we knøw scandinävia

Transcription

we knøw scandinävia

Knowledge is the
way forward
envision is a knowledge-seeking agency.
We believe that insight is the way forward,
and we work continuously to learn more
about consumers, markets and society in
general. This is the way to identify new
consumer areas and a wealth of ideas for
the development of original and effective
communication. And we are happy to share
our knowledge.
envision A/S Christiansgade 30 DK-8000 Aarhus C
Telefon: +45 8730 2800 [email protected] envision.dk
WE KNØW
SCANDINÄVIA
– H O W TO W I N H E A RTS A N D
M A R K E T S H A R E I N S C A N D I N AV I A
Introduction
Expert contributions
Being puzzled .......................................... page 5
Scandinavia in key figures ..................... page 8
Snapshot of the
Scandinavian consumer.......................... page 10
The scandinavians are not
who you think they are ........................... page 44
Interview with anthropologist Dennis Nørmark
The Scandinavian
consumer survey
Crossing borders...................................... page 14
A survey of how Danes, Norwegians
and Swedes view advertisements
The national spirit of
television advertising .............................. page 16
Successful communication in Denmark,
Norway and Sweden
Conclusion and tools
The advertiser’s guide to Scandinavia...
The North Star – before you set off.........
The Scandinavian Value Barometer.......
Theory in practice. A fictitious case.......
The retail industry calendar...................
Top tips from advertisers and experts....
page 26
page 28
page 30
page 32
page 34
page 36
Cases
Welcome to the front page, angler girl ..
Boys playing with dolls...........................
The most sensitive toes............................
We are all equal in the kitchen. Almost ..
Page 2
page 40
page 41
page 42
page 43
Living and surviving with a Swede........ page 48
Interview with 14 mixed Scandinavian couples
Our hearts are in the countries
we live in.................................................. page 52
Article by business journalist Kirsten Weiss
The Scandinavians from above............... page 54
interview with Head of Research
Marion Lobedanz, Copenhagen Airport,
Cabin Crew Manager Camilla Berg Hansen
and SAS flight attendants
The feeling of Scandinavian community
does not exist............................................ page 56
Interview with Nordic Co-Production Acquisition
Manager at Nordisk Film Lone Korslund
WE KNØW
SCANDINÄVIA
Ideas, research, text,
layout and publication:
envision A/S
2014
envision:publishing
ISBN: 978-87-994250-2-0
The nine commandments:
The Scandinavians according to Ålen.... page 57
Interview with film producer and
co-founder of Zentropa Peter Aalbæk
The Scandinavian advertising landscape.. page 60
Interview with Patronelle Panérus, CEO Great
Works (SE). Interview with Niels Heilberg,
Chairman of the Board of Creative Circle (DK)
Interview with Aris Theophilakis,
CEO Futatsu Industries (NO)
Sources.......... page 62
CONTENT
Page 3
”Wisdom begins
with wonder” Socrates (470-399 BC)
Being puzzled
Time and again, large, reputable brands attract unwanted media attention when their advertising campaigns inadvertently tread on the toes of our Scandinavian neighbours. What for the Danes may be a
stylish cleavage on a beautiful woman, a harmless
hair dryer in the hands of a young girl or an innocent
joke can quickly become detrimental to brand image
when we export the message just a few hundred kilometres north. This surprises us.
”“60-70 percent of Norwegians have a
national costume ... and this is despite
the fact that a costume costs between
15,000 and 50,000 Danish kroner”
Rikke Kolbech Andersen and Anne Mette Christiansen,
information.dk
OUCH!
It goes without saying that you have to know your
target group in order to engage it. envision works
with clients across Scandinavia, and we also form
part of a wider Nordic network. Unfortunately, it is
not unusual to see communication between countries being based on vague ideas about the target
group – rather than on actual knowledge. This can
lead to problems: Imagine that you have laid the table
for a celebration dinner, lit the fondue, seated your
guests around the table – only at that moment to discover that all of your guests are allergic to cheese. You
have already invested a fortune in the meal, the atmosphere is ruined, but worse still – your reputation
may also be wrecked!
Being clever in hindsight is easy, and we understand
very well that mistakes happen. Danes, Norwegians
and Swedes seem very similar if you compare us to
countries just slightly further afield: We have steady
governments, a low level of corruption, relatively low
unemployment, women are in the labour market,
birth rates are good (compared to the rest of Europe)
and we have a high level of trust in other people. But
we are also very different. To their surprise, companies like Jack & Jones, Fætter BR and the Swedish
burger chain Max have had to recognise this fact.
A recognition that hurt.
Wise and rich
When envision investigates something, we dig deep.
This means that our results never fit into a small
Page 4
pamphlet or folder. You will have to plough through
64 pages of surveys, interviews, insights and good
advice.
Besides delving deeply into various consumer surveys and statistics, we asked 3000 consumers across
Sweden, Norway and Denmark about their attitudes
to and preferences in advertising. We interviewed anthropologists, sociologists, marketing executives and
lawyers to map the differences that mean applause in
one location and a good beating in another. Because
we want to understand why things are as they are and
to find out how safely to overcome the obstacles.
We have also collected know-how and advice from
people who, like us, work across borders on a daily
basis, people like Peter Aalbæk from Zentropa and
Lone Korslund from Nordisk Film. We have spoken
to the Head of Research at Copenhagen Airport and
ten Scandinavian flight attendants. We have gained
interesting insights from a business journalist specialising in Scandinavian mergers and negotiations
and from advertising experts in all three countries.
We have spoken to the people who live with these
differences every day, i.e. 14 mixed Scandinavian
couples. We have found four exciting cases that illustrate the dos and don’ts among the traditional Norwegians, the modern Swedes and the jovial Danes.
With all this, we promise that you will be a great deal
more knowledgeable by the time you have read the
next 64 pages. At least we are – both about our neighbours and ourselves. If you heed our advice, you will
hopefully be able to avoid the most common pitfalls
on your way to winning the hearts and minds of consumers – and most importantly of all: enjoying greater success, especially on your bottom line.
Brief insight into results
You do not have to wait until the last page to enjoy
the benefits of this report – here is a sneak preview:
envision’s survey shows clearly that significant differences in cultural nuance exist among the three
countries. Differences that are vitally important to the
way in which we decode and view advertising and
communication.
It also shows that it is the dangerous preconception
about identical markets that explains why things
sometimes go wrong. The only way to fight this preconception is with knowledge – you have to engage
in a dialogue with your target group or with people
who know about the target group. Gathering and
sharing knowledge is vitally important for the success of any Scandinavian campaign. Local product
managers often possess the insight that will make a
difference to the marketing manager and the advertising agency. There are also a handful of warning signs
that advertisers should always be aware of. If one or
more of these elements are in play in your advertising, you should carry out tests and think carefully
before you overstep the mark. These warning signs
include humour, violence, minorities, sex and children – but more danger areas follow in our report.
There are also general factors in play in any society
that should make advertisers stop and think. These
may include climate-related disasters, financial crises, such as the one we are currently experiencing,
which increases differences in consumption and
mentality in each country. But these factors may also
include acts of terrorism, such as the Utøya massacre
in Norway, which obviously affect the general atmosphere in a country and move the tolerance threshold
for what is acceptable in marketing terms – even if
only for a certain a period of time.
At envision, we like the fact that the
complex is easy and tangible to
work with in practice. That
WARNING
is why we have develOur
report
is not primary
oped a model called the
research.
This
report has been
North Star. We hope
thoroughly
prepared
on the basis
that the North Star will
of
solid
research
peppered
with
make the life of adverour
own
candid
opinions
in
tisers easier and marplaces
where
we
have
just
not
keting more effective
been able to keep quiet. You
in Scandinavia.
have been warned.
Enjoy!
Page 5
European Coffee Report 2010/11
“Let us start by making it very clear:
We are incredibly similar.”
A Dane drink
an average of
3.4 cups of
coffee a day
A Norwegian
drink an average
of 3.9 cups of
coffee a day
A Swede drink
an average of
3.2 cups of
coffee a day
Scandinavia in key figures
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Area: 43.561 km2
Area: 323.787 km2
Area: 450.295 km2
Inhabitants: 5.580.516
Population density: 130,1 inhabitants per km2
Gross national product per person: 114
(index EU-15 = 100)
(index EU-15 = 100)
(index EU-15 = 100)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2,7 %
Economic growth: 1,7 %
Unemployment: 7,6 %
Unemployment: 3,3 %
Unemployment: 7,5 %
Life expectancy: 79,5 år
Daily smokers: 23,0 %
Daily smokers: 20,5 %
Daily smokers: 14 %
Percentage of population morbidly obese: 9,5 %*
Marriages ending in divorce: 53,25 %
Fertility rate: 1,76
Share of parental leave taken by father: 7,7 %
Source: Nordic Statistical Yearbook (2012).
*nationmaster.com
Page 8
Page 9
Snapshot of the
Scandinavian
consumer
Average food consumption
per household
Money, money, money
Before we look at specific purchases, we need to look
at our consumption framework: our economy. Our
disposable income measured in purchasing power
parity is the best basis for comparison as purchasing
power parity takes into account various relative costs
of living and inflation rates in each country.
Average disposable income
in purchasing power parity
Adult
below the
age of 65
2009
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Adult
over the
age of 65
Two adults
below the
age of 65
Two adults
aged 65
or above
The price of a Big Mac in January 2013
Norway: USD 7.84 (NOK 43.00)
Sweden: USD 7.62 (SEK 48.40)
Denmark: USD 5.18 (DKK 28.50)
The price of an IKEA Expedit shelf in March 2013
Norway:USD 239.97 (NOK 1,395.00)
Sweden:USD 199.93 (SEK 1,295.00)
Denmark: USD 172.40 (DKK 999.00)
The Economist / ikea.com
What we spend our money on
Percentage of total
consumption
Food, drinks and tobacco
Fashion and beauty (clothes,
shoes, skin care etc.)
Home (rent, furniture, equipment, water, electricity etc.)
Transport
Entertainment, culture,
restaurants etc.
Miscellaneous
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
16
19
16
5
6
5
33
28
34
13
14
13
15
19
17
18
14
15
Source: PEJ-Gruppen: Tid & Tendenser #01, 2012
14.957
21.751
16.570
13.593
19.220
13.888
23.188
32.684
25.824
17.150
25.980
20.706
From DST.dk, SSB.no and SCB.se
The Danes are in last place after both the Swedes
and, in particular, Norwegians who have a significantly higher disposable income – irrespective of
the type of household surveyed. On the other hand,
products are slightly cheaper in Denmark – illustrated here by The Economist’s so-called Big Mac and
IKEA indices.
nation is also that an increasing number of Scandinavians own more properties. Many own either a summer cottage, a holiday apartment or have made a
parental purchase in the form of student accommodation for their children. But regardless of how we look
at it, the fact is that the Scandinavians prioritise their
homes in their finances. Despite the crisis, nothing
seems to indicate that what they spend on their
homes will decrease in future.
Home sweet home
So how do we spend our money? An eye-catching
item in our budget is our home which across Scandinavia eats up approximately one third of disposable
income after tax. Figures include everything from acquisition and financing to maintenance, furniture
and other household effects.
This is a large percentage compared to other European countries. The home means a great deal to all
Scandinavians. It is our face to the world and our
oasis in an otherwise hectic life. But part of the expla-
The nature of consumption is, however, probably set
to change. Where people previously focused on prestige, showing off and status symbols, they now have
a tendency to focus more on sustainability in their
interior design, ethics, responsibility and morality.
A sustainable choice of materials, energy-saving
improvements and health are all areas that are seeing
in rapid growth across Scandinavia.
In Norway, far fewer people live in rented accommodation than in Denmark and Sweden. Across Scandinavia, the villa and other single-family houses are the
most common homes. But they differ a great deal in
terms of style: Both Norwegians and Swedes like
wood and build houses of wood which also has
something to do with the huge forestry industry in
those countries. Despite a rise in recent years, homes
built of wood are still relatively rare in Denmark
(Niels Svendsen, Green House). The Swedish style of
interior design is modern while the Norwegians prefer a Romantic rustic chic. The Danes like to keep
things classic and less busy and ornamental than the
Norwegians.
Source: Tid & Tendenser. #01, 2012, Niels Svendsen, Green House
Norway
6,3 kg
6,2 kg
5,8 kg
Potatoes
55 kg
71,3 kg
83,6 kg
Sweden
Sugar, honey and syrup
33,5 kg
35,6 kg
40,0 kg
Vegetables
70,0 kg
82,4 kg
73,5 kg
103 kg
Fruit
90,0 kg
82,4 kg
Beef
28 kg
20 kg
25 kg
Pork
58 kg
24 kg
36 kg
1,1 kg
Lamb
1,3 kg
5,5 kg
Fish
23 kg
37 kg
27 kg
Chicken
23 kg
11,5 kg
14 kg
3,8 kg
Cream – 10-29% fat
3,5 kg
3,3 kg
Cream – more than 29% fat
4 liter
6 liter
6 liter
Milk
87 liter
118 liter
111 liter
Cheese
25 kg
16 kg
18 kg
Butter
1,9 kg
2,9 kg
1,5 kg
Eggs
Soft drinks
Values, mentality and attitudes can also be extrapolated from our consumption patterns. We draw a picture of
consumers in the three Scandinavian countries to enable you to get to know them and their preferences a little better.
The picture has changed radically since 2007 because
the financial crisis turned consumption patterns in
Scandinavia upside down. Denmark went into reverse
while Norway continued on its existing course. Some
differences between the countries have become more
extreme while others have vanished entirely. But in
many ways we (still) resemble each other.
Denmark
Rice
17 kg
11 kg
13 kg
97 liter
68 liter
67 liter
Source: PEJ Gruppen: The New Scandinavia p. 40 (2011)
Ready to eat
Organic?
Traditionally, the Scandinavians have not occupied
any kind of important position on the global culinary
map. It is only recently that restaurants like Noma
have brought Nordic Cuisine to the attention of gourmets – just as the Swedes have a long and illustrious
tradition for Michelin stars and celebrity chefs. Norway cannot quite keep up and on the whole has a very
different food culture. This may be because the Norwegians have applied import duties to a wide range of
products, including food. It is interesting to note that
the Norwegians eat ready meals and frozen products
far more than the Danes or Swedes do. People joke that
frozen pizza has replaced lamb and cabbage stew as
the national dish of Norway. To be fair, the Norwegian
love of frozen food should be seen in the light of the
size of the country. The distribution situation in Norway is very different to what it is in Denmark.
When it comes to organic produce, the differences
are very noticeable. Denmark had an early start and
is now world champion with the highest consumption of organic produce per annum – and rapid
growing exports. Norway is at the other end of the
scale in the western world and Sweden is somewhere in the middle. It should also be said that the
Norwegians prefer Norwegian products which they
already consider to be extraordinarily pure and
healthy. This may explain why they do not seek out
organic produce to the same degree. The Scandinavians are at different stages of development: Danish
consumers expect to an organic alternative – Norway and Sweden still have a great untapped market
for organic produce. Overall, health and well-being
are a growth segment in these two markets.
The Danes love meat – especially beef, pork and
chicken while the Norwegians prefer fish and lamb.
Both Norwegians and Swedes drink more milk than
the Danes. The slim Norwegians eat by far the most
vegetables, and the modern Swedes eat the most fruit.
On the other hand, the unhealthy Danes win hands
down when it comes to soft drinks while Norway
leads the way in coffee consumption. The Norwegians drink as much as 3.9 cups per inhabitant per
day – thereby coming second in the world among the
top coffee-loving nations. Only outdone by the Finns.
The Danes come fourth in the world with 3.4 cups
compared to the ‘modest’ 3.2 cups drunk by the
Swedes. (To compare, the Brazilians only drink 2.3
cups per inhabitant).
Sale of organic food per inhabitant in EUR
(growth in %)
2009
2010
2011
DK
139
142 (2,2 %)
162 (14,1 %)
NO
24
24 (0,0 %)
32 (33,3 %)
SE
75
86 (14,7%)
94 (9,3 %)
Source: Numbers from 2009 and 2010: FiBL Survey, 2012
(figures from 2009 and 2010). Numbers from 2011:
FiBL-AMI-IFOAM Survey 2013 and FiBL & IFOAM (2013):
The World of Organic Agriculture 2013
Television! Television! Television!
Scandinavians watch less television than the rest of
Europe. The liberalisation of the television market
occurred relatively late in Scandinavia which is why
the choice of channels was limited for longer than
was the case in southern Europe. But developments
in recent years show that television is gaining ground.
It is particularly surprising that the Danes’ daily consumption of television has risen by as much as 35%
from 2000 to 2010 as opposed to only 11-12% among
Swedes and Norwegians. Currently, the Danes watch
significantly more television than their neighbours.
Average time spent watching television:
Minutes per day
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
210
157,5
105
52,5
0
200120022003 20042005200620072008200920102011
Nordicom 2011
It is interesting to note that the average time spent
watching television has risen so significantly when
the same period has seen increased access to and
use of the Internet. The explanation may be that the
number of programmes has also risen dramatically
and that big digital flatscreens in many homes have
made a difference.
As we watch more television, we also use more media simultaneously which tends to indicate that
our concentration on one medium has probably
Page 10
Page 11
The national focus of Norway is also reflected in the
way the Norwegians watch television where major
sporting events such as handball finals gather the
population in front of their televisions. In Denmark,
the most popular programmes are Friday entertainment and DR’s major drama series. In Sweden, the
big magnet is Donald Duck – or rather Kalle Anka –
and as many as 3.5 million Swedes gather in front of
the television every year to watch the Disney Christmas Special which has become something of an institution.
ference in how much they contribute to social dialogue. The Danes do not score very highly on engagement – i.e. their desire to produce and comment
on content. The Swedes, on the other hand, are at
the forefront as the most engaged social media users
(Carat, CCS Benchmark 2010, TNS Gallup/Google
– consumer barometer 2012). Overall, the Swedes
are ahead when it comes to technology. They have a
natural curiosity about technology and gadgets
which, in combination with a high level of public
sector support, has created fertile ground for digital
growth that has produced phenomena like Spotify.
