A Change in Corporate Communication during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Valamar

Pandemija virusa Covid-19 promijenila je svijet na globalnoj razini, mijenjajući pritom i dosadašanje načine komuniciranja. Korporativna komunikacija postala je vitalni dio suočavanja s nepoznatim virusom i njegovim posljedicama. Pritom se veliki naglasak počeo stavljati na kriznu komunikaciju koja je često bila zanemarivani dio korporativne komunikacije unutar tvrtki, ali i na odjel interne komunikacije čiji je glavni cilj povećanje djelotvornosti organizacije. Osim uvođenja novih načina kriznog komuniciranja, pandemija je pokazala i nizak stupanj digitalizacije na svim razinama, što je rezultiralo porastom novih komunikacijskih trendova u svijetu tehnologije. Tvrtka Valamar Riviera se već tri godine zaredom nalazi na ljestvici dvadeset najboljih poslodavaca u Hrvatskoj što je rezultat sustavnog ulaganja u zaposlenike i razvoja djelatnosti tvrtke na svim razinama. Stoga se provedenim istraživanjem nastoji odgovoriti na pitanje je li tvrtka Valamar Riviera tijekom pandemije virusa Covid-19 promijenila načine korporativnog ponašanja na razini odjela marketinga i ako jest, na koje načine? Istraživanje je provedeno metodom ankete kako bi se pokazalo jesu li uspješno implementirane promjene uzrokovane pandemijom i jesu li usvojeni novi trendovi komuniciranja te promijenjeni načini komunikacije na internim kanalima.The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world, and in doing so, it has changed the ways people used to communicate. Corporate communication has become a vital part of the Covid-19 battle, along with its consequences. Crisis communication, once often neglected as part of a corporate communication section within companies, has become very important, just as internal communication and its goal to grow the company efficiency. Besides introducing new ways of crisis communication, the pandemic has also shown that digitalization is at a very low point in almost all companies, resulting in the appearance of new communication trends. The Valamar Riviera company has been a part of the top twenty employers in Croatia for three years in a row, which is a result of their non-stopping investing in their employers and corporate development at different levels. Therefore, a research was conducted to answer the following question: Has Valamar Riviera Company, during the Covid-19 pandemic, changed their ways of corporate behavior at the marketing department level, and if so, how? The research was conducted by a questionnaire to show if corporate changes caused by the pandemic were indeed successfully implemented, if new communication trends are accepted within the company and if internal communication ways have been changed