In the spotlight:

"Sweden (not Switzerland)"

2024 Gold & Silver Effie

Effie is about awarding ideas that work, educating about effective marketing and showcasing the best work to enhance learning in our industry.

CAMPAIGN NAME

Sweden (not Switzerland)

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CATEGORIES

2024 Multi-Market: Travel, Transport & Tourism
2024 Multi-Market: Small Budget

CLIENT

Visit Sweden

LEAD AGENCY

Forsman & Bodenfors

CAMPAIGN DESCRIPTION

Sweden, a country often overshadowed by larger tourism players, needed a unique strategy to increase international interest. The challenge was clear: despite its beauty, Sweden was often confused with Switzerland. Visit Sweden seized this opportunity by using the confusion as a strategic asset. The campaign combined creative storytelling, PR outreach, and clever media partnerships to elevate Sweden's appeal, clarify its distinct identity, and drive significant engagement from curious explorers.

THE CHALLENGE

Despite its rich cultural heritage, Sweden struggles to be recognised as a top travel destination compared to other well-established tourism brands. The confusion between Sweden and Switzerland has only added to the challenge, making it difficult to distinguish Sweden’s offering. With a tight marketing budget and a saturated travel market post-pandemic, Visit Sweden needed to capture international travelers' attention. The task was clear: create a campaign that would define Sweden’s uniqueness, elevate its global profile, and ultimately drive more tourists to visit.

STRATEGIC APPROACH AND EXECUTION

The campaign leveraged the confusion between Sweden and Switzerland to highlight the stark contrast between the two. Sweden’s modern, nature-driven luxury and values of freedom and equality were positioned against Switzerland’s association with gold, banks, and exclusivity. With a small budget, Visit Sweden partnered with major media outlets and influencers to amplify the message globally. Sponsored content and earned media sparked the conversation, while influencers extended its reach, ensuring visibility. Strategic response films maintained the buzz and generated additional media engagement.

Clear evidence of success:

+1000% increase in unique visitors to campaign pages.
305,642 visitors to the campaign site.
84,985,043 people reached across EU media outlets.

RESULTS

The campaign generated over 580 articles globally and sparked a massive conversation about Sweden, leading to a 1000% increase in unique visitors to Visit Sweden’s campaign pages.
With 305,642 visitors to the campaign sites and 89% expressing interest in visiting Sweden, the campaign succeeded in attracting significant attention from the target audience.
The number of unique visitors surpassed expectations with over 355,000 people visiting Visit Sweden’s campaign pages globally.

The campaign’s viral success, including spontaneous responses from the Swiss Ambassador, proves how a strategic PR-driven approach can generate significant attention for a destination with a limited budget.

The immense media coverage allowed Visit Sweden to highlight its unique positioning in the competitive tourism industry.

WHY A GOLD AND A SILVER EFFIE? Here's what the jurors said.

"The idea of positioning Sweden as “A Destination of a Different Nature” effectively differentiates it in a crowded tourism market. Additionally, the campaign’s ability to generate substantial earned media on a limited budget showcases the team’s resourcefulness and strong PR execution, amplifying its global reach. These elements are compelling because they demonstrate creative thinking and a focused approach to overcoming budget constraints."

"Innovative use of humor and cultural confusion between Sweden and Switzerland created a highly engaging PR-driven campaign. The viral nature of the campaign, paired with strong ambassador engagement, propelled Sweden into the spotlight as a top travel destination."

"I enjoyed the humor in the Switzerland comparisons, which continued through to the final results. I loved how a seemingly obscure insight was transformed into a powerful, engaging, and humorous brand story."

"I liked how the simple insight of confusion served as the catalyst for the strategic idea of using Switzerland as a foil to amplify the benefits of Sweden and capture the imagination of the target audience (those who would appreciate what Sweden has to offer). Inherently, it was a social idea—a creative concept that spread as people embraced it. The results are well-positioned."

"Consumer-centric approach: clear insight and well-defined target. Brilliant yet simple creative idea based on consumer knowledge, executed with local humor while remaining understandable to an international audience. Smart media plan executed on a limited budget."

Check out the full Case Study!