As stated above, the Swedes also have a more international outlook in general, and they adopt new
trends faster than both the navel-gazing Danes and
the outdoorsy Norwegians.
Dr.dk – Danes are Nordic masters of watching TV
Carat, CCS Benchmark 2010, TNS Gallup/Google – consumer
deteriorated. The largest increase in consumption is
among the young who very much use television as a
secondary medium in large parts of their spare time.
Index Danmark/Gallup Marketing.
barometer 2012
Digital and social media
Internet penetration:
% of the population
Smartphone
Internet
100 %
75 %
50 %
25 %
0%
DK
NO
SE
Google/TNS Gallup 2012
Internet penetration in Scandinavia is more than
90% for all countries, and in Norway as many as
97% are online. Sweden has a slightly lower penetration of 90%, but has the best average Internet
speeds due to strong public sector support of digital
infrastructure. Denmark comes in in second place,
but is overall neither a digital pioneer nor a thirdworld digital country.
Page 12
A Norwegian hero
A Danish hero
Skater Johann Olav Koss
Businessman Simon Spies
A Swedish hero
Prime Minister Olof Palme
Seen on the basis of number of inhabitants, Norway
clearly has the highest number of newspaper readers. The sale of magazines and weekly papers is also
high in Norway. This love of reading probably has
something to do with the geography of Norway
where communication has traditionally taken place
through and around printed media in isolated areas.
Source: 2010, tu.se, Dansk Oplagskontrol, www.mediebedrifterne.no
Norway, Sweden and Denmark are ahead of the game
when it comes to advanced use of digital media.
Tablet
66% for the Swedes. The print runs of physical paid
newspapers have been in free-fall for many years
whereas the number of readers accessing newspapers online has been on the rise. Free newspapers
have, however, meant that there is still a relatively
large number of physical newspapers in circulation
– seen against the explosive popularity of online
newspapers. Denmark has a daily circulation of 1.4
million newspapers while Norway has 3.5 million
and Sweden has as many as 5.9 million copies.
E-commerce
The conclusion of TNS Gallup’s survey of Scandinavian e-commerce from 2012 was broadly: That Norwegians mostly buy holidays and holidays, the
Swedes prefer books and magazines and the Danes
shop for shoes and clothes. The Danes and Norwegians also prefer paying by credit or payment cards
while the Swedes are increasingly using different
payment options. This is especially due to the fact
that Norway and Denmark have very advanced payment infrastructures in place with national payment
cards such as Dankort and BankAxept. It is the
group aged 30-45 who shop most online in all of
Scandinavia. But in Norway and Sweden the percentage is almost as great in the under-30s age group.
It is interesting to note that 40% of online shoppers
are above the age of 60 in all three countries.
Source: Nordic e-commerce 2012, conducted by TNS Gallup
% of users on social media 2012
FACEBOOK
LINKEDIN
45
The high level of activity on the Internet is also seen
in the use of social media. More than 50% of Scandinavians are active on Facebook which is the dominating media platform across all three countries. In
2012, Denmark had nearly 3 million active users,
Sweden nearly 5 million while Norway had 2.7 million Facebook users. Social niche networks such as
Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are also represented in all three countries, but with somewhat lower
coverage.
Newspapers
While there is not much difference in terms of how
many people are using social media, there is a dif-
If you look at who read the newspapers, only 45%
of Danes read a physical newspaper every day while
the figure is 63% for the Norwegians and as much as
30
15
NORWAY
SWEDEN
The Norwegians spend a great deal of time on nature
and outdoor activities. Even the inhabitants of Oslo
prioritise fresh air and the mountains, and many
people have access to a holiday home. Many Norwegians leave the office early to go skiing or hiking.
The Norwegians do not just dream about nature and
replace it with natural interior design and television
programmes about nature. The country the Norwegians treasure so much and are so proud of they use
physically – and preferably on a daily basis. The
Norwegians are generally sporty and active, and the
number of morbidly obese is lower in Norway than
it is in the rest of Scandinavia.
The Norwegians are the third richest nation in the
world measured by personal fortune and they are
good at sharing: Norway is the world’s largest contributor to aid organisations, and the Norwegians
feel they should take care of the weakest in society.
The Swedes in brief
TWITTER
60
0
The Norwegians in brief
DENMARK
Sources: SocialBakers, Overskrift.dk, Halogen.no, Kreafon.se
NOTE: Statistics are based on several sources and are therefore not
100% comparable misc. national surveys 2012
Despite their prosperity, the Norwegians do not
have much in common with Uncle Scrooge. Most
Norwegians are humble and some of them even feel
almost guilty about their prosperity. The sale of luxury goods is, however, also growing, seemingly unaffected by the financial crisis in neighbouring
countries. The Norwegians are willing to drive far to
go shopping and are not spoilt in terms of experience concepts and shopping centres. The retail industry is characterised by so-called ‘box concepts’.
If the products are there, the Norwegians are largely
happy to find what they need in a warehouse somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
The Swedes are the modern Scandinavians. They
are always up to date with the latest trends and
were, for example, the first people in Europe to purchase mobile telephones.
The Swedes have been freed from traditional values,
they are unsentimental, but also nice, correct and a
bit boring – in the opinion of the Danes and Norwegians.
Their ethical framework is in order, and they cherish
their spare time and private lives. The Swedes are
quality-conscious consumers, and they like to plan
ahead. The Swedes like to have facts at their fingertips and know the details of any product before they
buy. The Swedes live the longest and have the health-
The difference
between the
Scandinavian mentalities
becomes clear when
we identify a typical
iest lifestyle compared to
practise it to the same dehero for each of the
the Danes and Norwegians.
gree as their neighbours to
And the Swedes are the diplothe north. If a healthy lifestyle
three countries.
mats of Scandinavia – also in
can be accomplished with a pill
terms of their own sense of self –
and they fight for social equality and
non-discrimination between the sexes.
The Danes in brief
Then come the Danes. The Latinos of Scandinavia.
The Danes have the lowest life expectancy, are the
fattest, drink the most, smoke the most and have less
money at their disposal, but they are still the happiest. The Danes goes for the practical rather than ideological, and they are willing to bend the rules and
discuss things. They love to have a nice time, but are
also interested in a healthy lifestyle – they just do not
or a potion, that will be their solution of choice. The crisis hit Denmark, but already before it impacted the
country in earnest, the Danes were keen on
discounts and percentage signs in bright colours in
magazines and newspapers. The Danes love a good
bargain and are willing to drive to southern Sweden
or northern Germany to get it. They cross will happily cross borders for food, clothes, electronics and
other homeware if things are cheaper in Germany or
Sweden. They look up to talented business people
and entrepreneurs.
Page 13
Now we cross
the border
advertisers are planning to communicate across
Scandinavian borders – without overstepping any
boundaries.
Is making fun of minorities OK?
A survey of how Danes, Norwegians and Swedes view advertising.
In partnership with Analyse Danmark and Nordic
Research Alliance, envision conducted a survey of
Scandinavians’ attitudes to advertisements and advertising messages. What turns them on? What turns
them off? And more importantly: Why? The purpose
of the survey is to map and explain the differences.
With this knowledge, we are be able to avoid common pitfalls, but first and foremost achieve more effective marketing.
What is good advertising?
You would think that there would be just as many
responses as there are people in Scandinavia –
because taste is very subjective. Or is it? When
respondents were asked about the most important
criteria for good advertising, clear trends were still
very much in evidence.
Both Swedes and Norwegians responded that an advertisement is good when it provides information
and facts about the product/brand/service. It is also a
strong advertisement if it makes you laugh. The
Danes highlight the same two qualities, but they pri-
oritise a good laugh. Humour in advertising plays a
greater role for the Danes than for their neighbours to
the north. There is generally a growing tendency
these days for advertisements to have to highlight
unique product selling points if the brand is to survive. Great packaging, a fun story or a catchy jingle is
no (longer) enough. Consumers are more selective,
critical and have access to all the information they
want online. The product has to be able to take that.
Also seen in the light of these developments, it is interesting that the Danes still value a good laugh as the
very core of a good advertisement. This might suggest
that humour is simply more important to the Danes
than to their Scandinavian neighbours.
Is sex in advertising OK?
The trend is unmistakeable: The Danes’ tolerance of
sexual content and nudity in advertising is significantly higher than it is among their neighbours to the
north. It is in this area that Danish advertisers most
often experience adverse reaction from the Norwegians and Swedes when they inadvertently overstep
the mark.
As many as 43.5% of Danish respondents agree or
partially agree that sex in advertising is OK whereas
only 28.5% of Swedes feel the same. With 33.7%, the
Norwegians are closely aligned with the Swedes. In
1969, Denmark was the first country to legalise porn,
and the Danes still have some of the most liberal porn
legislation in the world. Sweden did not legalise
porn, but rather freed erotica. In Denmark, an increasingly liberal attitude to nudity developed throughout
the 1970s, but in Sweden things went the other way.
An almost radical feminism, which still informs the
debate today, developed, explains anthropologist
Jeppe Trolle from the University of Southern Denmark. It is not nude men either who cause trouble in
Sweden, but situations in which the female body is
used in marketing. Special attention and negative
coverage on blogs and various discussion fora (see
cases) will follow.
Seen in this light, it is not surprising that Denmark
and Sweden are at opposite ends of the scale. But the
fact that there is still such a relatively big difference
between the countries in 2013 is worth noting if
Which of the following
statements best describes
your perception of good
advertising? (max three
answers) Crossed by
country.
%
80
70
60
50
40
30
Base: DK: 1.000, SE: 1.000, NO: 1.000
Note: Multiple answers per. respondent
do not add to 100%
20
10
0
DK
”An advertising
is good when it
awakens feelings
in me ”
”An advertising is
good when it makes
me laugh ”
good when it tells
me informative
about the product /
service / brand”
”An advertising
is good when
it contains a
great offer”
good when it uses
famous people ”
None of these
SE
NO
Do not know
The basis of the consumer survey is a questionnaire to which a total of 3,000 people responded in the period 15-28 January 2013. The survey includes both multiple choice questions and open questions and was conducted with 1,000
respondents aged 18-70 in each country. The responses have been weighted for gender, age and region compared to the distribution of each country.
Page 14
Dwarves, redheads, gay people and the disabled. There are many examples of minorities attracting attention in advertising. But how do we feel
about the use of minorities? This
question seems to unite the
countries more than other issues do. Denmark again comes
out as the most liberal of the
three countries where 28.4%
say that they agree or partially
agree. Norway follows right behind with 24.6% and the Swedes
with 22.2%.
Danish liberalism in this area may be due to the fact
that the question was framed to examine whether violence is OK if used in a humorous way. We have
previously seen that humour is extremely important
to the Danes so something would indicate that the
Danes are willing to accept more extreme
forms of communication as long as they
are done tongue-in-cheek. We are
happy to watch bad things happen
to people as long as we are allowed to laugh at it.
”82.7% of
Norwegians
believes that
advertising aimed
at children should
be banned”
As described above, the Swedes are very politically correct. They behave nicely and do not like
conflict. This may explain the response of the
Swedes. The Norwegians have, says anthropologist
Jeppe Trolle, historically fought for the rights of the
vulnerable in society. The rights of the Sami to their
land have filled hearts and column inches in the political debate in Norway. There has also been a political will to ensure that even small farmers were able
to survive and fend for themselves. The Norwegians
have supported and nurtured diversity and individuality as part of the nationhood that is so important to
the (relatively) young independent Norway. In general, we can conclude that advertisers need to be careful here – regardless of the country they are marketing themselves in.
Is using violence in advertising OK if it is done in a
fun way?
The three countries are on a scale where Denmark
(again) shows itself to be the most broad-minded or
amoral country – depending on how you look at it.
29.9% believe that it is OK to use violence in advertising if it is done in a humorous way. At the other
end of the scale, we find Norway where only 21.7%
believe that this is acceptable. Sweden comes in close
to Norway at 23.3%. Why the difference? Norway’s
reservations may rest on several factors. We have
previously seen that the Norwegians generally
think about their fellow man and prefer to
show caution than risk hurting others –
even in advertising. Another possible explanation is that the Norwegians are still
affected by the Utøya tragedy in the
summer of 2011 when 77 young
people lost their lives in an act of
terrorism.
Advertisements aimed at children should be banned
As many as 82.7% of Norwegians agree with this whereas
only 63.8% of the Danes do. The
Swedes are in between at 77.7%.
This seems to indicate that the Norwegians are particularly aware of the need to
protect children from marketing messages. The
previous chairman of the Danish National Council
for Children Per Schultz Jørgensen confirms this:
“The attitude is in line with the fact that Norway was
the first country in the world to create an ombudsman for children. This happened back in 1981 before
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was
adopted in 1989.”
is more prepared to protect Norwegian culture and
identity,” believes Per Schultz Jørgensen.
The increased focus in Norway on protecting children is reflected in the attitude to using children in
advertising. The retail chain Bunnpris experienced
this as recently as in March 2013. In one of their advertisements, a boy is hit on the head by a football – a
situation that might happen on any football pitch anywhere in the world. But the Norwegian consumer
ombudsman Gry Nergård reacted and decided that
the advertisement was unethical and unreasonable.
She encouraged Norwegian business to stop the use
of physical pain as an element in advertising and
asked advertisers to show more vigilance where children were concerned. The same direct statement
would hardly have been forthcoming if the advertisement had been shown in the Danish market.
In Sweden and Norway, there is also a tradition for
more restrictive legislation on advertising aimed at
children than there is in Denmark. Per Schultz
Jørgensen also emphasises a general difference in the
three countries’ views on communication with children: “The commercialisation of childhood took
hold long ago in all three countries. But at different
paces: “Denmark is more inclined to sell out. Sweden
is still a bit critical, although developments there are
almost as far advanced as they are in Denmark. In
Norway, they try to take a protective approach to
children, and their responsiveness
has its roots in their history. In general,
Norway
Page 15
Is there a television
advertisement that has been
shown on Danish/Norwegian/
Swedish television within
the past six months that you
particularly like?
The national spirit
of TV advertising
?
In our questionnaire, we ask a number of qualitative,
open questions about Scandinavian attitudes to and
preferences in television advertising. The media
landscape in modern marketing is, of course, far
more nuanced, but we believe that television advertising provides a good basis for comparison and that
it provides a sensible reflection of the ‘national spirit’ in the respective advertising languages. Television advertising still has a place in Scandinavian
culture; Scandinavians talk about them in the workplace and over dinner. Both the ones they love – and
the ones they love to hate.
Our survey also showed that the Swedes are more
positive about television commercials. “Only”
61.2% of Swedish respondents fully or partly agree
that TV advertising is a disturbing element - against
84.5% in Denmark and 86.1% in Norway.
National v. international campaigns?
It is not surprising that it is the national advertisements that have been produced specifically for the
home market that the respondents in all three coun-
Page 16
tries highlight as being particularly good: For one
thing, we have deeper feelings for national brands
and we like to hear our own language – it is easy to
see through versioning.
International campaigns are created for a wide audience and this is not always compatible with eliciting
depth of feeling. This may be a good argument for
working with targeted marketing. The question is, of
course, always whether the additional production
costs of differentiated marketing will be worth it. Because although the campaign may not become an immediate hit, it does not mean that it will not be effective in the long run. This is a consideration that will
depend on the specific situation.
Learn – also about your home market
The survey clearly shows that there is no accounting
for taste across borders – and this is where the danger of missing the target becomes very real. If you
work entirely in the Danish market, you will be able
to learn a great deal about what works for the Danes.
NOTE!
?
?
?
?
? ?
? ?
We have omitted our own campaigns from the
survey responses, but this has not affected results. It is also important to emphasise that we
have specifically asked about campaigns in the
past six months, but consumers’ memories of
advertisements are relatively short. This means
that there may well be advertisement universes
that have not been mentioned because they did
not appear among the advertisements in the period covered by the survey. Conversely, there
may also be popular series and universes that
were mentioned, but were not shown on television during this period. We also want to emphasise that we have not investigated whether the
television advertisements the respondents
highlight as particularly good are also effective.
A certain effect should, however, be attributed
to these advertisements – based solely on how
memorable they seem to be.
?
?
?
Why do you
like this
particular
television
advertisement?
?
?
?
?
? ?
?
?
?
?
?
Is there a television
advertisement that has
been shown on Danish/
Norwegian/Swedish
television within the
past six months that you
particularly dislike?
Why do you dislike this
particular television
advertisement?
?
?
?
?
?
?
The national spirit of TV-advertising
Successful elements in Danish television
advertising
Coarse humour, preferably with sexual
or lavatorial undertones
Pithy dialogue and wordplay
Revue-type caricatures
Serials
Popular actors
Challenging authority
Caring for the local environment
High sound level, if funny lines are involved
Dynamic editing
Bargains
?
The vulgar Danes
The most
popular tvcommercials
in Denmark
In general, humour is what excites the Danes when it
comes to advertising! The Danes’ favourite genre
seems to be the slightly coarse popular comedy with
pithy lines and hints at or direct references to
everything below the belt. The genre is fast-paced –
both in terms of editing and sound level.
?
?
Farting is good!
Clumsy Hans and celebrities
OK Benzin is also rated highly by the Danes and one
of the advertisements mentioned is about a cycling
team who create a tailwind for themselves by eating
cabbage. This is a textbook example of how much the
Danes love farting jokes – a phenomenon that is not
at all shared by the other Scandinavians.
