A04. Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
Entrant
SEK | PART OF GREY Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation
SEK | PART OF GREY Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation 2
BUSINESS FINLAND Helsinki, FINLAND
Media Placement
DAGMAR Helsinki, FINLAND
PR
SEK | PART OF GREY Helsinki, FINLAND
PR 2
BUSINESS FINLAND Helsinki, FINLAND
Production
SEK | PART OF GREY Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 2
COCOA Helsinki, FINLAND
Production 3
CREUNA FINLAND Helsinki, FINLAND
Additional Company
HINTSA PERFORMANCE Helsinki, FINLAND
Credits
Name
Company
Position
Mira Vierto
SEK | PART OF GREY
Head of Client Group
Suvi Lähde
SEK | PART OF GREY
Creative Director
Jarno Luotonen
SEK | PART OF GREY
Creative Director
Per Pedersen
Grey
Grey Global Creative Chairman
Eduardo Maduri
GREY
Grey Europe Creative Chairman
Kimi Issakainen
SEK | PART OF GREY
Art Director
Antti Tuominen
SEK | PART OF GREY
Copywriter
Laura Saarinen
SEK | PART OF GREY
Project Director
Essi Orama
SEK | PART OF GREY
Communications Consultant
Erika Vierto
SEK | PART OF GREY
Project Manager
Nicolas Prieto
SEK | PART OF GREY
Agency Producer
Ville Koivisto
SEK | PART OF GREY
Project Director
Vesa Tiukkanen
SEK | PART OF GREY
Editor
Jerry Strengell
Jerry Strengell
Editor
Santeri Kekkonen
SEK | PART OF GREY
Art Director
Alexsandra Piela
SEK | PART OF GREY
Assistant Art Director
Sami Kelahaara
SEK | PART OF GREY
Creative Director
Otto Kilpiö
SEK | PART OF GREY
Copywriter
Miikka Vento
SEK | PART OF GREY
Junior Copywriter
Heli Jimenez
Visit Finland / Business Finland
Senior Director, International Marketing
Mervi Holmén
Visit Finland/Business Finland
Marketing Communications Manager
Hetta Huittinen
Visit Finland / Business Finland
Head of International Media and PR
Eevakaisa Mölsä
Visit Finland / Business Finland
PR and Media Manager
Joonas Halla
Visit Finland / Business Finland
PR and Media Manager
Sari Hey
Visit Finland / Business Finland
PR and Media Manager
Heli Hemgård
Visit Finland / Business Finland
Communications Manager
Ville Huumo
Creuna Finland
CTO
Igor Buyanov
Creuna Finland
Senior Web Developer
Markus Karikivi
Creuna Finland
Project Director
Annika Muhonen
Dagmar
Senior Digital Planner
Markus Vuorinen
Dagmar
Digital Strategist
Noora Pyörre
Dagmar
Digital Planner
Liisa Marjoniemi
Dagmar
Client Manager
Tom Hakala
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Director
Henri Ollinkari
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Executive Producer
Anita Hyppönen
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Production Manager
Antti Ahokoivu
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Cinematographer
Jukka Honkanen
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Editor
Joni Kuusisto
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Color Grade
Markku Mäkelä
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Sound design and sound mix
Jukka Honkanen
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Sound design and sound mix
Markus Packalen
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Set designer
Marek Sabogal
Cocoa Mediaproductions
Photographer
Ed Webster
GREY
Creative
Cherish de Tagle
TOWN
Producer
Why is this work relevant for PR?
According to the UN, Finland is the happiest country in the world, thanks to the special nature connection. Studies have shown that nature can have a positive impact on our minds. At the same time, the world is getting busier, people are searching for their calm.
The idea that inspires and involves people both in social media and news channels: Rent a Finn.
A small country like Finland can’t afford to compete with the media budgets of big destinations to attract attention. The entire idea “Rent a Finn” is based on creative PR which will grow to a cultural phenomenon.
Background
Visit Finland is a governmental organization that works continuously to develop Finland’s travel image. Travel marketing is a highly competitive business; small country like Finland can’t afford to compete with the media budgets of big destinations to attract attention. However, the industry communication is full of clichés in both the visual style and content. Breaking these conventions offers us a huge opportunity. Finland is an unconventional travel destination – not something for everyone but something special. Accordingly, our communication has always been designed to convey these distinguishing factors true to Finland to make us stand out. In 2018, the overnight stays were on the rise, but the ongoing battle for attention in the Nordic countries was fierce. Our task was to create awareness and interest towards Finland and make it a talking point in a way that is truly meaningful to people who are seeking unique options.
Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)
According to the UN, Finland is the happiest country in the world – thanks to the special connection between people and nature. Studies have shown that nature can have a positive impact on our minds and alleviate stress.
At the same time, the world is getting busier. Many travelers search for silence and serene nature. Well, Finland has those things in abundance. But how to teach the world this happy, close-to-nature lifestyle?
The idea: Rent a Finn.
Now it’s time everyone had a chance to learn from the best. To become as happy as a Finn, you can rent one and learn how. Rent a Finn is not only unique and ownable to Finland due to its rational background from the UN Happiness Report, but also meaningful because of its higher purpose of bringing more happiness to the world. Instead of simply selling tourism, it’s branding a whole nation.
Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)
The insight of a balanced life and the travel trend of “living like a local” is emphasized in our target group called “Modern Humanists”.
We mobilized the whole nation and built a story step by step.
1. Nationwide initiative that recruited Finns up for rent.
2. The content of Finns that were up for rent was fed to global media with PR and with the help of chosen internationally known Finnish spokespersons.
3.While focusing on creating content we monitored earned media developments and reacted along the way.
Key messages were the Finns’ unique close-to-nature way of life and the chance to enjoy what Finland has to offer by renting a Finn. We created content describing the scientifically proven facts of nature’s positive effects and the special characteristics of the Finnish lifestyle, appealing to those who are looking for a unique travelling experience.
Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)
The objective was to increase the awareness of Finland as a tourist destination and emphasize its competitive advantages, such as nature and wellbeing. Our aim was to step by step build a story and cultural phenomenon.
Rent a Finn was launched by recruiting Finns in January 2019. Out of all the willing Finns we chose a few to work with as the faces of our communication to introduce the Finnish way of life. The idea was to tease, get people to talk and share the idea in social media.
After a warmup phase we went all in. We created localized PR content and contacted all the top media in our target countries. Our goal was to create a phenomenon where anybody could put themselves up for rent by using a #rentafinn. The idea of renting a Finn is now launched and continues as a new travel trend in the future.
List the results (30% of vote)
The results were astonishing and exceeded all expectations.
Media Outputs – The coverage was 3 184 media hits with reach of 1,366 billion. 98,5% of the campaign’s reach came from earned media.
The sentiment of the hits was positive (98%). The purchase intent exceeded all expectations with over 600 000 interested visitors on the campaign’s website. The campaign reached over 149 countries with paid advertising in only 10 markets. The PR value of the campaign reached
€ 34 175 321.
Target Audience Outcomes – We managed to build a phenomenon in the desired target audience and inspire people from around the world to get more information about Finland as an interesting destination. We managed to build our social community with 12 488 new followers in total. During the campaign the share of new visits to the Visit Finland website increased with 57% compared to last year’s period.