Unlock the Community FAQs

The “Unlock the Community” project has a timeline of 9 months for the innovation pilot phase. The expression of interest phase for the competition to select the winning projects will close on June 30th, 2023. After that, the project team will shortlist companies and conduct interviews in July. The winning project will be selected by the end of July, and the innovation partners will be announced on August 1st, 2023.

The innovation pilot window will then take place over a 9-month period from 1st August 2023 to 30th April 2024. During this time, the project will work with the winning companies to launch and implement the three innovation pilot projects and build the digital technology platform and B2B audiovisual community.

The innovation pilot window will then take place over a 9-month period from 1st August 2023 to 30th April 2024. During this time, the project will work with the winning companies to launch and implement the three innovation pilot projects and build the digital technology platform and B2B audiovisual community.

The ultimate goal of the project is to showcase and provide a guide to true community-building in practice, using relevant Web3 experiences and other tools to attract audiences and turn community interest into content purchases. The project also aims to encourage digital marketing best practices within the European cultural and creative sectors, and to build a digital technology platform that can be adopted by any industry player to replicate the positive outcomes of these pilot projects. The project will launch a decentralised B2B audiovisual community to enhance artistic and cultural best practice cooperation in Europe and enable the transfer of best practices between companies.

To participate in the “Unlock the Community” project, interested companies must meet the following requirements:

• Be located in the European Union.
• Be an audiovisual or live entertainment partner, such as a film distribution company, national film body, or stadium/arena operator.
• Have experience in community-building initiatives and a willingness to innovate and experiment with new approaches.
• Submit a short written proposal outlining their proposed pilot project and its community-building objectives during the expression of interest phase.
• Be available to conduct interviews with the project team in July if your proposal is shortlisted.
• Be able to deliver on their proposed project objectives within the nine-month innovation pilot window, which runs from August 2023 to April 2024.

Additionally, the project team may have other requirements or criteria for selecting companies to participate, which will be outlined in the application process.

The pilot projects will be scored based on the following criteria:

1. Current Company Profile (20%): The assessment will consider the company’s existing profile, including its track record, expertise, and resources relevant to the proposed pilot project. This criterion helps evaluate the company’s capabilities and potential for successful execution.
   
   
2. Innovative Ideas to Grow Your Community (30%): The scoring will assess the uniqueness and creativity of the proposed ideas for community growth. Projects that introduce innovative strategies, engagement techniques, or technological advancements to foster community-building will receive higher scores.
   
   
3. Community Potential for Your Proposition (30%): This criterion evaluates the potential impact and relevance of the pilot project on the targeted community. The scoring will consider how well the project aligns with the needs, preferences, and interests of the community, and the potential for long-term engagement and growth.
   
   
4. Your Time Commitment to the Project (20%): The project team will assess the company’s commitment to actively participate in the project and contribute their time, resources, and expertise. The scoring will consider the level of dedication and involvement demonstrated by the company in the successful implementation of the pilot project.

By using these criteria, the selection process aims to identify projects that have a strong company profile, innovative ideas, significant community potential, and a committed team. These factors will be crucial in determining the suitability and potential success of the pilot projects within the “Unlock the Community” initiative.

Participating in the “Unlock the Community” project can offer several benefits to audiovisual and live entertainment partners, including:

• Access to a European Union co-funded project that provides financial support for community-building initiatives.
• The opportunity to work with the project team (LZRBRD, usheru and The Film Agency) and other industry partners to develop innovative solutions for community-building in the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors.
• Exposure and promotion for their pilot project through the project’s marketing and communications efforts, which could increase brand recognition and audience engagement.
• Access to the usheru Analytics platform, which can provide valuable data insights and inform data-led decision-making.
• The opportunity to network with other industry players and exchange best practices through the launch of a decentralised B2B audiovisual community.
• The potential for increased revenue through the ability to turn community interest into content purchases.
• The chance to be at the forefront of community-building initiatives in the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors, and to demonstrate leadership and innovation in the industry.

These benefits can help companies build and enhance their communities, increase engagement with their audiences, and drive growth and revenue

The “Unlock the Community” project aims to augment community-building with relevant Web3/ metaverse experiences that attract audiences to join the community. Here are some ways that the project plans to use Web3/metaverse experiences:

• The project will leverage blockchain technology to create a decentralised B2B audiovisual community, which will allow for enhanced artistic and cultural cooperation in Europe. This will enable companies to collaborate and exchange best practices in a secure and transparent way.
• The project can experiment with immersive and interactive experiences in virtual environments, such as concerts or film screenings/trailer drops in a virtual cinema or arena. This will enable audiences to engage with content and other community members in a more engaging and immersive way.
• The project will also explore the use of gamification techniques to incentivise and reward community participation, such as leaderboards, challenges, quizzes or other interactive activities.

Overall, the project aims to use Web3/metaverse experiences to create engaging and immersive experiences for audiences that will encourage them to join and participate in the community-building initiatives. By leveraging blockchain technology and innovative digital experiences, the project hopes to attract and retain audiences in new and exciting ways.