For several years, You See have used the popular actor
Dejan Kujic as their frontman. In this advertisement he
is in the commentator box where he plays a role that
the Danes love: Clumsy Hans challenging authority
and exposing ‘clever’ advertising tricks.
Popular comedies and stereotypes
?
?
?
L’Easy’s popular advertising universe featuring Luffe
and Sjanne is the Danes’ favourite advertisement during this period. It is also an example of a genre which
has had a great deal of impact in Denmark over a
number of years: The dialogue-based comedy where
viewers follow caricatured stereotypes in various situations in several episodes. We recognise the humour
from the Danish revue tradition with its traditional
gender roles. Luffe even says to his wife without
missing a beat: “You crazy bitch!” That would not
have gone down well in Sweden – or in Norway for
that matter. Luffe is often injured in these advertisements, something the Danes find extremely amusing.
In the advertisement mentioned in the survey, Luffe
even sustains burns to his intimate areas – the Danes
love anything below the belt.
? ?
?
?
?
Several respondents highlight as positive the fact that
the L’Easy stories are always followed by a bargain.
The Danes love bargains – as opposed to the Norwegians, for example, who, according to several of the
interviewed advertisers, are less worried about price.
It shuld be said that L’Easy also occupies first place
when it comes to advertisements the Danes hate. The
exaggerated shouting, the vulgarity and the coarse
wordplay alienates almost as many as it attracts. Advertisers need to be aware of this – and first and foremost know their target group well: Are you alienating
and attracting the right people?
?
“Because it is funny and because the two caricatures
are extreme.”
“The L’Easy advertisements to ‘follow’ Sjanne and
Luffe in their unfortunate incidents and offers on all
kinds of IT products!”
Dumb blondes
“What I see as the biggest difference is that the Danes
still have their Circus Revue and that sort of thing
where... where people mention ‘farting’ and everyone
laughs (…) Sons of the Desert, the Circus Revue and
that kind of thing. There is a tradition for it in Denmark.”
Norwegian Jon from an interview about differences in humour in
DK and NO)
The OK advertisement is basically coarse and childish – and the Danes love it! In the same way, some of
the Danish respondents also notice OK’s initiatives in
local areas; the Danes love Denmark and they value
the fact that businesses do something for them. This
is an insight that should be incorporated into CSR
strategies and sponsorships – in Denmark, mind you.
Both Norway and Sweden have a very different international focus, and the Norwegians are, for example,
the world’s largest contributor* to aid organisations
?
*PEJ Gruppen: That’s the way the Scandinavians are
CSR with hullabaloo
?
?
“Because it plays on a female stereotype that both
men and women are able to laugh at and it makes
good use of language.”
Danish respondent
?
? ?
The telecommunications company Call Me scores
highly with its message that is diametrically opposed
to L’Easy: “Rudeness is contagious. Be polite.” But
although the advertisement has popped up in the
middle of the politically correct zeitgeist, it uses precisely the element it is opposed to as the little boy
screams: “You idiot!” at an adult man. Some hullabaloo is needed to attract the attention of the Danes.
“It is humorous, and it shows something we experience every day. With a bit of exaggeration, everyone
is able to see that there is room for improvement in
the way we talk to each other. Great advertisement for
a telephone company.”
Danish respondent
The Oddset campaign also has many fans among our
Danish respondents. But although several respondents point out that these are ‘female stereotypes that
everyone can laugh at’, the Oddset advertisements
surely present, objectively speaking, characters that
are pretty demeaning to women: blondes filing their
nails, sewing or as in this advertisement blending a
pink fruit smoothie. The women do not understand
the most basic wordplay (not necessarily actual
sporting terms), and the campaign has also been the
subject of some debate in Sweden although it has not
appeared on Swedish television. The images are fun,
and the parody in this context seems to work well for
the Danes.
What the Danes do not like
Without pointing the finger at anyone, it can be concluded that the Danes at the beginning of 2013 find
dealing with the financial sector difficult. The Danes
also put international versioning in their ‘hate category’. The Danes particularly do not like to be spoken down to. It is also interesting to note that the
Danes, because of their highly praised culture of
debating, are the only ones in the three countries
with repetitions on their two lists. The Danes do not
need to agree in order to have a good time, and they
never lose an opportunity to have a discussion about
anything and everything. An important lesson is
also that although the Danes may believe that negative contact is better than no attention at all, this is
not necessarily a concept that can be exported.
Page 19
? ?
?
The dramatic
Swedes
Strindberg did not live in vain. There is a basic dramatic tone to Swedish advertising which is peculiar
to Sweden. You are not in doubt that the actors are
acting; they deliver their lines with a certain amount
of solemnity.
But that does not mean that the advertisements are
without humour. Humour is something that the
Swedish respondents mention again and again –
and humour is best if it has a social message.
Diversity and creativity are characteristic of Swedish advertising. Advertisements contain a great deal
of zaniness and inventiveness, and more animals
and Mexicans than in both Norwegian and Danish
advertisements. As in Denmark, serials are popular.
The Swedes are also good at decoding advertisements: respondents highlight execution, production
quality and creativity when they are asked to assess
the advertisements. But they ARE very good at advertising in Sweden – and win far more awards in
international competitions than Norway and Denmark do. The Swedish advertising industry also has
a better reputation and is taken far more seriously
than the Danish industry is.
Bubbling soap
Love for the advertising serial from the ICA supermarket chain is overwhelming and all-important
among the respondents! To such a degree that it has
13 times the number of fans that no. 2 on the list has.
ICA’s soap about the store manager Stig and his three
employees saw the light of day in 2001 and has
since covered more than 400 advertisements. Swedish consumers therefore know the character line-up
well; over the years the plot have included both love
Side 20
?
?
?
affairs and intrigue, and two of the main characters
have been played by the same actors since the very
beginning. There is a new advertisement almost
every week. Offers are incorporated as natural elements in the story, and a great deal of creativity and
playfulness is employed in the format. Possibly
helped along by the high pace of production?
more sophisticated than Danish ones. The Swedes
are able to think abstractly – and the target group
does not need to be reflected directly in the main
characters: the Swedes use everyone from tweens
with embarrassing mothers, well-dressed businessmen who dream of fun, goths preparing for the Eurovision Song Context etc. etc.
The diversity is also striking. The advertisements
use the old and the young, fat and thin, all skin colours – and one of the employees has Down’s Syndrome. Although the Danish Morten & Peter have
taken part in an advertisement for Unibet, is it worth
considering how the Danes would have viewed
that?
“It describes an everyday story that is easily recognisable and it features fun bits.”
“It is funny and creative. It keeps being innovative
and adapts to current events and debates.”
Swedish respondent
Diversity as principle
COOP is another fine example of the diversity in
Swedish advertising: COOP was inspired by ICA to
produce a number of advertisements (more than
100) featuring very different customers. The main
character in this advertisement is an old man who
walks around the fruit and vegetable section. Viewers hear his inner monologue about how he wants to
eat more healthily. He wants to see his friends’ jaws
drop at the winter bathers club when he emerges
with the body of a 65-year-old. A sweetly smiling
old woman is dismissed by him: Sorry, I’m out of
your league now. Old men in Danish advertisements
are usually stereotypes – grumpy old men, sweet
grandfathers or know-alls. (With Interflora as the exception that proves the rule). There is room for nuance and in many ways Swedish advertisements are
?
their broadband bargain – using autotune. On the
other hand, many of the older advertisements are
fantastically funny. The two buxom ladies with
their blazing red hair deliver a load of parodies of
archetypes from popular television. The women
make fun of themselves when they are dressed up as
American cops with beards, reality babes etc. No
one gets hurt.
“Competently done and a bit funny.”
Swedish respondent
Dramas
Serials
Sophisticated humour
Wordplay
High level of creativity
High production values
Inclusive diversity
Respect for all social groups
Socially relevant comment
Challenging
Advanced English
Parodier frem for stereotyper
Judith and Judith – who are identical twins – have
advertised Com Hem since 1999. You have to be
aware of this in order to understand the popularity
of the concept which seems watered down in the
latest advertisement where Judith and Judith sing
?
?
?
?
?
What the Swedes do not like
The Swedes react to a greater degree than the Danes
and Norwegians if advertisements display a stereotypical view of human nature, are sexist, prejudiced
or derogatory. Ridiculous and silly characters are
criticised the most.
? ?
Swedish advertising is characterised by the fact that
it rarely points the finger at women, fat people or
minorities. But this can also be explained by the fact
that if it were to happen, the Swedish citizens rights
and gender-political organisations would react
promptly.
?
?
To explain the difference, many respondents mention Zalando, for example, as being sexist. A Danish
language version has been shown in Denmark. The
husband hides in his wife’s walk-in closet while, to
camera, he warns against the Internet store that
makes women go shopping crazy. The limits of the
acceptable are different to what they are in Denmark! Find out more about this on pages 30 and 48!
?
?
?
?
?
? ?
The most
in Sweden
Successful elements in Swedish television
advertising
Swedish respondent
Some respondents think that the Tele2 advertisement is particularly good. Over the years, Tele2 have
used English as their main language in their advertisements – and in Denmark the versioning of the
Big Bill & Small Bill universe is very well known.
The current main character is black sheep Frank
who attempts to pronounce the many different
boards that have named Tele2 as the best and the
cheapest. He stumbles over the Swedish words, and
as he says: who speaks Swedish anyway? In general,
Swedish advertisers are not afraid of challenging
their target group. In this case, it also (obviously)
means that respondents put Tele2 on their negative
list because they cannot understand what is being
said: “They speak English and we live in Sweden.”
But it is reasonable to say that it is not the lowest
common denominator that ensures success.
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?The quiet Norwegians
?
?
Humour is also very important in Norwegian advertising. But it is very, very different to the Danish
sense of humour. It is the small, quirky and realistic
everyday situations – what the Americans would
call slice of life – that are popular among Norwegian
respondents. Another eye-catching characteristic is
much calmer editing and lower sound levels. This is
interesting in light of the fact that it is significantly
more expensive to buy television spots on Norwegian television than it is in Denmark as TRPs are
simply dearer in Norway. Nonetheless, Norwegian
advertisers take their time to tell their stories.
Focus on the product
The cheese producer Jarlsberg is a clear favourite
among the Norwegians. This is also a series of advertisements (as used in the Danish universes), but here
a different dramatic development in a relationship
is used, one which requires a certain amount of attention by the viewer from spot to spot. The plot
involves the woman refusing to buy Jarlsberg –
“white cheese is white cheese, isn’t it?” – and the
man replies that a dog is a dog and paint is paint –
while he replaces the spaniel with an Irish wolfhound, paints the corridor from white to black –
based on the motto: A dog is a dog – paint is paint
– until she gives in.
?
?
The advertisement uses very quiet and underplayed
humour, and NO ONE is harmed. It is also important
to note that the product is at the heart of the advertisement although it is not based on a product USP
– just a preference. That is often the way with Norwegian advertisements. At the risk of sounding patronising, there is a commercial innocence in the
Norwegian advertisements which is similar to Danish advertisements shown in the beginning of the
1990s. But make no mistake: Norwegian advertisements outperform Danish ones when it comes to
international awards.
Their design allows a high level of identification
with the actors – and there is a very good balance
between the gender roles: the woman attempts to
use her power as the person who does the shopping,
but the man wins in the end – without raising his
voice.
Page 22
”It has great humour while still showcasing the
product.”
Norwegian respondent
Responsibility and compassion
Realism is also the watchword when it comes to another Norwegian heavyweight. Here the difference
between Norwegian and Danish advertisements becomes very visible: the telecommunications company NetCom, which is part of the Telia family, offers
its customers 2-for-1 deals on cinema tickets. The
advertisement is a short version of an advertisement
that went viral and tells the ‘true’ story of how a
group of young people (incl. beautiful blondes,
pierced punks and tattooed youths) invite the residents of a care home to join them at the cinema. This
highlights the fact that it is a frighteningly long time
since the old people have been out and – very importantly – loneliness among old people.
It is a beautiful and touching story, and it is striking
how improbable it is that a Danish advertiser would
have chosen the same route. Yes, the Danes also use
CSR in their communication, but it is wrapped in
drama and farting and rarely highlights an actual
social problem. The Norwegian sense of responsibility cannot be denied.
The advertisement plays on compassion and feelings which is very Norwegian. From a Danish point
of view, it is surprising that old people are associated with the brand in this way. It may be with young
people as the main characters, but finding similar
advertising in Denmark where old people are used
in the same way would be difficult. Interflora is the
exception that proves the rule, but wrinkles are few
and far between. Generally, Danish advertising is
not very diverse.
self in a number of advertisements featuring a patient female teacher who during the break listens to
(and conscientiously comments on) the banal complaints of teenage pupils while she eats her Norvegia
sandwich. The point is that some relationships last
a lifetime; the teenage condition is thankfully not
one of them. But the relationship with the cheese is
forever. Yet again, the product is entirely and implicitly the reason that the teacher is able to stand
her job. On the one hand, it may seem slightly banal.
On the other, it means that there are no superfluous
elements to distract the focus of attention and there
is time to study the feelings and relationships between people closely.
of employing the concept that “Lotto millionaires are
not like other millionaires”. Although the story is extraordinary, it is based on a realistic everyday situation: The wife is doing the washing up. The husband
is sitting in front of the television watching a Saturday sports programme when the commentator encourages him to remove his hand from his pyjama
bottoms now that it is 3 o’clock, fold the clean clothes
in the tumble dryer – and explains that his wife does
not like the way he squeezes her breasts when he
touches them. Gender roles 2.0 – an equal relationship compared to e.g. Sjanne and Luffe or the Danish
Oddset women. Helped well on its way by the music
which proclaims: You’ll never walk alone.
Yes, we love this country!
DnB also take their time to tell their story: light and
beautiful pictures, a lot of positive identification.
We run through almost the entire emotional register.
“It is very sweet. It tells a small and cosy story while
inspiring people to spread joy and do something
nice for others instead of ridiculing anyone or pushing the product.”
“It has a surprise ending, is fun and taps into the
fact that all women have probably had a similar
fantasy.”
Gender roles 2.0?
Realism and relationships
The Norwegian Lotto has a long and proud tradition
The cheese manufacturer Norvegia has marketed it-
?
?
“Good ending, not improbable, calm in its form
although it does not last long, the product is clear
and it is quite ‘true’. The people are not ‘vain’ with
artificial voices and do not act in an artificial way.”
?
?
Successful elements in Norwegian
television advertising
?
Warm, subtle humour
Realistic everyday situations
Recognisable feelings and positive
identification
From slice of life to larger than life
Calm editing and low sound levels
Everyone is equal – no one needs to get hurt:
children, women, animals
Focus on the product
Nature and naturalness
Celebration of Norway and everything
Norwegian
Compassion and social responsibility
? ?
?
What the Norwegians do not like
?
When the Norwegian respondents are asked to name
an advertisement they do not like, unnaturalness is
a recurring theme: types who seem untrustworthy,
conceited or pretentious. Oily advertising aesthetics. Screaming and shouting also puts the Norwegians off. Anything that seems like arrogance inspires disgust. This is why some people have
Jarlsberg on their hate list as many people view the
man’s ‘A dog is a dog’ attitude as arrogant. Some
?
?
?
?
?
? ?
Finally, advertisers need to watch their sound levels
and cutting style – advertisements at a very fast pace
will find the going tough in Norway.
It is also interesting that the advertisements are a
celebration of the teaching profession – what Danish
advertiser would go down that route? But recognising a hard-working profession suits the Norwegian
mentality and social responsibility.
“As well as being humorous, it is reflective.”
DnB NOR bank achieved a small viral hit with its
advertisement about an ‘ordinary’ woman who wakes
up from a drunken evening and discovers that she
has got married … to George Clooney. Some people
are just lucky – others need to save up for their retirement. The advertisement works on an international
level and, seen from a Danish perspective, it is brave
of the bank to have just Clooney speaking – and only
in English – but at the same time the story hits the
mark in terms of Norwegian national feeling: a
world-famous star who has surrendered completely
to Norway. Of course, Clooney would rather live in
Lillestrøm than in Hollywood, and he even makes
great efforts to pronounce the name correctly. The
Norwegian flag is flying in front of the house on the
property website they are looking at.
?
respondents even go so far as to decode it as an expression of the selfishness and wickedness of our
times. The Norwegians really do not like repression.
At the risk of overinterpreting the situation, it may
be that centuries of Danish and Swedish repression
are reflected in attitudes to advertising.
?
The most
in Norway
?
?
?
?
Nordic Research Alliance in cooperation with Denmark Analysis
“From Q2 2008 to Q4 2011, Norwegian
private consumption rose by more than 5%.
Danish consumption fell by just under 5%
in the same period.”
The Economic Council of the Labour Movement
The Danes bought
an average of
Christmas gifts
for 3,061 DKR
in 2010
Norwegians bought
an average of
Christmas gifts
for 5,260 DKR
in 2010
The Swedes
bought Christmas
presents for
2.54 DKR
in 2010
The advertiser’s
guide to Scandinavia
Viewing Norway, Sweden and Denmark as a single
market stands to reason. With 14 million inhabitants,
the population of Scandinavia is still five times smaller than that of Germany, for example. From the outside, there are no differences between the three small
welfare states in the north. So what is the problem?
=/
=/
envision’s survey clearly shows that there are a number of differences in terms of mentality, humour and
values that affect the three nations’ decoding of advertisements and their attitudes to advertising messages.
The differences are, however, hardly bigger than the
differences between northern Germans and southern
Germans. Or between people from western Jutland
and Copenhagen. So when it sometimes comes to
blows, it is because the three countries are three extremely self-important states which each regards itself
as the best in the world. The Scandinavians have centuries-old traditions for going to war with each other,
and these feelings still surface when the occasion arises. E.g. when an advertisement oversteps the mark.
