Attracting International Attention – A Case Study

Abstract

This thesis investigates international marketing in a context where the organization does not have a physical presence in the target markets. Previous research and literature on the topic of international marketing has focused much on the mode of entry in the internationalization process, but not on how organizations which are not selling a physical product or delivering a service in another country should market themselves. This thesis seeks to fill this gap. The thesis is written in collaboration with ÅKP Blue Innovation Arena and the main research question is “how can ÅKP Blue Innovation Arena achieve success in their international marketing?”. Three sub-questions were developed to answer the main question.

A single case study was employed to answer the research questions. The data for the research was collected through in-depth interviews with employees of the case company secondary data and direct observations. The interviews and the secondary data were the main data used in the analysis, while the direct observations were used to support the findings from these two sources.

The findings suggested that the case company can achieve success in their international marketing by identifying and exploiting their critical success factors, that they should take steps towards the internationalization but at a faster pace than would be achieved by focusing on only one country, that the communication must be adapted to reflect the value that they create for their customers and collaborators and that the success is dependent on the exploitation of their network.

The most important contribution of this thesis is a three-step framework for succeeding in attracting international customers and/or collaborators without a physical presence in the target markets. This framework holds the potential to guide further research into the topic and can be used by organizations seeking to attract international focus.