ACEEPT 2013 Finland Pre-task 2: Branding Finland and Ostrobothnia
Team Belgium
Pre-task 2: Branding Finland and Ostrobothnia
Getting to know Finland, Ostrobothnia and the main towns (Pietarsaari, Kokkola, Kalajoki)
Documentaries about Finland
In Belgium there is one television channel that has 2 tv-shows who made documentaries about Finland, namely ‘Vlaanderen Vakantieland’ (Flanders Country of vacation) and ‘Iedereen beroemd’ (Everyone famous).
In ‘Vlaanderen Vakantieland’ they’ve visited 2 parts of Finland. The first documentary ‘Fun in Finland’ was about Lapland, more specifically Kuusamo, and the second one about Äland and the Finnish coastal area.
‘Iedereen Beroemd’ is a daily tv-show on one of the most popular channels in Belgium. It is not really a tourism or travelling show, but a show about life, where they interview everyday people from everyday life. And they made a documentary ‘Weg van huis’ (Away from home) about a student who went to Finland for months to study and live there. Every now and then there’s a short video of the guy’s experiences in Finland. Another documentary of theirs, ‘Het berenspoor’ is one where the reporter of the show goes to Finland to do the big bears trail, among his road the reporter meets some eccentric Finnish citizens and their dangerous passions, it’s beautiful nature and many more.
The Finnish stereotype
Personal characteristics
According to what we have found, the Finnish are determined. They don’t give up easily. They are considered to be quiet, uncommunicative and unsocial, but on the contrary it is said that they are excellent listeners. They don’t interrupt the speaker. The Finnish are very competitive. They host championships in almost everything. They are also very polite. They wait their turn in queues, offer their seat to the elderly on public transport,… The Finnish tend to bottle up their feeling. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is not done in Finland.
Appearance and Fashion
All Finnish people are tall, have blue eyes and white skin. Finnish people usually wear warm clothes in bright colours to combat the typical months of cold and darkness.
Likes and dislikes
The Finns like technology (Nokia), especially their mobile phones. They also like their vodka and are proud of their numerous blends.
Favourite Pastimes
The Finnish love passing time at their cottage by the lake and enjoy a sauna. They also enjoy all kinds of sports: endurance sports, extreme sports and motor sports.
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What did you know about Finland and Ostrobothnia before your research? Where there any reasons why you had visited (or not) this country – region – city before?
Before our research we didn’t know much about Finland and Ostrobothnia. We knew that Finland has a lot of lakes and forests, that the country is known for its fish (especially salmon), that Helsinki is the capital, that Finland is a country with a beautiful nature and a lot of reindeer and that Santa Claus lives in Rovaniemi.
None of us has ever visited Finland before, we think one of the main reasons why we haven’t is because Finland is a pretty unknown destination for Belgian people. But we all are looking forward to go to Finland and Ostrobothnia and thanks to ACEEPT, this dream will come true. Did you easily find information on Finland and Ostrobothnia? If yes, was the information useful? Could you easily access the information? Was the information primarily digital or printed?
Websites about Finland, Ostrobothnia and its cities.
Information about Finland.
- Visitfinland: very beautiful site. Easy to use and full of information. - In Belgium: . Thomas Cook, Neckermann,… offer trips to Finland: They sell Lapland, Helsinki, the village of Santa Claus,… . Magazines tell us about Lapland, Helsinki, Finnish design, when and where to see the Aurora Borealis,…
Information about Ostrobothnia
- Information about this region is mostly difficult to find. When we type “visit Ostrobothnia” we get to see: . Ostrobothnia.fi: this site shows clearly where the region is but tells us very little about why we should visit it and what we can see over there. There are no pictures to see while Ostrobothnia has overwhelming views. . Phjanmaanmatkailu.fi: we can get a bit more information from this website (a link we can find on the previous website). The website is well structured but when we click on “do and see” we only get two options. This website tells us more than ostrobothnia.fi but the name of the site is rather difficult for tourists from abroad. We did find a very nice brochure on this website: Holiday in Ostrobothnia. Very nice brochure with lovely pictures. It is maybe a little bit difficult for tourists to discover which things are the most important to see in the region. . Wikipedia: here we can find some general information. . When we type “Ostrobothnia bezoeken”, we find very little sites about this subject. Most of the websites show us information about Northern or Southern Ostrobothnia.
