FINLANDIA BY FOREST MACHINES

TitleFINLANDIA BY FOREST MACHINES
BrandNESTE & PONSSE
Product/ServiceNESTE OILS & PONSSE FOREST MACHINES
Category C02. Use of Social in a PR campaign
Entrant KURIO, THE SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation KURIO, THE SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY Helsinki, FINLAND
Media Placement KURIO, THE SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY Helsinki, FINLAND
PR KURIO, THE SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY Helsinki, FINLAND
Production NO-OFFICE Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Jari Lähdevuori Kurio // The Social Media Age(ncy) Creative Director
Elli Tuominen Kurio // The Social Media Age(ncy) Strategy Director
Tommi Opas Kurio // The Social Media Age(ncy) CEO
Milka Koskela Kurio // The Social Media Age(ncy) Project Manager
Juulia Rajala Kurio // The Social Media Age(ncy) Project Coordinator
Kati Kiiskinen Kurio // The Social Media Age(ncy) Data & Insight Specialist
Juha Ilmari Laine No-Office Director
Hannu Aukia No-Office Producer
Kyle Smolic No-Office Cinematographer
Vertti Virkajärvi No-Office Producer

Why is this work relevant for PR?

We created a social-first PR campaign, spreading from one YouTube video to a global discussion on both social and traditional media -- a campaign that got even Hollywood tweeting, drove a record-breaking awareness for the client, and delivered a ROMI of 796%.

Background

The brief was to do a B2B campaign that highlights the long-lasting cooperation of two big Finnish companies: the renewable energy and oil company Neste and the forest machine manufacturer Ponsse. The campaign was set to launch in a time when Finland was getting ready to celebrate its 100th independence day – a big day for all of us. So the question was: How to turn a low-interest product – two of them, in this case – into something that hits a high note on emotion? And how to do that in a way that delivers a ROMI of more than 100%? Neste is a pioneer in the Nordics in modelling the ROMI across all their activities, and that is the main metric for each and every campaign. Including this one.

Describe the creative idea

Finland’s centennial was shadowed by the problems of unemployment. Amidst all the polarized discussions and nation-wide negativity on media, two globally renowned Finnish employers wanted to celebrate the Finnish worker, the builder of our country. On the 100th independence day, we made a tribute to Finnish work, highlighting the hardworking and innovative, yet humble and silent Finnish worker. We gave them a voice like never before: Finlandia by Forest Machines, a unique remake of our national hymn. Every view of the music video was a donation for Työttömien Keskusjärjestö, an NGO for the unemployed, to help more Finns find a job. The goal was to tap into the festivities of the independence day: to publish the remake on YouTube, to spread the word via the social media accounts of the two companies, and above all to get both the people and the media share the remake of the national hymn.

Describe the strategy

We wanted to create a message that speaks to every Finn. Jean Sibelius’ world-famous hymn has a special place in the heart of every Finn. It is played in every Finnish household on the independence day. We wanted something that every Finn would be proud to share. Our tribute combined Finnish workers as the musicians and our world-class innovations as the instruments: Ponsse forest machines and renewable Neste MY diesel. We wanted to make a change. In our vast country, it’s not easy to get to a job interview. To make things worse, the new legislation of 2017 states that the unemployed person needs to accept job as far as 80 km from their home, which makes it even more crucial for the unemployed to have their own car -- and the money for the fuel. Our donation was made in Neste oils, helping the unemployed make the trips needed.

Describe the execution

We recorded 1000 audio clips of the sounds of the machines, and compiled a mind-blowing yet majestic version of the Finlandia hymn. In the middle of the most beautiful and iconic Finnish scenery, we shot more than 300 video clips of the machines in front of a working-class conductor. The video was published on YouTube on the eve of the 100th independence day. The campaign that celebrated Finnish work could not have been done without it: All the actors were staff members of Ponsse. Behind-the-scenes video features their Chairman of the board, as well as other executive staff of the two companies, telling about their long-term cooperation. And, of course, this could not have been possible without the support of the heirs collective of composer Jean Sibelius, who granted us the permission to use his piece of art.

List the results

A total ROMI of 796% (vs. 148% average ROMI of Neste campaigns). Detailed ROMI: 1479% on sales, 999% ROMI on social media, 887% on earned media. -No. 1 trending video on YouTube Finland. -2.3MM+ video views on YouTube, Facebook, Weibo, etc. -International media coverage of 10MM+, with estimated value of EUR 3MM+, making it the most effective Neste retail campaign ever. -A tsunami of comments and shares, almost 100% positive. -Tweeted by Ronn Moss of “The Bold and the Beautiful” (followers 526K), the ex-president of Estonia (95K) and two official accounts of Sweden (135K & 93K), among others. -Reached Reddit top 5 Also, the campaign even tightened the long-lasting cooperation of Neste & Ponsse, with C-Suite commentaries of the collaboration and its value. Thanks to the donation, 400 000 km of job interview trips will be made. And the unemployment rate is already declining (7,5% 8/2018 vs 6,8% 8/2018).