology, lack of talent, lack of money, and the inability to keep up with the operating model are all clichés. But I think the core challenge lies in how to resolve this adaptive conflict between the traditional cultural system and the digital economy. The key to breaking the game lies in systematic thinking - not "headache and foot pain". In the face of opportunities such as AIGC and the metaverse, why does each institution or enterprise get different results? Let's go back to the "content-technology-operations" triangle. It is necessary to think about how new technologies and core competencies can be combined, what problems to solve, and what value to bring, rather than blindly following them.

The key role of the government is to act as a "guide" and "enabler". For example, after years of polishing, corporate creators launched the "Ne Zha" series, and the government needs to create a favorable business environment, implement policy benefits, such as building platforms, sharing data, supporting talent, encouraging competition and innovation, and providing forward-looking guidance on potential issues.

NBD: Considering your work experience and academic research, how should entrepreneurs and practitioners in the cultural and creative industries grasp the pulse and meet challenges in this rapidly changing era?

Gong Qiang: I have a few immature suggestions. Firstly, the development of cultural creativity cannot rely solely on sentiment. I have seen too many sentimental people, but relying only on sentiment often cannot withstand the test. Consumer demands are changing, and business logic is also changing. You need to understand business in order to let sentiment "take root and blossom."

Secondly, one must have systematic thinking and not be led by the nose by trends. At the same time, within the "content-technology-operation" framework, at least solidify one end. Finally, embrace uncertainty and dare to imagine. Digital cultural creation is still a relatively new field, and many ways to play have yet to be discovered. I often say, this can still be played this way—this kind of imagination is often the key to breakthroughs.

Today, copying (a product/model) is too easy. Only through continuous innovation can we "taste the first crab." Remember, this is a "new world" that has not yet been fully developed, and all it requires is our imagination.

(Source: Daily Economic News)

Source: Dongfang Caifu Net

Author: Daily Economic News