DIGITAL MARKETING CHALLENGES IN REGARDS TO GLOBAL PANDEMICS

Digitalni marketing predstavlja jedan od izrazito važnih oblika marketinga s obzirom da su trendovi globalizacije i digitalizacije omogućili mnogo brže prenošenje poruke diljem svijeta. Slijedno tome, poduzeća su dobila mogućnost proširiti informacije o svojim proizvodima mnogo većoj ciljanoj bazi kupaca uz mnogo niže troškove od troškova koji nastaju pri korištenju tradicionalnih marketinških alata i pristupa. Digitalni marketing je također omogućio dvosmjernu komunikaciju između poduzeća i potrošača, čime se stvorilo interaktivno okuženje u kojem poduzeća u realnom vremenu mogu zaprimati informacije o tome što je dobro, te o tome što treba unaprijediti, slijedom čega se povećava konkurentnost i inovativnost poduzeća. Nedavnom pojavom koronavirusa te globalnim širenjem teške respiratorne bolesti COVID-19 koju koronavirus uzrokuje, svijet se našao pred velikim izazovima u vidu gotovo svih socio-ekonomskih aktivnosti. Razlog tome je privremena zabrana ili smanjene gospodarske aktivnosti koje je većina zemalja uvela kao metodu smanjenja interakcije među ljudima (a time i usporavanje širenja zaraze), te značajnog smanjenja socijalne interakcije (ograničenja okupljanja te obavezno držanje fizičke distance među ljudima). Pandemija koronavirusa stoga je istovremeno uzrokovala zdravstvenu i ekonomsku krizu, koja je narušila ekonomsku aktivnost u brojnim industrijama, no istovremeno otvorila prilike za korištenjem alternativnih načina poslovanja. S obzirom da se u sklopu digitalnog marketinga većina aktivnosti odvija bez izravne interakcije poduzeća i potrošača, digitalni je marketing uočen kao značajna prilika za nastavak poslovanja, čak i u uvjetima pandemije. No uzimajući u obzir činjenicu da je zbog ograničenja kretanja i kontrakcije gospodarske aktivnosti došlo do pada volumena prodaje, u sklopu digitalnog marketinga također su se očitovali brojni izazovi, koje poduzeća moraju adresirati, s ciljem povećanja poslovne aktivnosti te zadovoljavanja želja i potreba svojih kupaca. U sklopu diplomskog rada naglasak je stavljen na pružanje uvida u utjecaj pandemije koronavirusa na digitalni marketing, uzimajući u obzir cjelokupni marketinški miks (4P), te je provedeno empirijsko istraživanje utjecaja pandemije koronavirusa na digitalni marketing u hrvatskim poduzećima.Digital marketing is one of the most important aspects of marketing, given that the trends of globalization and digitization have enabled a much faster transmission of the messages around the world. Consequently, companies have been given the opportunity to expand information about their products to a much larger customer base at a much lower cost than the costs incurred in using traditional marketing tools and approaches. Digital marketing has also enabled two-way communication between businesses and consumers, creating an interactive environment and increasing business competitiveness and innovation. Considering the recent emergence of the coronavirus and the global spread of the severe respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus, the world has faced major challenges in the course of almost all socio-economic activities. The reason for this is the temporary stopping or reduced economic activity that most countries have introduced as a method of reducing interaction between people (and thus slowing down the spread of infection), and significantly reducing social interaction (limiting gatherings and establishing mandatory physical distance between people). The coronavirus pandemic caused both a health and economic crisis, which disrupted economic activity in a number of industries, but at the same time opened up opportunities to use alternative ways of doing business. Given the fact that within digital marketing most activities take place without direct interaction between businesses and consumers, digital marketing has been perceived as a significant opportunity to continue doing business, even during a pandemic breakout. However, taking into account the fact that due to the restriction of physical movement and contraction of economic activity there was a decline in sales volume, digital marketing also revealed a number of challenges that companies must address in order to increase business activity and meet the wishes and needs of their customers. This master thesis emphases providing insight into the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on digital marketing, taking into account all key aspects of marketing (4P), and focuses on the empirical study of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on digital marketing in Croatian companies