Scandinavian brands in Scandinavia
Things become even more complicated when local
Scandinavian brands cross borders. In February
2013, the Swedish Max burger chain opened its first
outlet in Copenhagen and beat the drum of national
pride: “Are you ready for one of our best burgers?
NEW! Preferred burger in Sweden, now finally in
Denmark.” With this, Max showed a striking lack of
insight into the Danish national identity because
this is very much the wrong USP to use. While the
Swedes like the Danes very much, the love is not
requited. And everything Swedish is by definition
not good.
A scathing review of Max in EkstraBladet generated a
heated discussion on eb.dk which was quoted by Aftonbladet where the Swedes responded to the criticism. The comments were then exported back to the
columns of Politiken.dk:
“The chain-smoking Danes have very clearly only got
a few taste buds left,” wrote a user called Tony [...]
International brands in Scandinavia
Especially for international brands, it may not seem
worth creating differentiated marketing for three
small markets. Nonetheless, Coca-Cola, McDonalds
and IKEA have had local campaigns in place for several years, campaigns developed by local advertising
agencies – but based on a shared brand platform, e.g.
the McDonalds ‘I’m loving it’ slogan. Not only Scandinavian brands are perceived differently when they
cross borders.
The international cosmetics and skincare brand Estee
Lauder uses the same marketing throughout Scandinavia. Nonetheless, the presentation of this classic
quality brand varies in the three markets: Nordic
Brand Manager Tina Raasteen explains that Estee
Lauder in Norway is regarded as an absolutely premium luxury brand. The Swedes rate the brand slightly
lower, but they see it as young and cool. As opposed
to the Danes who believe the brand to be a bit stuffy
and old-fashioned. The same input, three different
outputs, which require that each product manager
acts differently in the development of the brand.
Page 26
“Typical Danish mentality. Probably just envious of
their big brother,” said Jan Anders, another Swedish
newspaper reader.
Something would tend to suggest that things can go
very wrong for inter-Scandinavian campaigns. They
simply forget to do their homework because they are
so alike on the surface. If advertisers are entering the
Chinese or Indian market, most would hire experts to
prevent any cultural slip-ups. But when the Scandinavians are just nipping over to their neighbour, they
do not bother to prepare themselves in the same way.
But it is not only advertisers who make this mistake.
As journalist Kirsten Weiss describes in her book
When Vikings Fight, there are a string of examples of
failed Scandinavian mergers and negotiations.
Foundered on lack of respect and understanding
across national borders. (Weiss’s most important
point is that Scandinavians should put these disagreements behind them and achieve limitless success
because together they can do anything).
We imagine that our neighbours are just like us. This
is very dangerous. Our preconceptions should always
be challenged by knowledge.
Important knowledge sharing
Many years ago since envision established itself in a
pan-Scandinavian network in order to serve our clients locally in the Swedish and Norwegian markets.
But we have needed this network on surprisingly few
occasions. The advantages of centralised management seem to win. On the other hand, we have benefited enormously from our partners on a consultancy
basis: Will this idea hold water in Norway? Will this
campaign offend anyone in Sweden?
Gathering – and sharing knowledge – is vitally important for the success of any Scandinavian campaign.
Local product managers often possess the insight
needed to make the vital difference to the marketing
manager. This may very well be the key to the solution
– and often the product managers are not even aware
of it themselves. Forget everything you know – especially what you think you know. Start from scratch by
gaining knowledge – by asking others.
Why and when do differences arise?
In this report, we have provided a snapshot of the
‘national soul’ of the three Scandinavian nations.
There are a number of geographic, historical and cultural factors that have contributed to defining the national values and, in the final instance, the behaviour
of the Scandinavians as consumers. This has created
the differences between them. This is illustrated by
the triangle below which can also be used as a checklist. Find out more about these factors in the interview with Dennis Nørmark on page 44.
BEHAVIOUR
VALUES
CULTURE
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY
Page 27
At the same time, it is this national heritage on which
marketing communication leans and which means
that there is more nature in Norwegian advertising,
more English in Swedish and more bargain humour
in Danish. But in addition to these national staples,
there are a number of outward factors that can turn
the picture upside down.
In recent years, we have seen the financial situation
change the mentalities in Scandinavia. The Danish
feel harder hit by the crisis than the Swedes – although the differences in disposable income and
unemployment are marginal. The Swedish economy
is far less bound up with the EU than the Danish one
is. This is why the public discourse on the crisis is
very different in Sweden than it is in Denmark. At the
other end of the scale is Norway which with its enormous amounts of raw materials and energy resources
is able to muster a colossal amount of consumer optimism. The country, which has otherwise traditionally been viewed as the most ascetic and anti-materialist fishing society of the three.
Apart from the economy, catastrophes from the outside such as acts of terror and climate change can
radically change the national mentality. From one
day to the next. This means that there is a potential
risk that this report needs to be read in a new light
in future.
Follow the North Star – BEFORE you set off
Thinking before you get started is a good idea. For this
purpose, we have prepared a model that will make
your preparations clearer. It is far easier and less
cost-heavy to do this preliminary work than to close
your eyes and just tackle neighbouring countries.
We call the model the North Star because ideally it
will be a shared indicator to lead developments in
all three markets. The same guiding star as our
redoubtable Viking forefathers navigated by as they
set off to conquer a new country – and find their way
home again.
But the purpose of our North Star is first and foremost to map the opportunities and challenges BEFORE we set off, to identify whether it makes any
sense to use the same Scandinavian starting point
for your brand.
Page 28
The North Star in practice
1. Map the market in all three countries:
Competitors and trends.
Common denominators?
2. Produce consumer profiles for all three
countries: Insights and obstacles.
3. Analyse the brand for all three countries:
Positioning and potential.
4. Identify possible communities and gather
them in a shared North Star position.
More suggestions, if required.
5. Challenge the North Star:
* Is it at all possible to nominate a joint
North Star (maybe even just for two markets)
or should the position be differentiated?
* Does the North Star have sufficient
substance to form a basis for your
communication?
* Does the North Star have sufficient edge
to form a basis for your communication?
* Can the brand have a joint strategic North
Star while differentiating communication
– e.g. in television spots?
* The creative proposal is challenged by
The Scandinavian Value Barometer: Do we
alienate neighbouring countries by using
various elements (sexual references,
violence, religion, national symbols etc.)?
Please see page 30.
At any rate, this preliminary work is an excellent
basis for any strategy. The idea is not that Scandinavian differences should overshadow the purpose: To
position your brand in the lives of your target group
in a meaningful way. To sell your products.
Differentiated or not?
One thing is that the Scandinavians may perceive
your marketing in different ways. Another is what
your budget will allow you to do. It may be expensive
to develop and produce differentiated campaigns
for three countries – in addition to the costs already
associated with media slots.
But there are many factors in that equation. Sometimes this argument has been used in Denmark: Bad
PR is better than no PR. We doubt that the same is
true in Sweden. If, on the other hand, you create a
campaign that does not offend anyone in any way,
you risk not making an impact at all. After that, it will
be a long and sluggish – and expensive – job to build
up a preference for your brand.
The principle of the most sensitive toes
In our interview with the anthropologist Jeppe Trolle, he introduced the concept of ‘the most sensitive
toes’ as a possible working method – and it turns out
that JYSK uses it in practice. This is a survey identifying which of the three nationalities will be most
sensitive to your brand and marketing and then basing your campaign on the most sensitive toes that
you intend to tread on. In most cases, Sweden will
set the limits – while Norway usually lays down
markers if children or physical violence form part of
the campaign in any way. Danish advertisers who
use themselves as a benchmark will be skating on
thin ice. Help is available in identifying these sensitive toes in The Scandinavian Value Barometer.
THE NORTH STAR
Norway
Market
envision recommends
Consumer
What we recommend will not surprise anyone
who knows us: Knowledge is the way forward.
Guiding Star
Prepare well, forget your prejudices and assumptions, ask away and base your campaign
on real insight and knowledge.
Brand
This is not an exact science that can be boiled
down to a definitive formula or principle. Sorry.
But lack of knowledge is actually the biggest pitfall in marketing efforts across the Scandinavian countries. Right from the colleagues in your
own organisation deciding on strategy to the
creative team conducting the campaign. So
when you have read this report, we think you
should give it to your partners to read.
Consumer
Brand
Market
Denmark
Brand
Consumer
Market
Sweden
Remember, you can always download a digital
version on our website at envision.dk
Page 29
The Scandinavian
Value Barometer
We have identified some of the areas in which the gap between the Scandinavian countries is
widest. If your marketing touches on these subjects, you should be very aware that you are about
to overstep a boundary. When assessing your campaign, you should be careful to carry out your
analysis without prejudice – not on the basis of your own benchmarks. (Yes, the Swedes do have
a sense of humour. It is just not the same as yours.) It is always a good idea to ask the locals.
Rules
HURRAY
Page 30
IN A WINDOW BOX
IN THE BACK
GARDEN
FARTING
TO HELL
WITH THAT
FROZEN
READY MEALS
BENEFICIAL
NOTHING IS
SACRED
SAY IT, BUT
CT
WITH RESPE
YES, PLEASE
JESUS WAS
NORWEGIAN
s
s
e
n
e
t
i
l
Po
OU
WHAT CAN Y
?
DO FOR ME
NO, THANK YOU
Belief and
Christianity
SOPHISTICATED
TONGUE IN CHEEK
RIDICULOUS
Freedomion
s
s
e
r
p
x
e
f
o
Nudity
Humour
The Royal Family
Food culture
FRESH AND
INNOVATIVE
Nature
WHAT CAN I
U?
DO FOR YO
OLOF PALME
WAS SWEDISH
Authorities
TRUST
DOUBT
Page 31
Theory
in practice
3 FICTITIOUS BRA ADS
Exaggeration promotes understanding.
E.g. making fun of everything is very
Danish. Even with the fruit of many
hours’ hard work and serious study.
Here are the results of our survey
– with a touch of Danish humour.
Page 32
Page 33
The retailer’s
Scandinavian calendar
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31
FEBRUARY
Mother’s Day
The Norwegians spoil their mothers on the second
Sunday in February
Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is called ‘All Heart’s Day’
in Sweden and Norway
Winter holiday
Danish school children are off in the second or third
week of February, and the Danes go skiing or invade
the toy shops.
Sportlov
The Swedes take a week’s winter holiday in the weeks
between the second week of February and the second
week of March. The week depends on the region.
Page 34
Easter
fferent day
Easter falls on a di
April
ays in March and/or
every year, but alw
s concorated Easter letter
- The Danes send de
ffodils
Easter eggs, buy da
taining riddles, eat
and
h
fis
ere
wh
r lunches
and organise Easte
s.
me
lu
vo
ge
hu
umed in
schnapps are cons
spend Easter in the
- The Norwegians
rate with chocolate
mountains and celeb
oranges and skiing.
from Kvikk-Lunsj,
th
rate their gardens wi
- The Swedes deco
anchbr
th
wi
s
me
ho
their
coloured feathers or
d up
nd children dresse
es and eggs. They se
and
und to neighbours
as Easter witches ro
s. The
drawings and card
family with Easter
return.
sweets and gifts in
children are given
d
joy an elaborate an
The Swedes also en
th
wi
off
d
de
un
le ro
delicious Easter tab
.
ke
ca
almond
MAY
Mother’s Day
In Denmark, Mother’s Day is celebrated
on the second Sunday in May while the
Swedes spoil their mothers on the last
Sunday in May.
JANUARY
Sales
In Denmark, sales are called ‘January sales’ while the
Swedes use ‘winter sales’ to describe the winter period
in which good bargains are available in the shops
RIL
P
A
/
H
C
R
A
M
FEBRUARY/MARCH
Shrovetide
Shrovetide falls differ
ently each year, but no
earlier than 3 February
and no later than 9 Ma
rch. Shrovetide is called
‘Fettisdagen’ in
Swedish and Shroveti
de buns are called ‘se
mlor’ or ‘Fettisdagsbull
and are large, soft buns
ar’
filled with whipped cre
am and marzipan. In
and Denmark, there are
Norway
different views on wh
at real Shrovetide buns
like, but in both places
should look
people tilt at a barrel.
Shrovetide birch rods
tradition in all three cou
are
part of the
ntries, but they are de
corated with coloured
Norway and Sweden.
feathers in
The Eurovision Song Con
test
The Eurovision Song
Contest is enormous in
Sweden – so big that
made it into a festival
they have
with four initial heats
and a semi-final before
who should represent
they decide
Sweden at the internati
onal Eurovision Song
The final of the Eurov
Co
ntest.
ision Song Contest is
the most popular televi
in Sweden.
sion programme
Norway’s National Day
The Norwegian National Day is celebrated on
17 May with colourful children’s parades with
banners, flags and bands, and the Norwegians
dress up in their colourful and festive national
costumes. And they eat hotdogs and ice cream.
JUNE
Father’s Day
Father’s Day coincides with Constitution Day
on 5 June. This is the closest Denmark comes
to having a national day.
Sweden’s National Day
In 2005, 6 June was declared a national public
holiday and is the latest addition to the line-up of Swedish holidays.
Midsummer
A three-day celebration which falls on different days each year from 20 to 26 June. It
culminates on a Friday. Midsummer is the Swedes’ most beloved tradition and includes dancing,
music and good food. In many areas, people dress
up in national costumes and dance around the
midsummer pole.
Sales
The Danish shops have summer sales
from the end of June until the end of
August, but the Swedes have their ‘Rea’
from the end of June to the end of July.
JULY
Summer holidays
July is holiday time in all three
countries. The Danish and Norwegian summer holidays are very
similar while the Swedes take longer holidays,
usually four weeks.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
Crayfish party
Kräftskiva, as it is called
in Swedish,
is a traditional party in
late summer
where family and frie
nds meet to
enjoy crayfish.
NOVEMBER
Father’s Day
Both Norwegians and Swedes celebrate
Father’s Day on the second Sunday in
November.
St Martin’s Day
On 10 November, Swedish Martin Goose,
which is celebrated mainly in Scania,
goose is eaten in all its different versions. They
start with Svartsoppa, a soup made from goose
blood, served with offal and goose liver sausage.
Then a roast goose full of apples and prunes is
served and garnished with brown potatoes and red
cabbage – as it is in Denmark. The Danes, however,
often replace the goose with duck. The Danes celebrate St Martin’s Day at home while the Swedes
go to a restaurant as many Swedes are not brave
enough to tackle the menu themselves.
DECEMBER
Saint Lucy’s Day
Saint Lucy’s Day is celebrated in
all three countries on 13 December, but the day is most popular in
Sweden where it is celebrated not only in schools
and nurseries. Adults also love this day which has
found its way into every Swedish home.
OCTOBER
Christmas Eve
With only minor differences,
Christmas is celebrated in more
or less the same way in all three
countries on 24 December. Church,
Christmas tree, rice pudding with almond and
Christmas presents are all part of the programme.
Autumn holiday
In the third week of October, the Danes
leave the wind and rain behind and put
winter tyres on their cars.
Christmas and New Year’s sales
In Sweden, the so-called Mellandagsrea
starts already on 26 December.
Halloween
Halloween is an American tradition
celebrated on 31 October which has
become popular in Scandinavia in
recent years. The tradition is still primarily commercial and celebrated by children and teenagers.
Just like in the United States, more and more
Scandinavian children are going trick-or-treating
and getting rewarded with sweets. They also make
pumpkin lanterns and go to Halloween parties in
spooky costumes. Black and orange are the traditional Halloween colours.
New Year’s Eve
The last day of the year is celebrated in all three countries with a
party, good food, glitter, champagne and fireworks. And in Sweden, ABBA’s Happy
New Year is on repeat all evening.
Page 35
Avoid mistakes:
Top tips from
advertisers
and experts
Dennis Nørmark, anthropologist
Carl Kristian Birk, HTH
Kaspar Basse, Joe & the Juice
”You cannot sell a product in the same way everywhere in the world. You have to adapt to the audience you have.”
”Developing regional concepts – and let us just call
Scandinavia a region for the moment – attempting
to be true to them and having a small national angle, i.e. the opportunity to do something extra for
the consumer, I think is very sensible.”
”We always establish our presence with our academy which handles recruitment and training. In that
way, no matter where we start, we get the same retail
outlet.”
Jeppe Trolle Linnet, anthropologist
”You have to find out about the cultural differences
that are important when it comes to your product.
You have to know whether you are tackling basic,
safe values or are potentially treading on someone’s
toes. You have to know the common cultural denominators that apply to your markets.”
Kirsten Weiss, journalist and author
”To cut a long advertising story short, there is still
a difference between coming from Jels or Jönköping
and if you want to pick the low-hanging business
fruit growing in the Scandinavian garden, you will
have to exercise your curiosity and your cultural intelligence. The Scandinavian globalists are similar,
yes – but their hearts are still very much in the countries in which they live.”
Gitte Bruun, Odense Marcipan
”You have to be very aware of cultural differences. At
Odense Marcipan, it is a question of recognising that
products and traditions are different and that is why
our products are used differently in different markets.”
Jørn Falk, Rynkeby
“Remember the local. Avoid thinking that you can
sit in Copenhagen and manage the whole of Scandinavia. Make sure you listen to and get your message
out locally.”
Page
Side 36
Jens Bursell, Fisk & Fri
Claus Thrane, Shoe-d-vision
”You cannot trick or dupe the consumer. Consumers in Scandinavia are sharp and intelligent enough
quickly to spot any lack of correlation between what
you are saying and what you are doing. This will
have negative consequences. We also see more critical assessments by Scandinavian consumers in general compared to other countries. E.g. when global
companies attempt to language-version advertising
spots, consumers quickly perceive this as negative.
That is especially true for Scandinavia, I think.”
