Vinnova's communication coaching for the Vinnväxt programme came about through networking and experience-sharing between the Vinnväxt winners. At these meetings, a need for support emerged in respect of communication and marketing. This was to make the relevant initiative familiar and attractive and also help in mobilising research, industry and governmental actors in each region.
The Vinnväxt programme comprises financial support to the Vinnväxt winners over a ten-year period in order to develop their growth efforts. At the same time, Vinnova offers process support and training for initiatives. The communication coaching which commenced in the winter of 2006 was implemented under the umbrella of this process support.
Through its communication coaching, Vinnova wanted to give VINNVÄXT initiatives a greater understanding of strategic communication, i.e. communication clearly intended as a tool for developing the operation as a whole.
The report is organised with an introductory presentation of the Vinnväxt programme and the 13 Vinnväxt initiatives studied. Implementation of the communication coaching and its contents are then documented. Subsequently, the greater part of the report is devoted to the impacts of the support on their strategic development. It concludes with a section linking their experience to theory: Building innovation systems using communication.