The “Unlock the Community” project aims to encourage digital marketing best practices within the European cultural and creative sectors. Here are some ways that the project plans to achieve this:

• The project will offer training and workshops for participants in the innovation pilot projects to help them develop effective digital marketing strategies. This will include topics such as social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, community management and SEO.
• The project will provide access to data analytics tools and dashboards, which will enable participants to track and analyse the effectiveness of their marketing efforts in real-time. This will help them to make data-driven decisions and optimise their campaigns for better results.
• The project team has experience managing marketing campaigns for 100s of film releases. They also have vast eCommerce experience from a broad range of industries. They will work closely with your teams to deliver successful results and help pivot the strategy where required.
• The project will create a digital technology platform that can be adopted by any industry player to replicate the positive outcomes of the pilot projects. This will allow other companies to benefit from the best practices and strategies developed during the project, and to apply them to their own marketing and community-building initiatives.
• The project will also showcase examples of successful digital marketing campaigns and community-building initiatives from the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors. This will provide inspiration and ideas for other companies looking to improve their digital marketing efforts.

Overall, the project aims to promote community-building techniques and digital marketing best practices by providing training, access to data analytics tools, and a digital technology platform that can be replicated by other industry players. By sharing best practices and showcasing successful examples, the project hopes to encourage companies to adopt effective digital marketing strategies and improve their community-building efforts.

The “Unlock the Community” project aims to replicate community-building initiatives pioneered in the games industry and apply them to the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors. Here are some ways that the project plans to achieve this:

• The games industry has seen a transition from Games as a Product, to Games as a Service to Games as a Community. These pilot projects will showcase and provide a guide to true community-building in practice.
• The project will augment community-building with relevant Web 3/metaverse experiences which attract audiences to join the community. This will involve exploring how immersive experiences can be used to create deeper engagement and community participation.
• The games industry pioneered involving fans in game updates and news. We will partner to replicate this buzz for our pilot partners.
• The project will enhance usheru Analytics with Community data for all clients with a goal to power data-led decision making. By providing insights into user behaviour, preferences, and engagement, this data can be used to inform community-building strategies and drive better results.

Overall, the project aims to replicate community-building initiatives pioneered in the games industry by launching innovation pilot projects, exploring metaverse experiences, providing data insights, encouraging cooperation, and turning community interest into content purchases. By drawing on best practices from multiple sectors and fostering collaboration between organisations, the project hopes to pioneer new approaches to community-building in the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors.

A decentralised B2B audiovisual community is a community of individuals, organisations and/or businesses in the audiovisual industry that can use the platform to collaborate and share knowledge in a decentralised and peer-to-peer manner..

In the context of the “Unlock the Community” project, the goal of launching a decentralised B2B audiovisual community is to encourage artistic and cultural cooperation in Europe and enable the transfer of best practices between companies. This type of community allows for businesses to share knowledge and resources in a transparent and collaborative way, fostering innovation and growth in the European industry.

The goal of the community is to foster innovation, growth, and cooperation within the industry, and provides a platform to share best practices.

While the “Unlock the Community” project has the potential to bring significant benefits to the audiovisual and live entertainment industries in Europe, there may also be some challenges to overcome. Some potential challenges include:

1. Funding and resources: While the project is co-funded by the European Union, companies still need to bring some funding and resources to carry out the project successfully. We recognise that this may discourage some companies from applying but it is also really important for applying companies to invest something financially or with resources to maximise the likelihood of project success.
2. Timeline: We have a tight timeline for potential partners to apply to the project, get to know the innovation partners, launch a platform and start innovating. Usheru, LZRBRD and The Film Agency are all used to working in time-pressed situations but the pilot partners must also be willing to innovate in such a short space of time.
3. Competition: The competition to select the winning innovation partners may be highly competitive, and it may be challenging to select the most suitable projects to showcase community-building in practice.
   Adoption and engagement: Encouraging participation and engagement in the community-building initiatives and Web 3 / metaverse experiences may be a challenge, particularly among audiences who are not familiar with these concepts or indeed don’t have the necessary hardware.
4. Sustainability: Ensuring the sustainability of the project beyond the pilot phase may be a challenge, particularly if the community-building initiatives and metaverse experiences do not generate sufficient interest or revenue to sustain the project in the long term.

These are just a few potential challenges that the “Unlock the Community” project may face. However, with careful planning, collaboration, and innovative solutions, these challenges can be overcome, and the project can achieve its goals of fostering community-building and innovation in the audiovisual and live entertainment industries.

After the innovation pilot projects are completed, the results will be analysed to determine their effectiveness in achieving the project objectives. Based on this analysis, the project team may decide to further develop and expand the platform and tools used in the pilot projects for wider use in the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors. The team may also use the results to identify areas for further research and development in the field of community-building and audience engagement. The project team may also share the results with other stakeholders in the cultural and creative sectors to help promote best practices and encourage further innovation.

The winning pilot partners can continue to use the built digital platforms and marketing support services at a fair fee as per the usual service offering of usheru and The Film Agency.

There is no cost to participate in the “Unlock the Community” project as it is a European Union co-funded project.

However, participating companies will be responsible for their own costs associated with developing and implementing their pilot projects, such as staffing, equipment, and marketing.

Certain services will be part funded by the project and will need a contribution from the pilot partners. In these circumstances, 60% of the budget will be covered by “Unlock the Community” and the pilot partner will have to contribute 40%. These figures will always be agreed in writing beforehand.

As part of the Creative Innovation Lab, an important part of the project is to disseminate honest findings with the community to share learnings and improve the competitiveness of Europe internationally.

The results of the innovation pilots will be disseminated through various channels, including project reports, case studies, and presentations at conferences and industry events. The project team may also share the results with stakeholders in the cultural and creative sectors through webinars, workshops, and other outreach activities. The goal of disseminating the results is to share best practices, lessons learned, and other insights that can help advance community-building and audience engagement efforts in the audiovisual and live entertainment sectors.

No personal information of community members or sensitive information will be shared.