”There is a great difference between the Scandinavian countries and how target groups in the three
countries react to the use of different photos – editorially as well as in a marketing context. In Denmark,
the angler girls have been worth every penny, but in
Sweden they would have been a mistake.”
Bodil Marloth Meldgaard, Midtjysk Turisme
“A funny thing when you are in Norway and Sweden at trade fairs – there are two things that are always a great success: Danish salami and alcoholic
beer. Those two secure their full attention.”
Carl Erik Stubkjæer, JYSK
”We have to speak Norwegian and be Norwegian in
the Norwegian market if we want to reach the Norwegians. We need to be much more national than is
the case in our other markets.”
Stian Kleppo, TV3 (Viasat)
”You have to recognise that there are great cultural
differences. But it is really mostly about misunderstandings between the three countries. One example
is that the Swedes are very procedure-oriented and
the Danes are very focused. So the Danes believe
that the Swedes are lazy, and the Swedes believe
that the Danes just run and run to get their results.
There has to be mutual respect for each other. ”
Lone Korslund, Nordisk Film
“When we develop Scandinavian film projects with
a view to releasing them in cinemas across Scandinavia, comedies are just generally a genre we
keep well away from. The Norwegian, Swedish and
Danish sense of humour is so particular and local
that it is almost impossible to export to the other
countries.”
Page 37
Nordic Statistical Yearbook 2012
”The Danes do as they like. They are very
autonomous and very ‘I know best’. A rule
is there to be discussed and bent.”
Marion Lobedanz, Copenhagen Airport
Norwegians
drink an average
of approx. 7 liters
of pure alcohol
per year
The Danes
drink an average
of approx. 10 liters
of pure alcohol
per year
Swedes
drink an average
of approx. 7.5 liters
of pure alcohol
per year
DK
Case:
Welcome to the front
page, angler girl
The case in brief
The Danish angling magazine Fisk & Fri had a partnership agreement with Oliver Portrat, the recognised German angling photographer, who supplied
the magazine with photos. Portrat is well known in
angling circles as both a fine angler and a fine photographer. On some of his many fishing trips, he took
models whom he subsequently photographed with
his catch. In 2007, when Fisk & Fri was launching a
new website, they decided to use an angler girl permanently on the site. She was there as entertainment,
to amuse visitors and attract traffic. The click rates
quickly revealed that the angler girl was popular.
In October 2012, Fisk & Fri decided to run a portrait
of the man behind the many fantastic photos. The
magazine also decided that one of the angler girl photos should appear on the front page of the magazine
as a breath of fresh air in a clichéd genre which usually only involves men in wellies proudly showing
off their catch. This brought positive attention, and
Jens Bursell, the editor of Fisk & Fri, was quickly able
to establish that the girl was a success. Not so much
Page 40
measured by the number of magazines sold, but the
publicity was enormous. DR, Go’morgen Danmark on
TV2, various radio programmes, Det Nye Talkshow
with Anders Lund Madsen and several other media
ran the story. All tongue-in-cheek, precisely as the
idea had been. After the portrait feature, Fisk & Fri
decided to send the angler girl on maternity leave as
they wrote on the website. The photographer did not
have much new material any more, and the angler
girl had perhaps had her moment in the spotlight.
Conflict
In January 2013, three months after the angler girl
had appeared on the front of Fisk & Fri, something
happened in Sweden. The Swedish blogger and
gender debater Genusfotografen came across the October issue and was incensed. He started a debate
using words like ‘sexist’ and ‘contempt for women’,
a debate that grew in Sweden in subsequent weeks.
Television and newspapers discussed attitudes to
women and sexism in marketing. Hacking of the
fiskogfri.dk website and spam bombing were threatened.
SE
Case:
SE
Boys playing
with dolls
The little difference
The case in brief
”We already knew before we put the angler girl on
the front page that there were cultural differences in
the attitude to nudity in Scandinavia. We were prepared for the fact that a reaction could happen. But
we had not expected it actually to happen. And not
to such a degree as it did,” explains Editor-in-Chief
of Fisk & Fri Jens Bursell.
As stated above, Sweden does a great deal to ensure
equal rights between the sexes. This also applies, or
applies in particular, when it comes to children (cf.
the debate on the gender-neutral ‘hen’). The Top Toy
chain, which owns Fætter BR and Toys ‘R’ Us, has
experienced this several times in the past five years.
Already in 2008, Top Toy was reported to the Swedish advertising ombudsman for gender discrimination and the accusations were upheld. Several times
since then, the Top Toy management has had to
explain itself in public and calm the situation
down. In 2012, Top Toy decided, after discussion
with the Swedish ombudsman, to change the photos
in their toy catalogue Ønskebogen from Fætter BR
in Sweden to accommodate criticism from Swedish
consumers.
”In Denmark, more than half a million people
watched the talkshow on which the photographs
were shown. We got no reaction apart from laughs
and publicity. When we had a vote in the December
issue of the magazine for front page of the year, the
front page with the angler girl won. In other words,
it was not because the Danes did not ‘discover’
the front page. There is simply a difference when
it comes to boundaries in Denmark and Sweden,”
says Jens Bursell.
DK
The conflict
In 2008, Top Toy was reported to the advertising
ombudsman for the first time. This happened when
Year 6 at Gustavslund School in Växjö analysed the
Toys ‘R’ Us Christmas catalogue as part of a school
project on gender roles. In their complaint, the class
referred to the chain’s use of obsolete gender roles
where boys are shown as active and girls as passive,
and where the voice-over in the television advertisements says: “(…) cars for the boys and princesses for
the girls”. The advertising ombudsman accepted the
class’s claims and judged that the catalogue was:
”(...) sexist and counteracts positive social behaviour, lifestyles and attitudes according to according
to Article 1 and 18 of the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) rules for advertising and marketing.”
reklamombudsmannen.org
The case flared up again several times in Sweden. In
2012, Top Toy elected to change its marketing strategy. Sales Director of Top Toy Jan Nyberg explained:
“Both the BR catalogue and the Toys ‘R’ Us catalogue are very different this year. Nothing is right
and nothing is wrong. A toy is not either for boys or
for girls, but for children,” he said to the Swedish
news agency TT. This was reflected specifically in
the fact that traditional gender roles were shaken up.
The 2012 catalogue showed boys with hair dryers
and dolls and girls with drills and cars.
The little difference
Top Toy had to recognise that the gender debate was
far more advanced in Sweden than in Denmark, and
the chain had to adapt accordingly. In 2012, they
chose to do this locally and only made changes in
Sweden after close consultation with the Swedish
advertising ombudsman. But Top Toy expects that
this is just the first step towards greater gender
equality and levelling of gender-specific codes in
marketing aimed at children. Other markets are expected to follow suit over the next few years. The
balancing act for Top Toy will be to find a solid way
of following and adapting to changes in each market
to avoid bad PR. The case that initially caused Top
Toy negative coverage has given Top Toy quite a bit
of positive PR in the end. Particularly because the
chain entered into a constructive dialogue with the
Swedish advertising ombudsman, took advice on
board and changed their photos.
Page 41
Case:
The most
sensitive toes
Only the details count
Norwegian differences
The previous cases show how quickly marketing errors can create a debate and media storm and impact
negatively on sales. But it is still important to remember that the people of Scandinavia are very
similar. This means that businesses are often able to
do a great deal with just a few minor adjustments.
So how do they do it? JYSK has already felt what
works with various product groups directly on its
bottom line. There are clear tendencies: ”We have to
speak Norwegian and be Norwegian in the Norwegian market if we want to reach the Norwegians. We
need to be much more national than is the case in
our other markets,” explains Carl Erik Stubkier. Seen
from a retail perspective, there is another clear difference between Danes and Norwegians: ”We go full
steam ahead with bright colours for our sales in Denmark. We don’t do that in Norway. In Norway, things
are done in a different, more polite and nicer way.
They will not come running if you shout loudly – on
the contrary.”
An example of such a business is JYSK which, with
its shops in 17 countries and daily sales readings, is
quickly able to gauge whether they are hitting the
mark in their marketing. Media Manager Carl Erik
Stubkier of JYSK explains:
”The till does our research. The figures never lie. If
something works, we do it again. If we make just a
slight misjudgement, the markets react very quickly. As happened, for example, in Sweden when we
placed a girl next to a pink stove and a boy in a blue
setting. That didn’t work.”
Page 42
Norwegian politeness also shines through in their
marketing. This is partly explained by the fact that
the Norwegians have not been hit by the financial
crisis in the same way as many other countries have.
That is why using SAVE advertisements and bargains is not effective in the Norwegian market. Carl
Erik Stubkier points out another interesting fact:”In
Denmark, our sales hinge on aggressive marketing
”The till does
our research.
The figures
never lie”
up to the weekend and especially at the beginning of
the month when everyone has just been paid. But
not in Norway. Here sales are evenly distributed
throughout the month – no matter what we do.”
So even though the two JYSK catalogues in Norway
and Denmark look similar, there are differences. See
if you can spot them.
JYSK’s solution
So how does JYSK address these differences? Carl
Erik Stubkier explains: ”We have chosen to say that
if Norway asks for 3 mm extra for safety reasons, we
will do the same in the Serbian market. We continuously take all of what is best, or what is most correct,
from the country with the most stringent requirements and then apply it to our other countries.”
In this way, JYSK practises what you would call ‘the
method of the most sensitive toes’. A method that
requires that you stay updated with legislation, but
also behaviour and culture in each market and adjust to the country with the most stringent requirements and standards.
Case:
We are all equal in
the kitchen. Almost
We are mad about kitchens
The most important room in your life is the kitchen
– at least it is in Scandinavia. HTH has ascertained
this from their detailed surveys of consumer behaviour and priorities within the Scandinavian home.
The result has been a campaign using the payoff ‘The
Most Important Room in Your Life’ which has been
launched across Scandinavia. HTH has, however,
also made minor national adaptations because even
though the Danes, Norwegians and Swedes share a
great interest in kitchens, love white and expect high
quality, there are differences that have to be taken
into account.
The price divides the waters
When Carl Kristian Birk, marketing director at HTH,
describes the differences between the Scandinavian
kitchen users, the price is something that cannot be
ignored. The most important difference is simply
price and price range. In Denmark, the financial crisis
has played a major role since 2008, and the Danes are
incredibly price-focused and do not rush into a final
purchasing decision. ”The Danes gather a lot of information, (…) they are not afraid of waiting and if there
is a bargain round the corner, that too will be taken
into account,” explains Carl Kristian Birk.
IKEA is a very dominant player in the Scandinavian
kitchen market. The Swedes are very loyal to their
country so it is difficult to compete with them. The
Swedish kitchen market is also almost under as much
price pressure as the Danish market.
Things are very different in Norway. Carl Kristian
Birk jokes that the Norwegians are like “people sitting on the top of an oil barrel”. Money is not the
same cause for concern up there. In Norway, individual adaptation is a key concept, and the Norwegians are generally very interested in kitchens and
interior design. ”It has to be a good kitchen, the design has to be right and, of course, it has to be an OK
price, but price is not such a decisive factor as it is
in Denmark,” ascertains Carl Kristian Birk.
The little twist
That is, the same setting, same manuscript and same
payoff, but each with its own celebrity chef. The
choice of chefs is not random, but a carefully con-
sidered choice based on consumer insights and the
position HTH wishes to occupy in each market. In
Denmark, HTH chose Thomas Rode, the man behind the popular book called Stone Age Food, and
Carl Kristian Birk believes that he has generated a
great deal of positive publicity. Especially the female kitchen users have been enthusiastic. In Norway, the choice fell on Frode Aga whose inclusive
and jovial character is hoped to have a wide appeal.
In Sweden, the America-loving Alexander Nilson
was chosen to accommodate the Swedes’ international outlook and give HTH a breath of fresh air.
In addition to the celebrity chefs, the campaign allows local adaptation through differentiated, tactical calls to action. For example, it is not necessary to
offer reductions in Norway, but this works every
time in Denmark.
As the pictures illustrate, a general concept spiced up
with a cool, a popular or a fit chef and a nationally
adapted ‘desserts’ are HTH’s recipe for selling kitchens in Scandinavia. Judge for yourself which chef
you would buy your dream kitchen from.
Page 43
The scandinavians
are not who you
think they are
Dennis Nørmark is an anthropologist and chief
consultant and partner at Living Institute where he
works with cultural differences and understanding
for a number of Danish and international businesses
and organisations. Dennis is also the author of
Cultural Understanding for Stone Age Brains and
The Real Man. envision spoke to Dennis to gain an
understanding of the greatest differences in Scandinavia, have the reasons explained and hear what he
thinks is the best way to win hearts and minds
across national borders.
Can the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sense of
self be explained historically?
Denmark – a nation of individualists
”Denmark is an agricultural society, and it has been
from the start because nothing comes out of the
ground there – except vegetables. Denmark does not
have great natural resources, and there is no mining
industry as there is in Sweden and to some extent in
Norway. So the Danes have been a people who have
either had to live as farmers or had to be extremely creative. The Danes have relied on four different
things; one has been agriculture – this means that
the Danes are a nation of farmers. And farmers of
a special kind. They are very individualistic. They
are very independent. They do not take orders from
others, but listen to themselves. Psychologically,
they are islanders who may not be the best in the
world at collaborating with others because they are
used to managing on their own. The Danes also
have a long history of cooperative movements and
cooperatives of different kinds. Denmark has been
about being equal, sharing things. This means that
no one has been the leader – everyone has been
the leader. In that system, everyone has had trust
in each other. There has been no director who has
started a business or had an idea. The third factor
has been creativity. The Danes are famous for design as well as for architecture, for example. This is
something you have to focus on if you do not have
Page 44
any natural resources. You simply have to be creative! Finally, Denmark is also a trading nation. Due
to its extremely long coastline, Denmark has been a
gateway to the rest of Europe. The Danes have been
good at trading with each other and very good at
selling. The Danes are good at being creative, selling, being innovative – and being talented farmers.”
The consensus-minded Swedes
”The Swedes, on the other hand, have a history that
is based on heavy industry. They have had mining.
And they have built up enormous businesses such
as Volvo and Saab or their steel industry. They have
produced things that require a great many people
to clock into very big enterprises at the same time.
With a much more hierarchical structure and a
management that is more top-down. So the Swedes
have got used to hierarchies, they have got used to
authority and they have got used to doing as they
are told. Far more than the anarchic Danes who
were their own leaders and just walked out on that
cooperative thing if they could not be bothered or if
someone told them what to do. So the Swedes have
got used to forming part of much larger groups and
having to take responsibility for each other and often also finding consensus. That is why the Swedes
handle conflict so much worse than the Danes do.
Much worse. The Swedes are very uncomfortable in
conflicts and about not being in agreement. They
want to smooth things out.”
”So the Swedes have also had a more international outlook than the Danes have. The Danes closed
themselves off from 1864 onwards and did not want
to have much to do with the rest of the world because they had suffered so many defeats. Denmark
is basically a loser nation. The Danes have lost wars
for 400 years. At one point, the Danes decided that
instead of looking inwards and admitting that they
had a problem, it was the world around them that
had a problem with them. They chose to ignore the
”Somebody produced a funny example of what the dream Scandinavian
management team would look like. It would have a Swedish CEO
because the Swedes are very good at management. They are more
authoritarian, but are able to bring people together and create
consensus. The Norwegians would get the position of finance director
because they are very good with money. And the Danes would clearly
have to do the marketing – because they are able to sell anything.”
world around them, but the Swedes did not do that
to the same extent. There was far more international input in Sweden, and that is why the Swedes are
also more internationally-minded and have been
for a long time. This helps to give the Swedes the
idea that they have a voice in the world. The Swedes
are known for their diplomacy and their ability to
go out, listen and work with people. The Danes are
slightly more convinced that they are right and if
things are not done their way, they do not want to
participate.”
Norwegian with a capital N
”The Swedes are also slightly more formal. They have
a greater respect for elites and authority. If something
is said by a member of the elite, for example a person with an academic education, the Swedes believe
it. The Danes will retain their doubt. The Swedes do
not drive 5-10% faster than the speed limit like the
Danes do. The Swedish roads drive the Danes crazy
because the Danes are used to people just exceeding
the speed limit slightly. In Denmark, laws are seen as
a kind of recommendation, but in Sweden a recommendation is a law. When the Oresund Bridge was
being built, there were twice as many industrial accidents on the Danish side as on the Swedish. Because
if you told the Swedes that they were not allowed
to cross that bit, they would not. But the Danes just
had to go and check first. The Danes have a disrespect for authority, and you get credit for challenging
authority. That is not at all the case in Sweden. Somebody produced a funny example of what the dream
Scandinavian management team would look like. It
would have a Swedish CEO because the Swedes are
very good at management. They are more authoritarian, but are able to bring people together and create
consensus. The Norwegians would get the position
of finance director because they are very good with
money. And the Danes would clearly have to do the
marketing – because they are able to sell anything.
The Finns would handle innovation. There is something in that.
”The Norwegians used to rely on agriculture and fishery. They lived on the kind of natural resources that
are inherently slightly unstable. Being a fisherman
was more dangerous than being a farmer, for example. This is reflected in the fact that the Norwegians
are more concerned about the future. They score
highly something called uncertainty avoidance.
They need more protection and they
also need to know more than others.
This is evident when Norwegians,
Swedes and Danes are negotiating. Things take longer in Norway. They need to see more
facts on the table before they
act whereas the Danes have
a reputation for just rushing
in without thinking twice
– ‘we’ll find a way’. Danish
culture has been more reckless. It has been less dangerous being in Denmark. Denmark
has experienced fewer crises and
the Danes are therefore slightly more
willing to take risks that the Norwegians
and Swedes are not quite as willing to run.
