TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in the communication strategy of Barcelona's digital economy in response to the COVID-19 crisis
AU - Coll-Rubio, Patricia
N1 - Funding Information:
Barcelona is the fifth European hub in terms of volume of start-ups (Atomico, 2019) and has served as the headquarters for the Mobile World Congress technological congress since 2006. It is slated to continue in that role until at least 2024 (GSMA, 2020b), although the 2020 edition, which was due to begin on 27 February, was cancelled by the organising entity (GSMA, 2020a) as a measure to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus from the Wuhan area (China) to other areas of the world. This decision, which was preceded by a series of companies cancelling trips to large events, was supported at the time by 57% of the professionals at the Barcelona-based technology companies that participated in the study. 53% of respondents participated in various parallel events that were organised in the city following the cancellation of the international congress. Two months later, the decision was supported by 100% of the respondents in this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/7
Y1 - 2020/7
N2 - This article presents the results of a study carried out using data provided by professionals responsible for planning and executing communication strategies for 30 leading companies involved in the digital economy of Barcelona, site of the Mobile World Congress technological trade show, which was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 health crisis. The results of the study, carried out electronically from 1-15 April 2020, show that 77% of the technology companies that participated in the study changed their strategic communication planning during the first month of the state of alarm declared by the Spanish government on 14 March 2020. In 73% of cases, the strategy was proactive, although with a new orientation. The resulting mix of actions included preparing and disseminating digital content, sending press releases, organising digital events, generating internal communication and, to a lesser extent, advertising, following a strategy that combined 60% of owned media, 27% of earned media, and 13% of paid media. During the first month of the state of alarm in response to COVID-19, social media was the main communication channel for the digital companies that participated in the study, compared to print media, television, and radio. 30% of these communication actions used newsjacking techniques, tying their messages to the current situation of the pandemic.
AB - This article presents the results of a study carried out using data provided by professionals responsible for planning and executing communication strategies for 30 leading companies involved in the digital economy of Barcelona, site of the Mobile World Congress technological trade show, which was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 health crisis. The results of the study, carried out electronically from 1-15 April 2020, show that 77% of the technology companies that participated in the study changed their strategic communication planning during the first month of the state of alarm declared by the Spanish government on 14 March 2020. In 73% of cases, the strategy was proactive, although with a new orientation. The resulting mix of actions included preparing and disseminating digital content, sending press releases, organising digital events, generating internal communication and, to a lesser extent, advertising, following a strategy that combined 60% of owned media, 27% of earned media, and 13% of paid media. During the first month of the state of alarm in response to COVID-19, social media was the main communication channel for the digital companies that participated in the study, compared to print media, television, and radio. 30% of these communication actions used newsjacking techniques, tying their messages to the current situation of the pandemic.
KW - Content marketing
KW - Crisis communication
KW - Digital communication
KW - Event organisation
KW - Newsjacking
KW - Public relations
KW - Social media
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091419655&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.tripodos.com/index.php/Facultat_Comunicacio_Blanquerna/article/view/809/828
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85091419655
SN - 1138-3305
VL - 1
SP - 155
EP - 170
JO - Tripodos
JF - Tripodos
IS - 47
ER -