Challenge tropes / This campaign abandons convention and digs into unusual reasons to want to visit Sweden. Rather than lean into the beauty of the landscape, Visit Sweden focused on the fascinating culture and history tied to Sweden’s forests. ‘We turned every rule of destination marketing upside down,’ Amanda Engström, Prime Weber Shandwick’s CSO, told Contagious. ‘With this approach, we could catch people’s interest and show that the modest forests of Sweden are not so mediocre after all. Switching the perspective from visual to emotional, encouraging travellers to pay attention to how places make them feel, not just what they look like.’ The strategy allows Sweden to compete as a nature destination with the likes of Iceland and Norway, she explained, and provides rich ground for new travel experience ideas based on Sweden’s cultural heritage. ‘The concept cast new light on the things they might have forgotten the magic of, but were right in front of them.’
Cultural fluency / The campaign was also designed to coincide with an increased interest in folklore and the occult. The popularity of the so-called #WitchTok community on TikTok, for example, or the widespread adoption of crystals and astrology among Gen Z and millennials. ‘A growing number of young people [...] have turned away from traditional organised religion and are embracing more spiritual beliefs and practices like tarot, astrology, meditation, energy healing and crystals,’ reported the LA Times in 2019. At the same time, Sweden has gained cultural capital and recognition over the past few years through popular TV crime dramas such as The Bridge. ‘In our target markets (UK and the US) and beyond, we see an increased appetite for all-things-dark in culture,’ said Engström. ‘Fantasy and horror dominate film, TV, literature and even podcasts – a format booming in consumption but underused by brands. The culturally explosive nature of anything unreal or haunting made us think: What if we could attract people by scaring them away?’
Listen up / Using audio helped Visit Sweden create an immersive experience. ‘We wanted to shift the perspective from sight-seeing to feeling, and using sound was the perfect way to get people’s imagination going,’ said Engström. ‘With audio, you can create an intimate experience that really brings the story to life in the person’s head – it’s almost like being in it. Which when you think of it, is quite perfect for a destination brand.’ The media choice is both cost-effective (Sweden is a small country and so was Visit Sweden’s budget, says Engström) and can travel across markets. ‘We wanted to bring Swedish nature to life in a modern, horror-themed folk-saga, created to unlock a new dimension of the travel experience that is more sensory and emotional.’ The geo-lock feature is an example of how to use tech simply and effectively – and for maximum PR. It doesn’t matter that most people who read about this won’t experience it, it matters that journalists write about the campaign.
