SWEDEN ON AIRBNB

Grand Prix

Case Film

Presentation Image

TitleSWEDEN ON AIRBNB
BrandVISITSWEDEN
Product/ServiceVISITSWEDEN
Category F03. Excellence in Media Execution
Entrant FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Idea Creation FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
PR FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Production FORSMAN & BODENFORS Gothenburg, SWEDEN
Additional Company VISIT SWEDEN Stockholm, SWEDEN
Additional Company 2 SMFB ENGINE Oslo, NORWAY
Additional Company 3 AIRBNB San Francisco, USA
Credits
Name Company Position
Jenny E Kaiser Visit Sweden Advertiser Supervisor
Jennie Skogsborn Missuna Visit Sweden Client
Peter Holmberg Visit Sweden Client
Jonas Overödder Visit Sweden Client
Lotta Thiringer Visit Sweden Client
Ann Spennare-Bengtsson Forsman & Bodenfors Account Director
Olle Victorin Forsman & Bodenfors Account Director
Johan Eghammer Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Johanna Hofman-Bang Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Ted Mellström Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Josefin Roxeheim Forsman & Bodenfors Art Director
Marcus Hägglöf Forsman & Bodenfors Copywriter
Pontus Levahn Forsman & Bodenfors Copywriter
Agnes Uggla Forsman & Bodenfors Copywriter
Lycke Ramel Forsman & Bodenfors Writer
Johan Fredriksson Forsman & Bodenfors Designer
Johanna Bringefält Forsman & Bodenfors Account Manager
Jens Odelbring Forsman & Bodenfors Agency Producer
Peter Gaudiano Forsman & Bodenfors Digital Producer
Robert Johnsson Forsman & Bodenfors PR Strategist
Daniel Sjöstrand Forsman & Bodenfors Planner
Jenny Ring Forsman & Bodenfors Music Supervisor
Jeanne Salvanès Airbnb Marketing Manager
Zoe Russel Turner Airbnb Creative Producer

The Campaign

With our target group (travellers) in mind, we decided to present one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions, the great outdoors, in a way that makes Sweden different from other nature destinations. We used the Freedom to Roam, an 80-year- old Swedish right protected by the constitution that allows anyone to roam freely in Sweden’s nature. Every lake and mountaintop can be enjoyed as if they are yours – our country is one big home. Since we knew our target group, we knew where they hang out online. So we listed the entire country on Airbnb.

Creative Execution

Together with Airbnb we created and built a special campaign site for Sweden on Airbnb where people could browse through different listings. All destinations had their own specific descriptions and amenities; a lake became an infinity pool and moss on the ground became carpeting – like a regular Airbnb listing. We also produced a film where a Swedish man, Åke, invited the world to explore his 100 million acres accommodation. To pave the way for the campaign we worked with different influencers who in one way or the other had a natural connection to freedom to roam: explorer Renata Chlumska, photographer Wisslaren; raincoat designer Alexander Stutterheim and tech profile Natalia Brzezinski, an American who used to live in Sweden. We also produced content about freedom to roam, including an interview with an expert, which we published on Visit Sweden’s website.

Earned media: $9,7 million Engagements: 1,7 million Articles: 1691 Spread: 138 countries Media impressions: 8,4 billion Organic reach: 700% increase Online conversation: 2346% increase The campaign was launched on May 22nd 2017 and in July 2017 the number of booked hotel nights from the US increased by 45 % compared to the year before. A booking cycle in the US is 45 days.

By combining the power of the Airbnb platform with something which in its essence is a defintion of Swedish society as a whole, the freedom to roam, we managed to get the US and the world to talk about Swedish as a destintion and Swedish nature in a new and inspiring way. And by using the Airbnb platform as a starting point we succeeded in starting a dialogoue with those we wanted to reach – journalists and travellers in the US market.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Even if visitors are few, people are still coming to Sweden from all demographic segments (DINKs, WHOPs etc.) A heterogeneous group, but we found something they all had in common that let us tailor a message to them. The development of digital technologies and fundamental shifts in how people perceive value has disrupted every field of consumption, and transformed the way we plan and experience travel. We called this insight “the evolution from tourist to traveller”, and we wanted to repackage Sweden in to something travellers would love. And love to show off. Sweden needed to be something completely different. We needed to communicate Sweden in a way that resonates with the travellers values. This meant that something like the great outdoors couldn’t be communicated simply on it’s own. Everything needed to be combined with something more, for example Swedish culture or politics.