EAU DE PORI

TitleEAU DE PORI
BrandTHE CITY OF PORI
Product/ServiceTHE CITY OF PORI
Category A12. Not-for-profit / Charity / Government
Entrant STAART Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation STAART Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Juuso Kemi Staart Oy creative director
Jussi Pohjola Staart Oy COO
Jonne-Pekka Stenroos Staart Oy Art Director
Henrik Wetterstrand Staart Oy Copywriter
Juho Saine Staart Oy Junior AD
Anssi Koskinen Staart Oy Art Director
Marika Mykrä Staart Oy Developer
Paula Kangasniemi Staart Oy Project manager
Juha Laitinen Staart Oy CEO
Salla Rajala City of Pori Unit Manager, Communications at City of Pori
Elli-Mari Sulonen City of Pori Communications planner
Marika Virtanen City of Pori Communications planner
Karla Viitala City of Pori Communications planner
Anna Kyhä-Mantere Visit Pori CEO
Lauri Kilkku City of Pori Director
Mikko Kotiranta Prizztech Project manager

Why is this work relevant for PR?

What's the least used and most unconventional brand asset that is at the same time one of the most experimental ones too? The scent. The Eau De Pori, the urban fragrance based on the city of Pori's real aromas, is an idea that people really want to talk about. It's an idea so interesting that it gets noticed and discussed in traditional media and social media. The strategy was clear: Instead of bombing people with ads we build a product that is usable, has a story and comes with a huge talk-value.

Background

The city of Pori is a small city in western Finland. It has a population of 85 000 inhabitants. How can a city that small stand out from fierce competition in place branding without famous attractions and huge budget?

Describe the creative idea

Let's turn the smells of the city into a saleable perfume!

Describe the strategy

Because of the low budget, we had to count on earned media. The city of Pori competes with other cities in Finland who can buy themselves in the minds of the people with big campaigns, we tried to do the same thing with an idea so interesting and uncommon, that it could spread by itself. The target audience was the people of Finland.

Describe the execution

The city of Pori invited talented perfumer Max Perttula to sniff around the city and construct a perfume out of those experiences. We documented Max's trip to Pori and made an online film about his journey to the most iconic places in the city of Pori. This way we could show the city at the same time as we documented Perttula's work. The video was published in the city of Pori Facebook page. The Eau De Pori unisex fragrance was launched at the Porispere rock festival. During the festival, the first batch of the product was sold out in few hours. The next bath was launched in an online shop, shop.visitpori.fi, and in Visit Pori's store in city Pori, and it also sold out in few hours. We earned a lot of media, for example, Eau De Pori was tested live on national television. Also, social media was on fire.

List the results

The perfume sold out twice for a price of 39€/bottle. Over 500 units sold so far and the next batch will be 1000 units (population of the city of Pori is around 85 000). The first bottle of perfume was sold in an internet auction (for a price 450€) and the money from it was given to charity. It’s been a huge discussion point on social media and the perfume has been featured in national media several times: in radio, television, websites, and magazines. Hundreds of people are still queuing online to get the perfume when the next batch is produced. And most of all, the city of Pori earned media and lifted its brand awareness to new heights.