Broadband, computer literacy and high standards — just a few of the reasons why Swedish advertising agencies are among the best in the world, at least on the web. And that is where it is all happening.
15 MB of Fame: One of the most successful Swedish ad campaigns ever. Photo: www.reklam.se
Internet advertising is rarely seen by the masses to the same extent as an advertising slot on prime-time TV or the ad on page three of a national newspaper. But it often reaches the right audience directly, an increasingly important commodity in a fragmented media world.
Next year, zero growth is predicted in the advertising industry due to a declining economy. However, web advertising is on the increase as a more cost-effective form of marketing.
When it comes to web advertising, Swedish advertising agencies are among the best in the world. Every year the Gunn Report lists the top advertising agencies worldwide based on their performance in various creative competitions. The latest list, published in winter 2007, was cheerful reading for Swedish agencies. Of the 10 main agencies in digital marketing, four were Swedish: Farfar, Forsman & Bodenfors, Great Works and Lowe Brindfors.
Success is measured on the French Riviera
The most prestigious awards are handed out at the annual advertising festival in Cannes. The Gothenburg-based agency Forsman & Bodenfors won the Media Lion Grand Prix 2008 for its AMF Pension campaign. The campaign encouraged young Swedes to send in a picture of themselves via their cell phones. The image was then digitally manipulated to show them what they would look like aged 70.
For Swedish advertising agencies a golden egg is recognition of a cracking idea. Photo: www.reklam.se
The meeting of digital and analog worlds is one of the strongest trends in advertising in recent years. Great Works, which has offices in Stockholm, Barcelona, New York and Tokyo, has taken that concept to another level. For one of its campaigns, visitors to the Absolut Vodka website could key in a melody on their keyboard. They could then watch via webcam as two robotic bands — one housed in a garage in Brooklyn, the other in the PUB department store, Stockholm — played variations of the same tune. The campaign involved 47 people, not all of them in advertising. Two of them, for example, were engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Bold marketing pays in the long run
Great Works picked up a gold award in Cannes for its Absolut Machines campaign in the Cyber Lions category. Ted Persson, creative director, says: “Did it sell vodka? Maybe not directly, but if you look at Vin & Sprit sales in the spring, it demonstrated what an enormously strong brand Absolut is. That's thanks to all the bold marketing over the years.”
Pia Grahn Brikell of Advertising Association of Sweden says Swedes' IT literacy has rubbed off on advertising. Photo: Niclas Ryberg/Scanpix.
Great Works has worked with Absolut as its main web advertising agency for many years, and few partnerships have earned as much praise. Their success, Persson explains, comes from doing a good job, but there are other reasons too. Since the 1990s, Swedes have really embraced the internet.
High standards
“Sweden is also an engineering country,” Persson says. “We are interested in new technology. That, combined with our creativity, has made us strong. We have very high standards. In New York there are more people who work in our industry than all of Sweden. A lot of good advertising comes from there, but also a lot of bad advertising, which would never be accepted in Sweden.”
Company culture also differs markedly in Sweden from that of the United States. Large, cumbersome and bureaucratic business structures often inhibit employees’ creativity in the US. Persson says this prevents exciting solutions going all the way from initial idea to finished campaign. It’s easier to get support for and carry out your ideas in Sweden.
”We go for good and fun ideas. We also work with professional clients, and find ourselves in a position where we can afford to turn away customers who do not want creative solutions. That helps us get good results internationally.”
Trend sensitive
Pia Grahn Brikell, CEO of Sveriges Reklamförbund (Advertising Association of Sweden) points out that 9 of the 20 Lions awarded to Swedish agencies in Cannes this year were in the Cyber category. Like Persson, she says Swedes’ IT habit played an important role in that success.
“There are other factors too. We have always been good at communication in Sweden. We have a long history of commercial communication. We have brave marketing managers who dare to test different approaches.
“Swedes as a people look outward and let themselves be inspired by others. We're trend sensitive and that shows in our design, fashion, music and advertising.”
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Erik Esbjörnsson
Erik Esbjörnsson has monitored web advertising for the Swedish trade magazine Resumé and is today the editor for the trade and industry site E24.
The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.
Translation: Mikaela Hincks
Classification: A264EN
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