HACKATHON – AN INNOVATION AND PROMOTION TOOL IN MARKETING

In the current competitive environment, it is especially important for companies to make increased efforts to stand out and find new ways to connect with consumers. The marketing hackathon is one of the latest solutions to this challenge. The hackathon represents the appropriate space for stimulating creativity through brainstorming bringing together diverse teams of specialists in order to develop innovative marketing strategies. Hackathons also allow experimentation with various solutions and ideas inspired by the challenges launched within these events. Hackathons thus represent the ground for the development of new ideas, the space where people from different backgrounds are challenged both intellectually and creatively, by the environment they find themselves in as well as by the people they are surrounded by. In the field of marketing, hackathons can bring contributions to important areas such as branding, social media, content creation, data analysis, and experiential marketing. Being a relatively new phenomenon, hackathons have so far only been the subject of exploratory and descriptive studies. Papers that focus on hackathons specific to marketing activity are largely absent. The present paper aims to contribute to remedying this gap. In this context, the following paper reveals important aspects regarding the role that hackathons play in the marketing activity as well as the objectives that can be pursued by organizing and conducting such events, together with aspects regarding the methodology to be followed in organizing and carrying out hackathons to serve as a guide in using this method to achieve the objectives regarding promotion and innovation in the marketing field.