Information about villages
- There is a big difference about the websites of the villages in Ostrobothnia. . Pietarsaari: we typed “visit Pietarsaari of jakobstad” and we found the website of the community with some touristic information. ACEEPT | Pre-task 2 – Branding Finland and Ostrobothnia 3
. We have found the touristic websites of Kokkola and Kalajoki. They were very beautiful and clear. . There is one website that is for us an ideal source of information for tourists: visitkristinestad.fi is trendy, clear and attractive. This is what we liked very much and we believe that it can be a real example.
Conclusion
We could not find information about Ostrobothnia or the villages on Belgian websites. For most of us the region is unknown. We think the region has a lot to offer and that it is a great opportunity to make promotion for foreign tourists.
Research on events in Ostrobothnia Events in Ostrobothnia for foreigners and tourists
The events we found are being held in the main cities of Ostrobothnia. We noticed that music festivals are really popular, as well as events with a focus on nature and arts.
Summer events
An example of a fun summer event:
Tangomarkkinat - Seinäjoki Tango Festival The Tangomarkkinat or Seinäjoki Tango Festival is one of the highlights of the Finnish summer. The festival is annually held in July in the town of Seinäjoki and attracts over 100 000 participants. The Seinäjoki Tango Festival is the world’s oldest tango festival and full with great feelings, exciting experiences and filled with concerts and dance contests.
Winter events
An example of a winter event:
Kokkola Opera Winter The Kokkola Opera Winter, organised from the 4th until the 10th of November 2013, has a programme of more than 30 events. The events include Shopping Operas, a series of chamber music concerts, Britten’s Let’s make an opera, Holst’s Savitri and the participation in opera clubs.
Events other than summer and winter events
An example of an event other than a summer or winter event:
JMAP - Jakobstad Music & Arts in Pietarsaari The Pietarsaari/Jakobstad Music & Arts Festival delivers an interesting music and arts programme for Finnish residents, foreigners and tourists. The Music & Arts Festival was hold during the first week of October and offered evenings filled with music and art, for example the ‘Trio Polaris’ and the ‘Thursday Jazz – Maratone Quintet’. The JMAP (Jakobstad Music & Arts in Pietarsaari) wants to deliver a strong platform for all year round marketing of music, arts and culture events in Pietarsaari.
Events for Ostrobothnian residents - The Ostrobothnian Events Calendar
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The Ostrobothnian Events Calendar offers a lot of events to choose from. The events are divided into different categories and target groups.
The categories
The categories are art and exhibitions, auctions, market days and flea markets, business occasions, conferences, fairs and seminars, courses and public lectures, dance, handicraft, literature, museums and folklore, music, recreation, religious events, sport, theatre, tours and cruises and other events (walks, marches, Christmas events…). An example of an event in the category art and exhibitions:
Art and exhibitions From the 12th October 2013 until the 5th of January 2014, the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art in Vaasa hosts the international group exhibition Thread and Paper, with photography, video art or paper art.
The target groups
The events are also classified according to different target groups. Ostrobothnia organises events for children, youth, students, elderly, entrepreneurs and immigrants.
An example of an event in the category elderly:
Elderly On the 8th November 2013, the municipality of Vaasa organised a senior fest in the city hall with games, lectures and speeches.
Give a definition to marketing through events and branding. How do you perceive the brand image of Finland especially the region of Ostrobothnia? Marketing through events or event marketing is the activity of designing and developing a promotion for a destination, a product, a cause or an organisation. This can be a themed activity, an interactive display, an occasion, a competition/contest, an exhibit, a free sample of something, a concert, a fair, a sporting event, a music festival… Event marketing brings together the 3 E’s (entertainment, excitement and enterprise) and the 5 P’s (product, price, place, public relations and positioning).
