Мs. Jenny Engström - PR at Svenska Turistföreningen
Three years ago, the Swedish Tourist Association launched a unique project called the Swedish Number. The occasion for this project was the 250th anniversary of Sweden's abolition of censorship, and promotion of the state. Everyone could be an ambassador; it was enough to download an app to register their number and mark their availability to an unknown caller from any point in the world.
What was the main goal?
We had three main goals with the campaign. First to Achieve an increased revenue from membership fees. Then to Increase the number of people who are interested in becoming members of STF. Last but not least brand rejuvenation and re-appraisal of STF for a younger target audience by driving more interest in Sweden and its nature, crucially by rapidly developing international awareness in Sweden as a country and travel destination.
What has this project done to Sweden and its citizens?
Due to the massive international success of the Swedish Number, we managed to create national pride in Sweden and make both the Swedes and the world more interested in Sweden. The Swedish Number redefined the rules of traditional tourist advertising. Sweden does not have landmarks like the Eiffel tower or the Tower of Pisa. It is not a common subject to write about in the foreign press, it does not have a big budget to buy global media, and is not a natural holiday choice, BUT it has its people. And these citizens are open people who love to talk about their country with foreigners. So, by giving people a platform to freely discuss and discover the destination together with a complete stranger, we achieved a much bigger stand out and impact than showing the most beautiful pictures of nature and landmarks. Because who can “sell” Sweden better than the people (ambassadors) who live there?!
Have there been any prominent results from this project? Have you done any analysis?
Yes, we have done some analysis.
By initiating the Swedish Number and giving the brand of Sweden to the Swedes themselves, we created over 180 000 unique meetings between the Swedes and people from all over the world, and became one of the most talked about campaigns of 2016, generating 9.324 billion media impressions and an estimated PR value of 146 621 169 USD.
From a commercial point of view, the objective was to slow down the rapid decline in memberships by 25 %. The outcome was 50 %. We saw a 7.5 % increase in memberships via the web and 41.6 % of these came in during the three months following the campaign. We also saw a 70 % increase in new memberships in the age segment 16-25 years, and a 35 % increase in the age segment 25-30, historically the most difficult groups for us to reach. There was also an increase in the renewal of memberships. The campaign, which ran for 73 days, will have a financial impact over five years with a ROMI of 6 912 % and a short term (12 months) ROMI of 1 302 %.
The phone number +46 771 793 336 is not easy to remember, so does this number combination have a special meaning? Did you think about to create an easy one to remember?
The number translates to 0771 – SWEDEN. Which was a great number to communicate.
Would you please share some of the call transcripts?
We have no transcripts saved, but it was very interesting that over 73 days basically the whole world called Sweden. We received calls from 190 countries.
Famous phone ambassadors included Swedish Prime minister Stefan Löfven, as well as the opposition party leader Anna Kindberg Batra, who both took the phone and answered for Sweden. Famous YouTuber Pewdiepie and world-famous actress Alicia Wikander participated as well.
What were the main obstacles during this project? Did you get any support from the government?
The main obstacle was that we had not counted on the massive success of the Swedish Number. We had not developed the app for the huge number of people that wanted to download it and take calls. We did not have personnel resources to take all the calls from media all over the world, and handle all the questions and comments we received about the campaign. A small number of people basically worked around the clock.
We had no government support.
What are the future goals of the the Swedish number project and Svenska Turistforeningen?
The Swedish Number has been shut down for three years now, but we still get a lot of attention because of the campaign, and it has given us a platform to speak about our organization and our purpose – to make it possible for more people to discover Sweden. We always look for more projects and initiatives to further our cause, and are always dedicated to get more people to travel in Sweden.
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