ROLE OF MARKETING IN INNOVATION

Abstract

The world has been changing towards a point where companies need to be able to respond to market needs faster and more precisely in order to gain competi-tive advantage. In order to fulfil these needs more effectively the involvement of marketing in innovation activity is a necessity.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify what has been the role of marketing in innovation in business-to-business environment in Finland. Firstly, this topic is approached by a literature review. Secondly, we examine how the theory has met practice. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative research was conducted in order to answer to the research questions.

The findings indicate that the role of marketing in innovation activity varies from company to another and there are many ways to succeed in the develop-ment of an innovation. Therefore, individual examples are presented in order to demonstrate how different activities are carried through.