WE GO ALL THE WAY

TitleWE GO ALL THE WAY
BrandSWEDISH ARMED FORCES
Product/ServiceSWEDISH ARMED FORCES
Category A08. Public Sector
Entrant VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Jörgen Berglund Volt Art Director
Petter Nylind Volt Copywriter
Johanna Johansson Volt Art Director
Daniel Jakobsson Volt Copywriter
Camilla Ryttare Volt Production Manager
Malin Almqvist Volt Account Manager
Åsa Stjärnquist Volt Final Art
Cornelia Wangel Volt Planner
Henrik Stampe Volt Strategist
Henrik Bonnevier Studio Henrik Bonnevier Photographer
Martina Larsson Volt Head of PR

The Campaign

Our solution was to make a post that got the attention and put the message through in just a second. Making people stop scrolling and start reading. By combining part of a military uniform associated with progressing in tough terrain, with the most famous symbol for an open, tolerant and welcoming society, we created a strong image that could not be misinterpreted. An image that visualized the Swedish Armed Forces mission in a way that would spark some attention and debate in order to both reach and engage the broad target group asked for in the brief.   Both the Pride festival and people's perception of what the Swedish Armed Force’s mission should include, are frequently debated by people from the entire society.   So we figured that a post like this, from this kind of client, at this moment, should spark some attention and debate, including opinion makers, journalists and politicians.

Execution

Day 1: The statement – message and picture – is posted on Facebook on the forenoon. This is one of the busiest cohesive times among their followers, with peaks at lunchtime and around 5pm and 9pm.   Later the same day, posted on Twitter. When the liking, sharing and commenting already had taken off on Facebook. So when looking into it, Twitter users found it was a debate on the come up. Day 2: Post on Instagram. A contrast to their usual content. Now people had already joined the debate on Facebook and Twitter, or read about it on news sites, and had their arguments ready for the next round, and comments started rolling in. Day 3 to 6: Answering comments, talking to press, giving interviews.   Day 6: Soldiers walking the parade, led by Commander in Chief Micael Bydén, and accompanied by a military truck covered in our message and picture.

Engagement on Facebook boomed with likes, shares, comments and debates. It’s the most engaging post the SwAF ever made with 5800 likes, 776 shares and 1195 comments. 511, 892 and 5432 percent above their average. On Twitter, it was raised by opinion makers like Soran Ismail – dubbed the most influential on Twitter in Sweden in 2016 with 428,000 engaged followers – and opposition party leader Anna Kindberg-Batra with 72500 followers, one of the most powerful and influential voices in Sweden. Add a famous football player, US correspondent and the Swedish General Consulate in NY making the message spread internationally. The SwAF tweet got 1408 retweets, 143 replies and 3943 likes. 4516, 3550 and 4483 percent above average. On Instagram, the post got nearly 6000 likes and over 400 comments, an increase of 68 and 2244 percent compared to the average.     The message's accuracy and commitment from social media caused traditional media to raise the issue. The SwAF was interviewed during primetime news on Swedish National Radio (900,000 listeners), during the parade on TV4News (one of the biggest news programs) and in XX media with a wide spread from nationwide daily press to fashion magazines and international media, a total reach of 35 000 000. It reached all the way to ultra-right media where the message hopefully made some re-think their opinions. Still. The attitude against the SwAF – looking at comments, shares, likes and reactions on social media – was 95% positive. 

The Situation

This is a case where a special kind of client, the Swedish Armed Forces (SwAF) combined with timing, the message and zeitgeist became an all time high-effort when it comes to engagement and spread. It went beyond the usual channels, via strong opinion makers and politicians out to the dark forums far out right where it was needed the most.

The Strategy

To get the boost we wanted, we posted on Facebook first. Here SwAF have the most followers and here it could initially get the greatest engagement. Then Twitter to reach new groups and the opinion makers we needed. On Instagram, the purpose was to make a post that stood out, create debate and lead people into the website to read more. The engagement for views opposing them defended by the SwAF is big. By commenting the debate with a clear statement, the post would be an easy pick for traditional media. Because of the big engagement surrounding the debate, we were prepared with Swedish and English posts and replies to be rolled out when the interest from international media was gaining momentum. We also had physical material for the actual Pride parade, where the SwAF were to attend – a truck covered with posters and roll-ups carrying our message.