Branding is more than a name and a symbol. A brand is created and influenced by people, visuals, culture, style, perception, words, messages, PR, opinions, news media and especially social media. Like when a child is born and given a name, a brand needs nurturing, support, development and continuous care in order to thrive and grow. Some brands have a life cycle and grow old like people. Some brands are timeless and never die, are ‘born again’or reinvented, while some brands live a short but powerful life and have an iconic legacy.
Intended brand image Finland Finland has three themes that are branded and focused on: Silence Please, Wild and Free (nature) and Cultural Beat.
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Finland is a country that is very proud of its nature, its natural beauty and purity and that is how they want to promote their country. This is very obvious since they possess a lot of nature phenomena where you could have lots of unique natural experiences.
A second point is that they have a peaceful and quiet country, it is a place to get away from the daily stress. A country where authenticity and back-to-basics are very important. They also offer a great culture, they are functional and modern, creative (Finnish design).
To conclude: Finland wants to brand its country like a young and modern country with an adventurous image.
Perceived brand image Finland
We all have a certain image of Finland, but the same answers would always return. When we think of Finland, we think about: Lakes, trees, Santa Claus, Finnish design, snow, saunas, reindeers and the northern lights. But Finland has definitely a lot more to offer than the few things we know.
Intended brand image Ostrobothnia
Ostrobothnia wants to be represented as a quiet and breathtakingly beautiful region with friendly inhabitants. Ostrobothnia also has a very interesting history they want to share with all visitors.
Perceived brand image Ostrobothnia
Actually we didn’t know anything at all about this region when we heard about it for the first time. After looking up some information we realized that Ostrobothnia has a lot to offer and there are lots of opportunities to promote this region like the authenticity, the spaciousness, the history, the silence and the purity of this region and its nature. By searching this information we are definitely looking forward to visit this beautiful region.
Conclusion travel agencies
We thought it would be interesting to know where, when en how Belgian people go to Finland and how Finland, as a holiday destination, is promoted in Belgium. So we went to some travel agencies in Belgium.
We can conclude that: - Lapland and Helsinki are the most popular destinations in Finland, for Belgian people, to go to - Belgians go to Helsinki (most of the time Helsinki is included in a trip to the Baltic states)for a citytrip and to Lapland for a winter holiday - The most holidays in Finland are individual holidays with a focus on nature - The average Belgian travel agent has no idea where Ostrobothnia is situated (they have never heard of it before) - Finland is promoted as a destination for winter and snow holidays and for adventurous people who like/love nature - Only one or two people (per travel agency) chose for a holiday to Finland
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- For Belgians, Norway is the most popular Scandinavian destination (for its cruises to the Norwegian fjords) - When Belgians go to Scandinavia/Finland they go in winter
We also asked for travel brochures about Finland, but the travel agencies could only offer a brochure about Lapland or brochures about Scandinavia (with only one page about Finland). We can conclude that the average travel agency does not offer many trips to Finland.
Sources www.een.be/programmas/vlaanderen-vakantieland/fun-finland-met-cath www.een.be/programmas/vlaanderen-vakantieland/het-finse-scherengebied-met-sandra www.oa-pe.cz/_media/en/news/school-magazine-9.pdf www.festivals.fi www.jmap.fi www.kokkolaopera.com www.livingtheeasyway.fi www.ostrobothnia.fi www.provinssirock.fi www.supertravelnet.com www.talviharmonikka.com www.tangomarkkinat.fi www.vaasachoirfestival.fi www.jakobstad.fi www.jakobstadsregionen.fi www.kalajoki.fi www.lonelyplanet.com www.ostrobothnia.fi www.pohjanmaanmatkailu.fi www.visitfinland.com www.visitkalajoki.fi www.ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/eden/eden_network/meeting-10-06- 2010/jaakko_lehtonen_en.pdf www.medialetics.blogspot.be/2011/02/branding-finland.html www.alexstubb.com/artikkelit/2009-01%20BW%20Stubb%20Brand.pdf www.livingtheeasyway.fi/en/document.aspx?docID=10312&smi=1&TocID=1
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