They want to be on more solid ground, and the Norwegians want that even more than the Swedes. This
can also be seen in the Norwegians’ very, very strong
national character.”
”And then there is Norway which was a colony until 200 years ago. They have only been independent
for 200 years, and this means that they have a far
greater need to assert themselves and their character and show that they are extraordinary, very special and are not similar to others. Norway has been
a repressed country that has had to fight for its independence and has had two elder brothers that have
kept it down for hundreds of years. Today they are
just so happy to have gained independence.”
”If you have ever been in Norway on 17 May, you will
have thought: ‘My god, their flag waving is insane!’
This is something worth thinking about when you are
marketing in Norway. It is often the case that what
is possible in other locations is for some reason or
another not possible in Norway. Norway is always a
special case. They cannot be a member of the EU.
They are too special for that. It does not suit them.
They implement all the legislation that comes from
the EU, but they bloody well do not want to become a
member! Not officially. And that is very Norwegian.
Being subjugated to others is not the Norwegian
mentality.”
”Finally, you have to note that the Norwegians are
also more religious. The Norwegians are far more
religious than the Danes or Swedes. People who
are more religious are people who live more dangerous lives. The more dangerous the life you
live, the more concerned you will be and
the greater your need will be to find
some kind of solace in religion.
This is why the west coast is
where people are the most
religious in Denmark because that is also the most
dangerous place to be in
Denmark.”
”If you have
ever been in
Norway on 17 May,
you will have
thought: ‘My god,
their flag waving
is insane!’”
What do the Danes,
Swedes and Norwegians
think about each other?
”The Norwegians and Swedes
have a great love for the Danes,
but this love is not always so clearly reciprocated. The Danes do not love
for the Swedes quite as much as the Swedes
love the Danes. It is more like an unhappy love affair! The Swedes have always associated the Danes
with sun and summer because the Danes live in the
south and have a relaxed, informal and fun mentali-
ty. Which is the way Denmark thinks about southern
Europe. The Danes, on the other hand, have spent all
their time making fun of the Swedes and seeing them
as stiff and humourless. This is probably because
there is a big brother-little brother relationship in
Scandinavia where Sweden is clearly the big brother.
Sweden is geographically much bigger and has had a
tendency to meddle in the internal affairs of Norway
and Denmark who believe that the Swedes should
mind their own business. The Swedes have been
know-alls and have put Denmark and Norway in
their places. And if there is anything Denmark and
Norway think is extremely irritating it is when Big
Brother Sweden comes along and interferes. There is
a certain conflict inherent in that size ratio. Norway
and Denmark therefore dream about a world without Sweden rather than the other way around.”
”Then come the Norwegians. In the eyes of the
Danes and Swedes, they are slightly backward. The
mountain monkey concept that is sometimes used
about the Norwegians implies that they are just
slightly behind everyone else. They are fishermen
who were just lucky enough to find oil, and now they
are the Saudis of the north. The attitude is still that
the Norwegians have been lucky, but not necessarily
talented. The Danes believe that the Norwegians are
sweet and nice people, and the Danes have a more
positive attitude to Norwegians than to Swedes. The
Norwegians speak in a funny and nice way and the
Danes understand what they write. The Danes believe that there are a number of positives about the
Norwegians – for example, simply the fact that they
are not Swedes! They are not the big brother, but
little brother and old colony. Denmark and Norway
enjoy a bond. The Danes and the Swedes have been
at war with each other. In fact, the Danes and the
Swedes are the two peoples in the world who have
killed the biggest percentage of each other’s populations. I believe that there may be some stories that
are passed down through the system, but that is
Page 45
not the way it is with the Norwegians. Norway does
not have the same unconditional love for Denmark
because they know what happened in times gone by.
The Danes seem to be remarkably unaware of what
they were doing in the past and have a problem with
their own understanding of colonialism. The Danes
have a lot on their consciences, but the Danes have
never seen themselves as colonialists because they
are so small and sweet. The Norwegians, on the
other hand, are very clear on this. They have understood their roles as people who have been repressed
whereas the Danes have not even discussed what it
is they have done and this creates friction. The Norwegians are about to celebrate the 200th anniversary of their independence in 2015 and have been
very disappointed in the fact that the Danes are not
more interested in this event. The Norwegians want
people from Denmark to come to Norway, and in
Denmark people thought: Why? The Danes are just
indifferent, but the Norwegians are deeply hurt that
the Danes are indifferent to their loss of Norway.”
What is the difference between Danish, Norwegian
and Swedish humour?
”The Danes believe that it is fine to laugh at
everything. You can make fun of everything, and
there are no taboo subjects. The Danes are also able
to make fun of themselves. Denmark scores lowest
in the world on gelotophobia – the fear of being ridiculed. Measured against 72 other countries, there
is nowhere else in the world where people are less
afraid of people laughing at them. For the Danes,
being able to laugh at things is part of the way they
interact with each other. It is the way the Danes
tackle conflict and disagreement. The Swedes are
more aware of not hurting or upsetting anyone. The
Swedes believe that things should be taken seriously and that people should be serious. The Danes, on
the other hand, believe that being able to have fun
is a good thing. This was what Thor Pedersen tried
to do when he was minister of foreign affairs. As a
joke, Thor Pedersen once said that he had sometimes
wanted to take the whole Danish Navy and Air Force
and sail to the nuclear power station at Barsebäck
and bomb the whole damn thing. The response of
Carl Bildt, prime minister of Sweden at the time,
was that this was an unseemly tone in the context
of Scandinavian cooperation and that people should
speak nicely to each other. The Danes ran into a wall
of seriousness from the Swedish prime minister who
did not think the remarks were in the least bit funny.
This is a typical example. The Danes think: “Relax
– it’s only a joke. We don’t really mean it.”
”The Norwegians are also more relaxed in their humour and resemble the Danes a bit more. Joking is
Page 46
fine, and a bit of a lark is OK. They have the same
tendency to ease social interaction with laughter.
The Danes try to get to know people by including
them in their humour. In Denmark, you include
people by making fun of them. The Danes are happy
to make fun of authority, for example. It is part of
their way of interacting socially and the way they
relate to others. They puncture and deflate things
with their humour. The Danes are often called the
Italians of the North because they do things in a
more nonchalant and silly way. Joking is welcome.
Everything does not all have to be taken so seriously. Irony and sarcasm are also very important in
Denmark. The Danes are ironic about everything.
They keep a distance. The Danes – like the Swedes
– also sometimes feel the need to keep their emotions in check. The Danes do that with irony and
sarcasm instead. The Swedes find this difficult to
understand.”
”The Danes also have a tendency to think that their
sense of humour is more advanced than others’. But
there is no good or bad sense of humour – just different kinds. Humour is rooted in culture, but in a
recent survey it appeared that slightly more than
60% of the Danes surveyed believed that their
humour was slightly better than others’. The Danes
joke that the shortest book in the world is 200 Years
of Swedish Humour.”
What prejudices do the Danes, Norwegians and
Swedes have about each other?
”Swedish prejudice about the Danes is that they are
incapable of taking anything seriously, that they are
a bit loud, that they have a strong presence and that
they are maybe not always 100% honest because
they are a bit sneaky. They always come back to the
thing about Danes being good at selling. You can
never be quite sure that you are getting the truth
from a Dane.”
”Vice verse, prejudice about the Swedes is that they
are stiff, too formal, have no sense of humour, are
authoritarian and fall for everything the government
tells them. Both the Danes and Swedes believe that
the Norwegians are friendly and jovial, but slightly
backward. And again the kind of people who spend
all their time in the mountains skiing and who are
really just people running around in hats and gloves
having a great time, but are not terribly intelligent.”
ing things. And at the same time not condemning
this other world based on their own premises, but
instead trying to understand it for what it is. Culturally intelligent marketing is marketing that is about
understanding that what is acceptable in one context may well be challenged in another. And being
able to convert this into strategic action.”
”You can also work with what you could call culturally intelligent retailing. Especially because the
retail industry depends so much on communicating
the brand while ensuring that the brand supports
something that is universally human. The brand
also has to be culturally accommodating. This triangle is very important. How do you balance the
cultural, the brand-related and the universal? This
is difficult. In my opinion, there are many Danish
businesses that are lousy at it. Because Denmark is
still somehow a bit provincial. Although the Danes
have been good at selling and going out into the
world, they still believe that Danish products are
slightly better than everyone else’s products. The
Danes have to get out there and meet people on
their own patch. It seems to me that the Danes are
not very good at that. Not yet anyway.”
“As a joke, Thor Pedersen once said that he had sometimes
wanted to take the whole Danish Navy and Air Force and
sail to the nuclear power station at Barsebäck and bomb the
whole damn thing. The response of Carl Bildt, prime minister
of Sweden at the time, was that this was an unseemly tone in
the context of Scandinavian cooperation.”
What is your best piece of advice for marketing
managers who want to market their product in
Scandinavia?
”Consulting with people who know something about
culture. The people who possess this basic knowledge about how other people think. And tailoring
it to the market they want to conquer. Listening to
other people than the ones you talk to when you are
marketing yourself elsewhere. Look at how they sell
things. Even if you think those things are tasteless
and that you are bringing something much more
tasteful to the table. In some way or another you have
to accommodate what you think is tasteless even if
your whole creative department will ache from the
experience. Because in the final instance it is not
about overcoming people’s aesthetic perspective. It is
about selling. And if you can’t do that because you
have to be an aesthetic imperialist, you risk failing in
tremendous fashion.”
You work with a concept you call ‘culturally
intelligent marketing’. What is that?
”People have a tendency to believe that everyone
else follows their standards and thinks like them.
Cultural intelligence is the ability to understand
that other people may have other ways of approach-
Page 47
Johannes
and Sandra
d Kristin
Paul an
Jon
i and
Jann
d
Jonas an
d
il
h
n
Rag
Jennie and Ca
rsten
d
Jens an
e
k
ik
r
e
Lill Fred
Sten and Kristin
”The Norweg
ians drink a
lot of coffee
You sit there
– at any time,
drinking a be
even at parti
er and then
es.
some coffee’
someone sa
. You then sit
ys ‘oh, we ne
th
er
e drinking be
ed
Sandra [DK]
er AND coffe
e.”
have
anes -10
D
e
5
th
dn’t
reas
ol,
y di
whe
, wo
t the
l
ool
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w
o
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,
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l
o
,
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yt
st w
ear
wful
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is ju
to w
re h
an a
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d
a
n
e
e
i
s
s
e
th
ane
es n
ns u
very
he D
egia
babi
ns e
od. T
Norw ted. Our orwegia
o
g
e
o
”Th
star
he N it, it is n
just
for t
n
and
]
only
,
ool i
o
w
g
[DK
sa
is no .” Janni
e
year
r
e
c
if th
ryli
and
of ac
a bit
h
t
i
w
this
ay, but
in Norw
s
ave
n
h
io
e
it
w
t
ad
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fact tha
have
ith the
ny fun
a
w
e
w
m
o
d
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e
s
v
to
ing
”We ha
country
someth
a poor
[NO]
o have
we were
Kristin
may als
d
n
.”
a
g
,
in
ls
k
a
o
o
im
c
n
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a
o
ys
lots of
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d many
invente
Living and surviving
with a Swede
One thing is talking about cultural differences. Another is living with them. Waking up with them,
eating breakfast with them, going on holiday with
them and having children with them. envision has
visited 14 mixed Scandinavian couples to take a
closer look at the biggest differences between them.
Keeping it clean
”I was very surprised by the gentlemanly attitude
Perry [SE] had. Especially in our younger days
(laughs).” Christine (DK)
Page 48
which is seen as very direct and at times decidedly
coarse when viewed from a Norwegian and Swedish
perspective. This is reinforced in situations when
you generally expect that extra bit of attention and
service, e.g. when you are in a restaurant:
”The waiters can sometimes be a bit ‘just sit wherever you like’ to give him [the waiter] the chance
to chat to a colleague about the party he went to at
the weekend. In Norway, they come and greet you
at the door, take you to your seat and speak to you
properly.” Erik (NO)
Although Danish Christine laughs at this, there is
something to it. The Swedes and Norwegians seem
to be a bit more polite and attentive than the Danes.
Not only at the beginning of a relationship, but in
general.
The difference in approach is also seen when you
are working across borders. The Swedes are more
formal, consensus-minded and mild. The Danes are
often seen as very hard:
The Danes are blamed for being slipshod and not very
service-minded. This is due to the Danish rhetoric
“Our Swedish neighbours tell us that when they
have worked with Danes, they need two weeks off
because it’s so hard going. Just because of the hierarchy and their manners.” Anne (DK)
From a Norwegian and Swedish perspective, the
Danes could do well to think about the way they
talk to others. The Danes themselves do not feel
that they are hard, but think they basically have a
more relaxed attitude to things. This is expressed
in they way the countries view rules and regulations. The tendency that anthropologist Dennis
Nørmark mentioned previously is confirmed in the
couples interviews: In Denmark, laws are seen as a
kind of recommendation, but in Sweden a recommendation is a law. For example, when it comes to
speed limits:
“In Norway, you don’t do anything you are not allowed to do. Not even a little bit. Better to drive 10%
below [the speed limit]”. Kristin (NO)
en on
runk m
show d
er
to
y
p
p
ld
a
u nev
y are h
hat wo
mes. T
ark, the
ether
m
h
m
w
n
ra
e
g
w
D
ro
o
p
n
”In
vision
really k
n’s tele
I don’t
]
childre
orway.
ild [NO
N
h
n
g
in
a
d
R
.”
we
d thing
be allo
a
b
r
o
a good
that is
”If you go to
a Swede’s ho
me in the af
if you want
ternoon, he
a coffee. Her
will ask you
e they often
That doesn’
ask if you w
t happen all
ant a beer.
that often in
Sweden.” Je
nnie [SE]
rovocat more p
e as
ur is a lo
o
m
t
u
o
h
n hav
h
”Danis
You do
.
e
rs
e
r.”
d perv
humou
tive an
in your
ontent
much c
]
kke [NO
Frederi
”We are much more aggressive down here (in Denmark). It is easier
to get forgiveness than get permission, as they say. In Norway, rules
are there to be observed.” Sten [DK]
Iro-what?
“Our Swedish
neighbours tell us
that when they have
worked with Danes,
they need two
weeks off”
”I cannot speak to my own
sister in Sweden in the way I
do to people here [in DK]. I can’t
because she won’t understand it. It
is that simple.” Sven (SE)
The differences in humour are not surprisingly
what comes across most clearly when we talk to the
mixed Scandinavian couples. Particularly irony and
sarcasm are seen as very Danish phenomena. ”The
Danes are world champions at sarcasm. This is a
great type of humour... if you understand it.” Anna
(SE)
Among the Danes, irony can be an effective tool for
lightening an atmosphere, as an ice breaker at a business meeting or used as a chat-up line on a night out.
But used with Norwegians or Swedes, irony can be
fatal.
”(…) If someone says: “Bye, I’m
leaving now,” I might say: “OK, I’ll
do you a favour too when I can.”
They don’t get that at all in Sweden.”
Sven (SE)
Several of the couples mention that irony just does
not exist in the same way in Norway and Sweden. If
you nonetheless decide to use irony, the best-case
scenario is that they just do not think it is funny. The
worst-case scenario is that they will be offended.
Some couples mention explicitly that irony has
caused problems in their own communication, particularly at the beginning of their relationship. Finally, several of the couples highlight the fact that a
great deal of Danish humour takes place below the
belt and is quite coarse. But it is clear that the Norwegian and Danish senses of humour are closer to
each other than the Danish and Swedish.
“Wulf-Morgenthalers cartoon (…) ran something
about Danish Crown doing a sales promotion in
the Muslim world and making bacon burqas. (…)
In Sweden, that cartoon would have elicited at least
ten very angry letters from the politically correct.”
Perry (SE)
There seems to be a correlation between the differences in politeness and humour. When you want to
be polite to others in Sweden, you are – even if humour is involved. If the Swedes think someone
might be offended by a joke, they prefer to avoid it.
In Denmark, both manners and humour are more
cheeky and the Danes like to sail closer to the wind.
The Danes have a more brusque way of talking and
joking with each other, but they are also able to take
a joke on the chin themselves.
Page 49
Hi, Norway
That the Norwegians are the people with the greatest amount of national pride is not very surprising.
Norway’s short history as an independent country
has given them the need to retain and develop their
own Norwegian identity (see also interview with
Nørmark). Norway’s national day on 17 May is celebrated with pomp and circumstance and means a
great deal to every Norwegian.
The Norwegians celebrate their independence,
spend time together and showcase their colourful
national costumes which can cost anything up to
NOK 50,000. Money that the Norwegians are happy
to pay to display their togetherness and national independence.
”Patriotism is greatest in Norway. The Norwegians
are proud of their country, and it is a very beautiful
and large country. Distances are great so you have
to stand together in order to cope.” Kristin (NO)
Eva and Ole
Norwegian customs policies whose purpose is to
support Norwegian manufacturers by applying
duties to imported goods have resulted in a very
Norwegian consumer culture. When something is
Norwegian, the Norwegians almost automatically
regard it as good.
“Jysk Sengetøjslager were not doing very well in
Norway. Then they changed their name to Norsk
Sengetøjslager, and suddenly things got a lot better.”
Kristin (NO)
The flag is a national symbol. But neither the Swedes
nor the Norwegians make use of their flags anywhere as much as the Danes do. When the Swedes
use the Swedish flag, it is always for a special occasion or celebration. The Danes use their flag for
birthdays and football matches, picking someone up
at the airport, selling apples at the roadside etc.
“The Danes are a bit prouder.
When it comes to football, for
example. Even though they don’t
win, they are still world champions.
I have noticed that many times.”
