The role of brand partnerships in brand internationalization, Case: Angry Birds
Degni, Millie (2017-05-22)
The role of brand partnerships in brand internationalization, Case: Angry Birds
Degni, Millie
(22.05.2017)
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Turun yliopisto. Turun kauppakorkeakoulu
Kuvaus
siirretty Doriasta
Tiivistelmä
In December 2009, Angry Birds, the 52nd game by Finnish mobile game company Rovio, was published. In just a few years, it became a global success and a brand with partners such as Samsung and NASA. Today it is one of the internationally best known Finnish brands and as many call it, a phenomenon.
The main objectives of this thesis are to get an understanding of the roles of brand partnerships in the Angry Birds brand’s early internationalization and to, quite simply, explore a very interesting and unique case. In order to do this, the thesis looks to answer the following questions: How and when did the Angry Birds brand internationalize? What were the key partnerships in the early internationalization phase? How were the key partnerships chosen and formed? What were the benefits of these partnerships? To answer these questions, the three people working most closely on the brand’s international marketing during those first few years have been interviewed for the thesis. The interviewees were able to describe how the partnerships with different international brands happened, how they saw the brand benefitting from different collaborations and what their thoughts on other factors, such as the launch of Apple’s App Store in 2008, and its influence on Angry Birds’ global success, was. This qualitative study has been done using a single-case study strategy, which suits unique cases, such as this one, very well.
Based on the interviews and other material, it became clear that partnerships of different kinds were important not only in making Angry Birds internationally successful and known but in transforming the mobile game into a brand that was able to stand out from the crowd and grab the media’s and consumers’ attention. Although finding the right brand fit is commonly seen as the most important factor in brand partnerships, it seems that in Angry Birds’ case the key was to form partnerships that would in fact surprise and increase word of mouth rather than fit the Angry Birds brand perfectly. Partners and partnerships also brought Angry Birds credibility and resources, among other things, and some of them helped open doors to the United States, which was an important market for Rovio and for Angry Birds.
By introducing this interesting case, this study is hopefully able to show that resourcefulness, fearlessness and big ambition can take brands far.
The main objectives of this thesis are to get an understanding of the roles of brand partnerships in the Angry Birds brand’s early internationalization and to, quite simply, explore a very interesting and unique case. In order to do this, the thesis looks to answer the following questions: How and when did the Angry Birds brand internationalize? What were the key partnerships in the early internationalization phase? How were the key partnerships chosen and formed? What were the benefits of these partnerships? To answer these questions, the three people working most closely on the brand’s international marketing during those first few years have been interviewed for the thesis. The interviewees were able to describe how the partnerships with different international brands happened, how they saw the brand benefitting from different collaborations and what their thoughts on other factors, such as the launch of Apple’s App Store in 2008, and its influence on Angry Birds’ global success, was. This qualitative study has been done using a single-case study strategy, which suits unique cases, such as this one, very well.
Based on the interviews and other material, it became clear that partnerships of different kinds were important not only in making Angry Birds internationally successful and known but in transforming the mobile game into a brand that was able to stand out from the crowd and grab the media’s and consumers’ attention. Although finding the right brand fit is commonly seen as the most important factor in brand partnerships, it seems that in Angry Birds’ case the key was to form partnerships that would in fact surprise and increase word of mouth rather than fit the Angry Birds brand perfectly. Partners and partnerships also brought Angry Birds credibility and resources, among other things, and some of them helped open doors to the United States, which was an important market for Rovio and for Angry Birds.
By introducing this interesting case, this study is hopefully able to show that resourcefulness, fearlessness and big ambition can take brands far.