The Banking Industry

1. Introduction

Companies from all types of different industries have been using trade shows as a marketing tool to reach customers for a rather long time. The more previous studies have shown that even though firms reach out to a lot of new and already existing customers during a trade show there is often a lack of follow-up (Hyun Lee & Yong Kim, 2008). Successful companies use activities both before and after the actual trade show to enhance the performance and get the best results out of the invested capital, time and efforts.

The banking sector in Sweden is dominated by four large banks that combined reaches a market share of about 70 % (Swedishbankers, 2012). These four banks (Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB and Swedbank) will be presented and analyzed. By describing theories of marketing channels and specifically the trade show, this paper serves to examine how well the these large banks of the banking sector in Sweden manages the marketing activities on their markets in the Baltic States.

2. Theoretical Base

In order to analyze empirical material it is important to have a thorough base of theories for comparison and support. In the following segment, international marketing and sales will be described as a general tool for companies to promote themselves. Furthermore, trade shows will be described on a deeper level in order to understand the effects it has on the company, the customers and the market.

2.1 International Marketing and Sales

Marketing is important in the business system because it draws together suppliers, customers, competitors and partners and creates value for the entire business. When operating internationally it is important to consider the influence of culture, economy and politics (Bradley, 2005). There are different types of communication tools, such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling (Hollensen, 2011). Marketing techniques such as press and television advertising can also be utilized to market products. Hollensen (2011) mentions a few objectives of advertising, which remain the same in different countries. One of the objectives is to increase sales from existing customers, by brand loyalty and reminding the customers of the products. The second is to obtain new customers, for example by working with brand image towards a new target group.

The most visible form of communication is advertising. In international markets advertising is wide and sometimes limited due to the fact that it is a one-way communication method. It is an easy way to reach customers but in a business-to-business markets advertising is less important than the personal selling. An important advantage with using advertising is the fact that it is easy to justify in budget meetings. Companies can only spend as much as it can afford. One disadvantage