CLUSTER MARKETING AND BRANDING IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

In 2012, Tendensor runs a Nordic, partner financed development project, Cluster Marketing and Branding (“CMB”), aiming at creating a practical handbook for strategic brand building and marketing of clusters. Beginning in March 2012 and running until Semterber 2012, the purpose of the project is to explore how clusters can use branding and strategic marketing management in order to improve their attractiveness and strengthen their international profile to attract talents and skilled professionals, firms and investments and to promote internationalisation and exports. The 11 project partners represent cluster organisations and regional and national investment and innovation agencies in the Nordic countries. 

Although cluster branding and marketing are frequently cited as common objectives for cluster organisations, and although the topic is receiving increasing attention, there has been surprisingly little research into how clusters actually apply branding and marketing. There is, consequently, a need to explore how clusters market themselves and identify tools and strategies for how clusters can use brand-building and marketing management to improve their visibility, attractiveness and overall competitiveness.

The project seeks to fill this gap.

The project takes it point of departure in a range of case studies of succesful examples of strategic marketing of clusters and tries to answer questions such as:

1. What can be learned from clusters that have successfully built strong brands? What are the success factors? What are the pitfalls?

2. Who are the main stakeholders in branding and marketing the cluster? How do the stakeholders play different roles in the branding? Is it possible to devise a clear division of labour?

3. What are the main benefits of a positive cluster reputation? How do the benefits and needs differ between the various stakeholders (such as cluster organisations, corporations, SMEs, universities and research institutions, NGOs and the public sector actors)?

The project partners are:

• Medicon Valley Alliance (Cluster organisation, life science, Copenhagen/Malmö)
• BrainsBusiness – ICT North Denmark (Cluster organisation, ICT, Aalborg, Denmark)
• Skåne Food Innovation Network (Cluster organisation, food, Malmö, Sweden)
• Triple-Steelix (Cluster organisation, steel production, Region of Bergslagen, Sweden)
• Airport Cluster Finland (Cluster organisation, airport services and technology, Helsinki)
• Culiminatum Centre for Expertise in Living Business (Development/cluster organisation, living solutions, Helsinki)
• Greater Helsinki Promotion (Inward investment agency)
• Invest in Skåne (Inward investment agency, Region Skåne, Sweden)
• Business Region Göteborg / GöteborgBIO (Inward investment/development agency, Gothenburg/Western Sweden)
• Innovation Norway (Development agency, representing NCE and Arena cluster programmes in Norway).
• VINNOVA, development agency, Sweden (BSR Stars project, focus on marketing of macro-regional clusters in the Baltic Sea Region)

More information about the project can be found in the project plan:

Cluster Marketing and Branding in the Nordic Countries (CMB) 

For questions about the project, please contact Marcus Andersson at Tendensor on +46 708 673634 or marcus.andersson@tendensor.se