”We [the Norwegians] celebrate ourselves once a
year. You celebrate yourselves all year round. You
have Danish flags everywhere!” Frederikke (NO)
There is nothing to indicate that the Swedes have a
low level of national feeling. But because Sweden is
a country with a very international outlook, the feeling of togetherness and nationality is not as strongly
anchored in tradition:
”(…) the Danish nationality is traditional in the sense
that it is not allowed to change. The Swedish national feeling is just as strong, but it is more changeable.
The Swedes are not so afraid of letting others in and
letting them see it in the way they want.” Anna (SE)
Sex sells
In Danish advertising, this claim has been an accepted
truth for decades. But implementing this philosophy
is not quite as simple when you travel north. Both the
Norwegians and Swedes, but in particular the Swedes,
Anna and Mar
k
become indignant and shocked at the provocative
marketing tactics employed by the Danes.
”The Swedes like to keep things clean (...) you don’t
see a CULT advertisement in Sweden and they
would not dream of showing a naked woman on
page 3.” Jennie (SE)
The difference lies in the use of nudity and sexuality, but also in the stories that play on gender roles:
ries are different further north. This can also be seen
on television, illustrated by the reality programme
Paradise Hotel. The programme set-up is identical
in all three countries, but there is a great difference
in how the participants behave (the Danes go much
further, are more provocative and have sex, for example) and what the television companies choose to
show. In Norway, they show both the Danish and
Swedish versions, but in the Danish version they
cut the provocative scenes and censor both image
and sound. If the Norwegians want the juicier version, they have to find it on the Internet.
”Many Swedes reacted to the Oddset campaign.
That advertisement would never have been used in
Sweden.” Anna (SE)
This is where it gets dangerous
The lack of politeness that the Norwegians and
Swedes sometimes find when they interact with
Danes is also something they find in Danish marketing. They believe that the Danes often go too far to
generate publicity for a product or a brand. Bounda-
The 14 mixed Scandinavian couples envision visited live with each other’s differences every day. They
have different roots, but make things work, many of
them very well indeed. The differences have turned
out not to be insurmountably big. But where sparks
fly is when the minor differences reinforce each oth-
er. When the Dane, who already has a coarser way of
interacting and does not seem very polite to a Norwegian or a Swede, also has a sense of humour in
which it is OK to laugh at minorities or be deeply
sarcastic. That is when it gets dangerous. Or when a
Swede who is a fervent believer in gender destigmatisation and equality meets a Danish Oddset advertisement that not only plays on (many) women’s ignorance about football, but at the same time shows
women very scantily dressed. This can seem overwhelming. The couples you have met here know
each other and are able to laugh at these differences.
But for everyone having to communicate across national borders it is worth being aware, curious and
talking to those Scandinavian neighbours when we
want to impact our target groups in the most effective way possible.
rry
e and Pe
Christin
Anne and An
ders
Lone
Erik and
d Guro
Matias an
beth
Elisa ven
S
and
”I don’t thin
k there is an
y doubt that
ambitions th
Sweden has
an Denmark
greater
has. They ha
entrepreneuria
ve a very di
l culture, an
fferent
d
th
ey
just have a m
tional outlook
ore interna.” Mark [DK]
”17 May seem
s a bit comic
al (...) Had th
understood
ey been drun
it. But they
k, I might ha
stand there
Ole (DK)
ve
completely
sober.”
nk,
y be dru
you ma
e
if
s
l
a
ti
k
o
un th
to stay
d just lo
llowed
rway an
a
o
re
N
a
in
u
, yo
bar
enmark
are in a
ut. In D
”If you
k (NO)
rown o
ri
E
th
e
.”
b
u
l
t yo
you wil
es to ge
nce com
ambula
Page 50
anes
lock, D
at 7 o’c
n
e
ould
d
e
w
w
e
S
A Swed
inner in
und 7.
oor at
ed for d
d
ro
it
a
e
v
f
th
in
o
t
a
are
ns sort
n knock
”If you
at mea
and the
that th
o’clock
7
l
ti
believe
n
u
e streets
(SE)
roam th
.” Perry
o’clock
7
ly
e
precis
”The Swedes
have a much
more serious
churchgoers
attitude to ch
do. In Denm
urch – at leas
ark, it is quite
t the
be ironic abou
possible to be
t God and Je
a churchgoer
su
s.
If
and
you are relig
into the whol
ious in Swed
e package’ an
en, you ‘buy
d treat the su
a Thorkild Gr
bject serious
osbøll charac
ly. We don’t
ter in Sweden
have
either” Ander
s [SE]
y are
, the
s
sion
i
c
t ha
e
wha
nad
y
o
e
e
d
k
h
a
t
d
at. T
have ough an
at th things
r
d
des]
h
e
o
t
o
w
g
hat
he S
ollow ot very
ve t
ey [t
ey f
n
belie
en th
d th nes are
y
[SE]
h
n
e
a
n
h
W
t
e
,
”
a
v
itted . The D
ause way.” S
c
m
e
b
m
s
co
ded
g the
sion
deci
deci ged alon
been
ick
n
u
a
q
e
e ch
mak
ys b
alwa
can
meone
I know so
contacts;
r
not do
ei
o
th
d
g
e
n
W
od at usi
sources.
go
re
r
re
u
a
yo
nes
share
”The Da
ne. You
yro [NO]
ws someo
rway.” G
o
N
who kno
in
y
a
w
e
m
sa
e
that in th
Page 51
Typical!
Our hearts are in the
countries we live in
Kirsten Weiss is a journalist and author of When
Vikings Fight – why Scandinavian businesses find
working together so difficult. She has lived in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo – as well as Sydney.
Swedes lacked a sense of humour and irony – to
which the Swedes responded than none of those elements were particularly in evidence among all the
bare breasts and buttocks.
By Kirsten Weiss
This example is not unique. Both global and
national marketing directors sometimes
pull their hair out in despair as they attempt to understand why three countries which, measured on values, are
so similar not only behave differently, but sometimes unmanageably
when they are trying to sell them
the same product in the same way.
Are the wild Vikings really that different? And do the prejudices about
‘the others’ in the middle of all that
Scandinavian self-love mean anything in
terms of sales and marketing?
Stereotypical ideas and almost limitless ignorance
overshadows the opportunities for a bullseye when it
comes to generating business across the Scandinavian countries. The Scandinavians broadly share the
same values, habits and product preferences, but far
too often the nuances and minor, but important, differences derail everything.
Page 52
If you ask the Scandinavians themselves, a whole
lot of prejudice, misconceptions and facts start to
appear. The Danes appear in the minds of the
Swedes as the region’s cheeky and dangerous Arabs
who live life in the south and are always
trying to cheat the trusting Swede out
of his last penny. In the eyes of the
Norwegians, Denmark is synonymous with Legoland and hedonists while the Danes and
Norwegians agree completely that the Swedes are a
bunch of stiff, arrogant bureaucrats with no sense of
humour. Both Denmark and
Norway suffer from a little
brother complex in the shadow
of Sweden which, with its almost
10 million inhabitants, is by far the
largest country in the region and seen as the
very symbol of Scandinavia in the world at large.
Just think of the time when Stockholm declared itself ‘The Capital of Scandinavia’. This was met by
an outcry from the Danes as well as official complaints. Because everyone knows, of course, that
Copenhagen is the centre of Scandinavia...
”There is no
doubt that the
Swedes are strange
(...) Now beautiful
women have been
banned.”
˚There is no doubt that the Swedes are strange. Such
beautiful women can only arouse enthusiasm rather than indignation. Sweden is a strange country.
Everything is prohibited. Beer at normal prices is not
allowed. Now beautiful women have been banned.
They are just too silly up there.”
The answer to the first question is: both yes and no.
The reaction was matter-of-fact and direct – in an extract from just a single Danish comment among many
– when the Swedish advertising ombudsman in 2011
characterised an advertisement from the Danish company Bestseller as sexually discriminatory. The advertisement with a very scantily dressed woman who
starts a very provocative workout on the beach – to
get men to put on jeans from Jack & Jones – was
judged as discriminatory because the woman “poses
as a sex object and in a way that may be deemed offensive to women in general”. The Danes believed the
Because there is a difference between the Scandinavians. On the other hand, you have to be a Scandinavian in order to spot the differences. In all global value surveys, the Scandinavians, much to the frustration
of Scandinavians internally, prioritise the very same
things. The Scandinavians are a tribe of northerners
who pay high taxes and have mixed materialism,
capitalism and socialism into a social democratic
welfare state. Seen from the outside, they are a bunch
of wealthy, well-informed rationalists who are bored
in their welfare states, have a relaxed attitude to sex
and a mournful longing for nature and a simple life.
Let us make it clear: The Danes, Norwegians and
Swedes share values, habits and products. They
share culture, history, wars and unions and have always competed for prestige and money. Boiled
down to a set of shared values, all three countries
can be described with words such as: innovation,
Typically Swedish?
Stereotypes (also) tell a story about the people communicating the
prejudice. By all means play with the stereotypes, but be aware
that all people, including consumers, are individuals first – and
influenced by the (national) culture they live in second.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Typically Danish?
Typically Norwegian?
• Individualism – ‘I go my own way’
• Speed is a virtue
• It is OK to take your own route – at the expense of others
•It is OK to break an agreement – if something cheaper
turns up
• Price over quality
• Humour oils the wheels – and it is OK to laugh at others
• Strong preference for Norwegian solutions
• Idealism, nationalism and a search for justice
• Relaxed, informal and peculiar
•Isolation – have enough oil money to do their
own thing
• Frugal and nouveau riche
• Humour oils the wheels – but do not get too personal
independence, security, equality, efficiency, anti-authoritarianism, friendliness and tolerance. In the
middle of our self-love, we are, of course, also ‘the
very best countries in the whole world’. The Scandinavians suffer very much from self-satisfaction and
a strong desire to define themselves positively compared to others. That is why the Danes do not understand that the Swedes are able to get so upset about
scantily dressed women selling menswear. In Danish eyes, the Swedes are simply prudes. The Danes
are not interested in the fact that the whole of contemporary Swedish society is permeated with ideas
of equality and equal rights; especially between men
and women. The Swedish welfare state with its
large international businesses is based on easy access to raw materials and a national notion that
equality gives you more room to flex your muscles.
Together we are strong. Together we can lift any burden. Humour and irony are certainly ingredients in
the Swedish mindset, but politeness is a virtue, and
the Swedes are very careful not to hurt other people
with an offensive or sarcastic remark of the kind that
the Danes expect you just not to shrug your shoulders at.
As opposed to the collectively-
and consensus-minded Swedes, the Danes are very much more
of an independent frame of mind. Apart from more
than 20 million pigs, a few square kilometres of rich
agricultural soil and a drop of oil, the Danes really
do not have very much to sell. Maybe that is why the
Danes have become such good businessmen who
really understand how to brand their products?
Collective thinking and consensus
Strong desire for equality – ‘everyone is equally valid’
Security-minded and careful
Leave no stone unturned before making a decision
Humour – but take your own medicine
Politeness oils the wheels
Maybe that is why the Danes suffer from a pronounced fear of rules and regulations governing
their behaviour. The Danes use their elbows when
they want to get on in the world – and preferably for
a good price. A good price in Denmark means a low
price. Just ask Norwegian sushi chains who have
tried in vain to sell sushi to the Danes – on quality
rather than price. The Danes are known for being
cheeky negotiators who squeeze their customers
and contacts until the very last drop – or as a Norwegian manager in the travel industry expresses it:
“When I have shaken a Dane’s hand, I make sure I
count my fingers afterwards!”
To both the Danes and the Swedes, the Norwegians
are something of a nouveau riche mystery. It irritates both the Danes and the Swedes greatly that the
country that they both owned for 400 and nearly 100
years respectively found its own black gold when
the oil gushed from the Norwegian subsoil in 1971.
The poor little brother from the countryside suddenly came into money – and this confuses both the
Norwegians and their neighbours. Because how do
you go from frugal to nouveau riche? Are you allowed to flaunt your Mulberry and Maserati, or do
you keep the packed lunch as your national symbol?
And how nationalistic can you afford to be in your
habits and product preferences in a globalised
world? Patriotism is strong in Norway where a Norwegian flag on a product is still a mark of quality.
Maybe not so strange in a country that only achieved
independence in 1905 – and even though humour
and self-irony are very much Norwegian characteristics, they do not like being called mountain monkeys or made fun of when they bring out their national costumes with pride and completely without
any irony.
The conclusion must be, that the Scandinavians are
unimaginably alike – but not very curious about nuance. The basis of all good communication, including marketing, is usually that you attempt to understand the people with whom you want to enter into
a dialogue. Because there is always a contextual
reason for people acting as they do, and this includes they way they shop. This is why Arla, when
the company merged their dairy divisions in 2000,
had to recognise that they needed to look beyond the
horizon of the merger – and communicate with the
national context and soul. In Sweden, Arla was almost a national treasure, and here dairy farmers
were very much the good guys who looked after the
environment. In Denmark, the dairy farmer is a monopolist and causes pollution and has a low status.
To cut a long advertising story short, there is still a
difference between coming from Jels or Jönköping
and if you want to pick the low-hanging business
fruit growing in the Scandinavian garden, you will
have to exercise your curiosity and your cultural intelligence. The Scandinavian globalists are similar,
yes – but their hearts are still very much in the countries in which they live.”
Page 53
The Scandinavians
from the air
envision has visited Copenhagen Airport where
thousands of people fly into and out of Denmark
every day. We met Marion Lobedanz, Head of Research at the airport, and Camilla Berg Hansen, who
is the manager of 362 cabin crew. We also spoke to ten
flight attendants – all to gain an impression of the
differences between Scandinavians seen from the air.
Wanderlust lives
The Scandinavians tend to choose the same destinations. Spain, Greece, Turkey and Italy are favourites,
and in the winter Thailand is a big draw. In recent
years, the all-inclusive holiday where everything,
including food, drinks and activities, is paid for up
front has not surprisingly become more popular –
probably because, in the middle of a financial crisis,
people want to know what their costs are (PEJ 2012).
The financial crisis has left its mark on the Scandinavian travel budget. 2008 was the most difficult
year for the tourist industry in all three countries.
But the Scandinavians like travelling and optimism
is returning. Between a third and half of the Scandinavians expected to travel in 2011. In Denmark,
34% responded affirmatively, in Norway 40% and
in Sweden as many as 50% (PEJ 2012).
The Norwegians make use of the fact that they are
able to buy tax-free when they are travelling. But do
they only spend on tax-free items?
”No, I have had a meeting with Wunderwear, the
lingerie retailer, for example. The Norwegians are
also the biggest spenders there. If every Dane spends
about DKK 35 at the airport, a Norwegian spends
DKK 85,” says Marion.
What do the Danes spend their money on?
”When we look at our restaurants, the Danes spend
twice as much as the Norwegians. It is a Danish tradition that when you get to the airport, it is as if the
trip only starts when you sit down for a beer or a cup
of coffee or something to eat. The Norwegians prefer to spend their time and money shopping rather
than eating,” says Marion Lobedanz.
Manager Camilla Berg Hansen elaborates: ”The
Norwegians have the most to spend so they are
clearly the nationality in Scandinavia who fly and
travel the most. If you need to save money, the obvious thing is to cut down on travel. But this does not
apply to the Norwegians.”
as they like. They are very autonomous and very ‘I
know best’. A rule is there to be discussed and bent.
The Danes question things, and the others just do
what they’re told.”
Is there a difference in how good they are at
showing consideration for other passengers?
”That depends what you mean by showing consideration. The Danes are very direct in their form of address (...) we use a lot of humour and sarcasm. Our
Nordic colleagues do not do that in the same way so
we can sometimes be misunderstood and seem very
direct and coarse.”
Does anyone make more noise or have a strong
presence on board?
Do you see a difference in how quickly we
complain?
”The Swedes expect more, but they do not complain
as much as the Danes.
If the Swedes arrive at a destination, they want to
know where to complain. Not because they have
anything to complain about, but just in case something happens that they might want to complain
about. They want to know what they can count on
and what to expect, and if they don’t get it, they may
complain. The Danes just complain here and there.”
Kasper Fischer, 33, flight attendant with SAS,
Danish
”The Danes can be a bit more short-tempered and
‘me me me’.”
Linda Erlandsson, 39, flight attendant with SAS,
Swedish
”Danish is a very hard language. But the Danes
don’t mean anything by it. They swear, but they
don’t mean anything by it.”
David, 48, flight attendant with SAS, from
Scotland, but lives in Sweden
”When they are flying to London, the Swedes like to
drink gin and tonic. When they are flying to Nice,
they want champagne. You can almost bet on it.”
Jeton Sabanovski, 32, flight attendant, Danish
”The Swedes are better at showing consideration
for others and cleaning up after themselves. They
are also more punctual. They seem more correct
in general – they arrive on time and clean up after
themselves.”
David Cameron, 48, flight attendant with SAS,
from Scotland, but lives in Sweden
”The Swedes are slightly quieter. They don’t say
everything they are thinking out loud. The Danes
tend to jabber on a bit more.”
Britt Hilm, 47, flight attendant with SAS, Danish
Søsser Schmidt, 33 år, flight attendant with SAS,
Danish
”The Danes are a bit ‘don’t think you can tell me
anything’.”
”It doesn’t matter so much to the Norwegians
whether a bottle of wine is DKK 50 or nearly DKK
100. To them, it’s just cheap.”
Camilla Berg Hansen, 38, manager with SAS,
Swedish
Anna Borbye, 54, flight attendant, Swedish
”The Danes do not travel to Norway and Sweden
as much as the Swedes and Norwegians travel to
Denmark.”
”The Swedish are very considerate and polite. Norwegians are very good citizens. It is only the Danes who
barge through.”
The Danish favorite activities on vacations are relaxing,
sightseeing, shopping and dining.
