Swedish Institute
Telling the real Stories from Sweden
Market & Audience insights
Concept & content
Channel & activity planning
Campaign roll-out
Analysis & optimization
Sweden is a nation famous for its entrepreneurial spirit, pop music export, beautiful furniture shipped in flat packaging, accessible fashion available worldwide, that tennis player who later started an underwear brand, and sometimes… people confuse us with Switzerland.
The Swedish Institute is a one of a kind public agency that promotes interest and trust in Sweden around the world. Almost like the country’s own PR-, advertising- and branding agency. When the Swedish Institute approached us they had been met with a challenge. They had realised that one of their most important digital touchpoints to spread awareness around Sweden was their YouTube channel – Sweden’s official YouTube channel. And now they needed a strategy and activation concept for how to use their channel in order to expand their following.
Without people, a country is just land. It’s the people who give us perspective and puts everything in context.
What we did
Building on audience insights to create content they want – with stories they didn’t know they wanted.
Outside of Swedes, Americans are the largest audience of the channel, and millennials in particular. Building on a “dig where you stand” mentality we wanted to make use of our knowledge of that audience and their demands on YouTube as a platform to further strengthen the subscription count initially. That following could then be used to create a lookalike audience for further expansion into new audiences and markets.
With the educational and lifestyle segment dominating the audience’s YouTube habits we created the concept “Stories From Sweden”. A series of short films telling the stories you usually don’t hear from the country. Stories about Swedes doing extraordinary things.
What we achieved
The largest monthly follower growth in the history of the channel – with a margin
Launching during a three week period with an activation plan consisting of platform optimized teaser assets we managed to increase the monthly subscription gain with 300% compared to the month’s prior. To further confirm our decision in using the audience data to fuel the creative process in deciding what stories to tell, the videos had an average view through rate of 75%.
Monthly subscriber gain
Average episode VTR
Pop star Robyn wants to empower women
Swedish pop star Robyn wants to get more girls into technology. That’s why she teamed up with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and founded Tekla, a festival that provides a safe space for young girls to dive into the world of technology. The artwork seen in this film are by textile artist Malin Bobeck Tadaa.
The Fashion Library
A day in the life of the sustainable fashionista Sara. To contribute to a healthier planet she founded “The Fashion Library”, a place where you can lease designer clothes. Follow her from early morning to rush hour to party with her friends, and learn how harsh realizations about the fashion industry forced her to take action.
Dinner with strangers
During the preparation of tonights dinner, Ebba, founder of United Invitations, tells us how she realized how segregated her home town of Stockholm really was, but also how the solution might be as simple as a dinner.
The Gender Photographer
Tomas, also known as “The Gender Photographer", travels for a photoshoot with Johan Adolfsson, Head of Communications in Gävle county, Sweden. But this is no ordinary photoshoot.
Live free or die
Birgitta lives all alone in the Swedish mountains - 11 kilometres from the closest public road. Now 80 years old, she reflects back on her life and about finding a place to call home, so isolated from everything many of us take for granted.