CHANGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES AND COMMUNICATION OF SLOVAK POP CULTURE CONVENTIONS DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

At the time of the declared coronavirus pandemic many festivals for fans of pop culture, anime, manga and cosplay did not take place. This resulted in significant changes in the form and manner of communication of event organizers towards their fans and regular visitors. On the example of the two most visited and largest festivals in Slovakia (Comics Salon & AnimeSHOW and Y-Games & Y-Con), we observe two different communication and marketing strategies. In the form of in-depth interviews with both organizers, we attempt to identify the most important changes in the organization, preparation and realization of festivals. In this study, we describe the different approaches of both festivals and compare the data obtained from interviews (website traffic, fan engagement on social networks of the sites of these festivals, marketing impacts of contributions (Facebook and Instagram)). The organizers also had to take into account the possibilities of rescheduling or cancelling festivals, searching for possible online alternatives and working with changes related to future measures and their implementation in future years of festivals.