MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF A SOCIO-CULTURAL SPORTS EVENT

This study aims to asses: the conditions and requirements of success of multi-thematic festivals (with the regard to our case study, a sport and culture festival), with regard to the new media, and more specifically social networks. The starting hypothesis was that the appropriate use of such media involves the consolidation of a dialog between festival and public reference in a perspective of a medium-long term loyalty. The research method used is the longitudinal analysis of our case study (Parthenopean Isolimpic Games) using data regarding the outcomes of the three editions held so far. The data collection and the initial processing took place through the implementation of direct interviews with both the organizers and the key figures responsible of the festivals’ communication strategy, and the collection of documentary material. The information obtained were consequently used in a SWOT analysis in order to provide a description of the current festival’ state. The analysis shows that a communication strategy based on social media is more suited to establish strong dialogic relationships between festival and the related stakeholders, promoting the success of the event. The main limit of this paper is that the festival framed as a case study is still in the process of implementation and consequently the proposal illustrated is based on an analysis made ex ante. The results of the study can be used as hypotheses to be verified in other research contributions as well as guidelines for operators to improve their social media strategy. As for the originality of the work, is inherent in the selected case, which do not yet appear in literature. Furthermore, it underlines the requirement of a social media expert in order to building a successful strategy.