DEVELOPING A BORN GLOBAL BRAND FROM TURKEY AS A NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRY:
THE CASE OF GAIA&GINO

The export behaviour and internationalization process of the firms have been an interesting research area for the past three decades. It is seen that, in today’s business environment, many firms start international activities right from the beginning to enter numerous distant markets instead of taking incremental steps. These firms and their international brands are characterized by the term “born global”.  

Gaia&Gino can be considered an example of a successful born global brand from Turkey, a newly industrialised country.  Launched in 2004 by Decorum Inc., the brand has been operating in the designer’s home accessories market. Although the company has been working with world-renowned designers from the start, it also set its objective as to be inspired by the Turkish culture and interpret it to create objects of global appeal. Despite its short existence, Gaia&Gino has gained itself a place in the global market and the media coverage about it has been expanding, as four of its tabletop collections have been rewarded with important design awards.  

The paper will discuss the strategic choices of the company to establish Gaia&Gino as a global brand. By discussing these choices in terms of their potentials in creating an alternative path for gaining a share in the global market, the paper aims to discuss whether the company’s business strategy is viable for similar companies operating from a Newly Industrialized Country setting. The paper will particularly look into the globalized aspects of Gaia&Gino’s business organization and focus on how the design and production functions were organized and managed in the activity map of the company.