Carinthia

A lot of stories yet to be told

Carinthia – a stunning business and industry hub, in a league of its own with a lot of stories yet to be told. Andreas Duller and Simon Pöpperl on why the campaigns are country-specific.

Application-Oriented Research

QUESTION: How attractive is the business and industry region Carinthia?

Simon Pöpperl: Very! Carinthia has a great number of innovative, specialised entrepreneurs with impressive answers to future challenges and global competition. With technology parks such as the Lakesidepark and Vista Villach, where companies, R&D and start-ups mutually stimulate each other, Carinthia has successfully created a culture of cooperation!

Andreas Duller: Carinthia also has a lot to offer in the field of greentech and is, for example, a pioneer in the energy revolution, as today 100% of its own electricity requirements is already covered by renewable energies. These are just a few of the topics that make Carinthia so attractive internationally.

QUESTION: How is Carinthia perceived in the rest of Austria or in neighbouring countries?

Andreas Duller: Carinthia is, of course, known as a tourist destination due to its wonderful natural scenary and high quality of life. Here, we can reflect on a long tradition. But we now highlight other very important facets of Carinthia that are worth talking about. With our campaigns we show, why and how Carinthia is a stunning business, technology and industry hub.

Simon Pöpperl: The fact is that Carinthia is still not very well-known as a business location, especially in large markets such as Italy and Germany. That is why we have launched wide-ranging image campaigns which first of all draw attention to the topic of industry and entrepreneurial spirit of Carinthia.

We have learned that for Italian entrepreneurs Carinthia is extremely interesting because of its efficient public administration, its fast approval procedures and its attractive funding programmes. (ANDREAS DULLER)

High-Tech and Nature

What are the individual campaign focuses?

QUESTION: In your view, what are the main differences between the individual target markets?

Simon Pöpperl: We are currently active in the neighbouring regions of northern Italy, Slovenia, southern Germany and Austria. This is based on a governmental decision. From our vantage point, this makes a lot of sense, since the neighbouring regions also account for the majority of foreign trade and there is correspondingly close economic cooperation.

Andreas Duller: The target markets are very different from one another. We have learned that for Italian entrepreneurs Carinthia is extremely interesting because of its efficient public administration, its fast approval procedures and its attractive funding programmes.

Simon Pöpperl: From a German perspective, Carinthia scores points with its interesting logistical location in the Alpe-Adria region and its high level of spending on research. For Slovenia, Carinthia is a gateway to the German-speaking economic area and offers many opportunities for cross-border cooperation.

QUESTION: You met a wide variety of stakeholders in the course of the campaigns. What surprised or impressed you the most?

Andreas Duller: The success-stories: the broad-spectrum of Carinthian companies that already have an international or cross-border presence; the many different “hidden champions” we have the honour of showcasing during our campaigns! They can remain as important testimonials on our website– if they wish. That way, their success stories can be found on our website in 4 languages.

Simon Pöpperl: We tell the stories of e.g., Slovenian. German or Italian companies that have successfully settled in Carinthia. This reference marketing works very well.

From a German perspective, Carinthia scores points with its interesting logistical location in the Alpe-Adria region and its high level of spending on research. For Slovenia, Carinthia is a gateway to the German-speaking economic area and offers many opportunities for cross-border cooperation. (SIMON PÖPPERL)

A visual journey throughout what Carinthia has to offer

QUESTION: Where do you roll-out the campaign? What does it cover? What is planned next?

Simon Pöpperl: The main focus of the current campaigns is on Carinthian industry and its strategy of smart specialisation. It is a visual journey throughout what Carinthia has to offer with a series of impressive companies as testimonials.

Andreas Duller: The campaigns are rolled-out digitally in the target markets in the respective national language. We also publish press releases and are present in classic media. We are also increasingly using events and conferences in neighbouring countries to position Carinthia as a business, technology and education location. The campaigns are also redirected to carinthia.com – our information one-stop-shop about Carinthia.

Simon Pöpperl: After the great success of our location film with almost 500,000 clicks on YouTube, we will be releasing another spin-off film on the current campaign theme in the next few weeks. We are also on the road at trade fairs and conferences in Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. We are currently at the Ecomondo in Italy.

Natascha Batic: Thank you very much for the interview!

ABOUT SIMON PÖPPERL AND ANDREAS DULLER

LINK TO OUR CAMPAIGNS: AUSTRIA, GERMANY, ITALY, SLOVENIA (Coming soon)