Norwegians favorite activities on vacations is relaxation,
shopping and sports.
The Swedes’ favorite activities holidays are sunbathing,
swimming and shopping
The Nordic outbound travel market - potential and possibilities,
Tourism Trademark and The Ministry of Medias
”The Swedes are very proper, considerate and polite. Especially if they are from Stockholm and north
of there. The south of Sweden is more like Denmark,
with elbows and more of a‘watch out, here I come’
attitude.
Norwegians are very nice – good citizens. They do
not push each other. It is unfortunately only the Danes who barge forward.”
Tid og Tendenser 2012.
Eating and shopping
Is there any difference in the way the Scandinavians
act when they are at the airport? Who spends money
on what? Marion Lobedanz explains that 35% of travellers at Copenhagen Airport are Danes, 15% are
Swedes and 9% are Norwegians and confirms that
there is a difference:
”The Norwegians purchase a lot of alcohol and tobacco because they are travelling outside the EU.
The Norwegians are our favourite customers in the
tax-free shops. A Norwegian in tax-free purchases
twice as much as a Dane does. On the other hand,
the Swedes are the least popular. The Swedes do
not buy very much – less than the Danes,” explains
Marion Lobedanz.
Page 54
Who are the biggest spenders and what do they
purchase on board?
Are there any differences in how good or bad they
are at cleaning up after themselves?
”The Danes buy coffee and a bit of wine. Something
for a treat because they are on holiday. The Norwegians shop. They buy whole ranges. They empty the
on-board sales trolley. This is a problem that our colleagues in Norway have – they never have enough
items on their flights because they sell everything.
The Danes purchase what they need to because they
are going on holiday, but the Norwegians are the biggest spenders. Both items to consume on board and
to take home. Everything in the way of cigarettes,
alcohol, watches (...) I regard the Swedes and the
Danes as about equal when it comes to shopping.”
”If you have to nominate anyone as being messy
and disorganised it has to be us Danes. And there
are probably some Swedes from the south who have
picked up the same habit.”
Who is best at following instructions?
”The Swedes and the Norwegians. The Danes do
Who are the most punctual?
”The Danes always have to have another beer at the
bar whereas the Swedes are ready and queuing in a
straight line to get on board. It is probably the culture. The Danes are just more relaxed about things.
I don’t think they don’t want to be punctual. They
just think ‘if the flight is only departing in 20 minutes’, I only need to be there 10 minutes beforehand’ whereas the Swedes and Norwegians are not
as often the ones you have to call to the gate.”
Page 55
No communal feeling
Interview with Lone Korslund, Nordic Co-Production Acquisition Manager at Nordisk Film
In our pursuit of a better understanding of the Scandinavians’ perception of advertising and communication, we interviewed two representatives of an
industry that is closely related to advertising, namely the film industry. Here the differences are made
very clear – and with many years’ experience Lone
Korslund usually knows what will sell tickets. But
she is still regularly taken by surprise.
What works well in Scandinavia?
”When it comes to cinema audiences, what is safe
and recognisable works. This may be anything from
a famous person to a famous story. This works mainly in the genre films. Film adaptations of famous
books are very big. We were pleasantly surprised by
the three Millennium films by Stieg Larsson. That
they were so big in Denmark and Norway as well.
This started a whole new trend in Scandinavian
film – both in Scandinavia and internationally.
But the most recognisable is an international trend.
If you look at the top ten in the cinema market, you
will see that they include franchises and re-mixes.
The Twilight films, Harry Potter and The Hobbit.
These are big brands and preferably films that have
many sequels. These are currently the biggest commercial films.
Susanne Bier is one of the handful of directors in
Scandinavia who is able to make major commercial
films based on original stories because she has become a brand in herself. Otherwise it can be a big
challenge for us to sell a film based on an original
screenplay.”
Do Danes, Swedes and Norwegians have the same
sense of humour?
”No. One of the main areas we focus on is getting
our Scandinavian films to travel within Scandinavia. In my experience, it is precisely in the area of
comedy that this is almost impossible. We just can’t
be bothered with a Swedish comedy in Denmark or
vice versa! Clown, for example, which sold 800,000
tickets in Denmark – we couldn’t even get it into cinemas in Sweden. They thought it was far too explicit
Page 56
and just too far-fetched. On the other hand, it was
an anomaly in the Norwegian market where it actually did really well on the DVD market.”
“When we sit down to develop these big Scandinavian film projects, comedies are generally just a
genre that we keep well away from. The Norwegian,
Swedish and Danish senses of humour are so local
that it is almost impossible to export them to the
other countries. Everything just falls flat. If we are
talking about local Swedish, Norwegian or Danish
films, it is very rare that they succeed in the other
Scandinavian countries.”
How do you think the Danes, Norwegians and
Swedes differ most from each other?
”The Norwegians are extremely patriotic. For example, if you make a film that appeals to the Norwegian
national feeling... you just don’t understand how big
it is up there. Those films can really get the Norwegians to flock to the cinema. It may be the film about
the Norwegian resistance man Max Manus which
was seen by 1.2 million Norwegians. Or Kon Tiki,
about Thor Heyerdahl, another national Norwegian
hero, which also sold nearly 1 million tickets. In Denmark and Sweden, we are not fascinated by our national heroes to quite the same degree. Many of our
great ‘heroes’ in Denmark are now our stand-up comedians. For example, the Mick Øgendahl films All
for One and All for Two, the Anders Matthesen film
Terkel in Trouble and Black Balls and Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam’s Clown which have all been
smash hits in Denmark. And in Sweden, they like the
big dramas or thrillers.”
Do you use the same trailers in Norway, Sweden
and Denmark?
”With American films, we usually use the same marketing model. With Scandinavian films on release
in other Scandinavian countries than just the original one, we often have to adapt the trailers, posters
etc. For example, in the Norwegian film Headhunters, based on a novel by Jo Nesbø, we had Nicolaj
Coster Waldau in a major role. So we marketed the
film in Denmark as a big Scandinavian thriller with
Coster Waldau, and that went down really well! The
film sold 200,000+ tickets and became the biggest
Norwegian film in Denmark ever.
In Sweden, we had no other selling points than the
fact that it was a big Scandinavian thriller, based on
a Jo Nesbø novel, and things didn’t go so well. We
sold 40,000 tickets.
In Norway, of course, we marketed the film as a great
Norwegian thriller starring Aksel Hennie (greatest
Norwegian actor), and the film drew a huge crowd
and sold 500,000+ tickets.”
The
9
commandments
The Scandinavians according to Ålen
Consultant Stig Helmer played by Ernst-Hugo
Järegård on top of Rigshospitalet looking through
his binoculars at Barsebäck:
”Thank you, you Swedish watchtowers. We will force
the Dane to his knees with plutonium. Here Denmark:
Shat out of lime and water. And there: Sweden: Hewn
in granite. Danish devils. Danish devils!”
Peter Aalbæk Jensen
CEO Zentropa
”It is often easier for us to sell our large, local Scandinavian films internationally than it is in the rest
of Scandinavia. I think this is a bit strange. In Denmark, Sweden and Norway, we are simply so uninterested in each other’s culture. It is very difficult
to get audiences in to see a Danish film in Sweden.
Especially the younger target group is completely uninterested in other Scandinavian films. You
won’t get Danish teenagers in to see a Norwegian or
Swedish film.”
In his capacity as CEO of film company Zentropa,
Peter Aalbæk Jensen has travelled throughout Scandinavia for many years – and met Scandinavians in
a wealth of different contexts and functions: he has
participated in ruthless negotiations on financing
and budgets, nurtured directors and actors, handled
journalists, attended awards ceremonies and sold a
tonne of cinema tickets. We asked him to share his
experiences from a long life working with Danes,
Norwegians and Swedes. Here are Ålen’s commandments for surviving the partnership – without too
many mishaps.
“The feeling of Scandinavian community is not really there. That is a great shame, and it is something
we are working on more and more. Instinctively, you
don’t really believe that the cultural differences are
that great. But we Danes just think it is so unsexy to
watch and listen to a Norwegian film! The Swedes
are very difficult to tempt into a Norwegian film, but
may watch a Danish film if one of their major Swedish actors is starring in it...
Always start by praising Norway, the country, its
greatness, its women, its sport etc. for at least 15
minutes before starting to talk business.
Never take on a Norwegian in any conflict. They are
like badgers – they don’t stop until your bones have
been crushed.
Lars von Trier’s television series The Kingdom (1994)
And if you were to describe a few challenges in the
three markets?
Why do you think it is difficult to get the Swedes,
Danes and Norwegians to watch each other’s films?
The 3 commandments about Norwegians
If the North and South Poles melt completely, global
water levels will rise by 70 metres. Only Norway
will remain as a nation, and then they would rightfully be able to claim that they were the best at
everything.
Women, the environment and immigrants are sacred and cannot be attacked.
Remember that Sweden is a hierarchical society,
run by just a few families ¬– and the Social Democrats, of course.
The 3 commandments about Danes
The Danes cannot understand that other nations regard a contract as a binding agreement and not just
a platform for further negotiation.
The Danes believe that taking nothing seriously is
something charming and to be admired. But it is really just being spineless.
The 3 commandments about Swedes
Never attempt to win a discussion about the justification of Systembolaget (government-owned chain
of liquor stores in Sweden). It is the kind of collective, Swedish brainwashing that the Third Reich
would approve of.
A dedicated cult of alcohol which views
any kind of moderation with suspicion.
In 2011 the
Norwegians went in
average in the cinema
2.4 times, 2.2 times
the Danes and
Swedes 1.7 times.
dfi.dk
The Danes and the Norwegians are more open to
the rest of Scandinavia than the Swedes are. The
Swedish market is definitely the most difficult for us
to get into, on the film side. If we need to launch a
Scandinavian film in two countries, we will always
go for Denmark and Norway. The cultures in these
two countries are the most similar.”
Page 57
TNS Gallup A/S
”The Danes are much more royalist than the
Swedes. That has something to do with the
fact that we have a greater respect for our
Royal Family than the Swedes do. To the
Swedes, their Royal Family is a bit of a joke.”
Mark (dansk) og Anna (svensk)
As Crown Prince
Haakon and Crown
Princess Mette-Marit
were married in 2001
followed 36.1% of the
Norwegian population
it on television.
As Crown Prince
Frederik and Crown
Princess Mary were
married in 2004 came
to 46.3% of the Danish
population it on
television.
As Crown princess
Victoria and Crown
Prince Daniel were
married in 2010 followed
30.6% of the Swedish
population it on
television.
The Scandinavian
advertising landscape
Consumers are constantly on the move, and it pays to
keep up. That is why we have asked a Norwegian, a
Swede and a Dane, who all work at the coalface of
advertising every day, to give their take on the trends
and effective tools currently available to commercial
marketing.
Denmark:
Niels Heilberg, CEO HumanConsult, Chairman of
the Board of Creative Circle. Human Consult is a
professional networking group for general, CSR and
HR managers. Niels Heilberg has had a long career
as creative director of Danish advertising agencies.
Creative Circle is behind the Creative Circle Award,
Denmark’s most important creative award.
What are the characteristics of current campaigns
in Denmark?
”Seen from a Scandinavian industry perspective,
Denmark is the country that has been the slowest to
adapt to the industry slide that has taken place in
recent years. Budgets in Denmark still lean towards
television, and an on-line budget rarely exceeds
DKK 300,000 all inclusive. This means that only
very few campaigns – and thereby advertisers – appear at full strength in the media where consumers
are actually present.
Many agencies boast of being full-service, but only
a very few are able to deliver in paid, owned and
earned media. For advertisers today it is vital that
the idea of the campaign can be executed perfectly
on all applicable platforms and not least that the
basic idea of the campaign can be honed and supported by these media – as opposed to producing
the idea and adapting it to the media in the media
plan. We do not see the first kind very often at all.”
What kind of campaign works?
”The Danes still love simple effects and popular
advertisements, and these have historically been
shown on television. Talking heads with popular
one-liners. Wupti-Pede, Peter from L’Easy and Jørgen from Kim’s. And Oddset has worked for years
with a simple, sarcastic and intelligent consumer
Page 60
insight which the target group likes despite the fact
that it is completely and utterly politically incorrect:
“There is so much that women don’t understand.”
In future, we will see more campaigns in which
the idea is the first thing to be produced. Then the
means and media that best support the idea will be
identified. For example, Anthon Berg’s The Generous Store and AIAIAI’s The Sound Taxi are good
examples of campaigns that are anything but classic in their structure – and have incorporated the interest of the public – not just at consumer level, but
also as actual news. We will see a lot more of that.”
Why do the Danish campaigns have the format
they have?
The Museum of Modern Art in New York City has
50 people on its payroll just handling social media.
That says something about where they think growth
and loyalty come from. Danish advertisers could learn
something there – both in terms of focus and budget.
Finally, I believe that it is worth mentioning a company like Red Bull which has created a brand in a class
of its own by aiming to own the ‘extreme’ category
and a company like Tesco which has become the
market leader in the UK by simply earning it. Tesco
knows more about its customers than anyone else, is
responsible for all the criteria that interest customers
– oh, and they also own the ‘back to school’ market
in the UK. A supermarket! Impressive!”
”Denmark has its tall poppy syndrome, its sarcasm
Norway:
and its idiomatic humour – and we have used all
Aris Theophilakis, CEO Futatsu Industries. Futatsu
that for a long time. A bit too much and for a bit
Industries has existed since 2006 and is currently
too long. From the inside, I feel that the people who
one of Norway’s most successful media and advercreate the campaigns in Sweden and Norway
tising agencies. Aris Theophilakis is the
have a greater technical hinterland to
founder and co-owner and has a long
draw on from the last 50 years with
international career behind him
their communication schools in
which includes Bates Asia and
”Sweden is
Oslo and Stockholm which have
Europe and Global Creative
trying to lead the
existed for 50 and 70 years reDirector at JWT.
market in digital
spectively. The talent pool has
just been better trained, and this
terms, but it is difficult What is the nature of current
is one of the reasons that e.g.
campaigns in Norway and the
to know whether
Sweden does significantly better
rest of Scandinavia?
they are actually
than Denmark when it comes to
”In Norway, major campaigns
campaigns and awards.”
are
television-based and largely
succeeding.
use observational humour. A great
deal of buzzwording in social media,
How does the marketing relate to the
but very few specific cases of ROI. In line
consumer? (trends in society)
with the fact that Norway has not experienced
”Advertisers are currently rewarded when they
a financial crisis, Norwegian marketing continues
contribute actively to social debate and really are
with its optimistic and social democratic/hedoniswhat they say they are. The Be Polite campaign
tic messages.
by Call Me excels by basing its advertising on a
very real social problem: lack of ethical code beFrom the outside, it looks as if Denmark is more
tween people. This brand advertising with built-in
commercial, with more bargain advertising and
responsibility sells more subscriptions to Call Me
fewer long-term concepts in play – with uncertainthan classic bargain advertising. Worth thinking
ty around market leaders such as Danske Bank, for
about.
example.
From the outside, it looks as if Denmark is more
commercial, with more bargain advertising and fewer
long-term concepts in play – with uncertainty around
market leaders such as Danske Bank, for example.
From the outside, it seems like Sweden is continuing to be Sweden; a glorious mixture of overtrendy
and down-to-earth, big dreams and yet financially
level-headed. Sweden is trying to lead the market
in digital terms, but it is difficult to know whether
they are actually succeeding. The Swedes are often
a bit more loud-mouthed than we, the Norwegian
mountain monkeys, are.”
What kind of campaign works?
”We now have far better measuring tools than we had
just ten years ago, and the smart customers require
the right communication effects. What these effects
are varies according to brand, category and market,
of course. That is why we have cases in traditional
newspaper print, just as we have good digital campaign cases – and not least good television campaign
cases.”
Why do the campaigns have the format they have?
”Two important elements are culture and economy.
From the outside, Scandinavia seems to be a single
market. From the inside, we focus on our differences. The state of the economy also affects our mentality. Minor differences are posed by the position
of strong brands and their culture, e.g. Carlsberg in
Denmark, HM in Sweden and Statoil and DnB in
Norway which with their dominant positions affect
categories and the market in general.”
socially in all their brand relationships. With 300
brand purchases in just the ordinary supermarket,
consumers do not need social engagement in order
to choose toilet paper or barbecue sauce. They have
the opportunity, but they are happy without it.”
Sweden:
Petronella Panérus, CEO at Great Works, Stockholm
Great Works is a full-service digital marketing agency with offices in Stockholm, New York, Tokyo and
Shanghai. Petronella Panérus has worked as contact
director and CEO for several of Sweden’s most
reputable agencies, including Brindfors and Scholz
& Friends.
What is the hallmark of contemporary campaigns
in Sweden?
”What we see today in Sweden is the result of a
trend, where we are moving away from a focus and
reliance on general advertising to a more promotional focus. This is not a specific trend for Sweden,
but a general global trend, and it’s partial due to the
digitalization of the consumer landscape as well as
the change in the retail landscape with fewer, but
bigger retailers. Typical Swedish campaigns have
previously been very much focused on feelings and
less about information, compared to international
campaigns. With that being said, the most effective
campaigns and award winners are still the ones
with an emotional USP.”
How does the marketing relate back to the consumer? (trends in society)
What types of campaigns work in Sweden?
”There is more differentiation in the industry, i.e.
the industry has understood that there are more
ways than one to achieve your goal. Previously,
creative competitions were the most important indicator of agency health. Now, cases and holistic
philosophy make the difference. This is why it has
become more acceptable to listen to consumer insight. In the old days, it was just the gut instinct of
the creatives or the customer rationale that anyone
listened to. I also see that some of the panicked
attitude to social media is finally starting to calm
down. Real consumer insight tells us that only very
few people have the ability, time or desire to engage
”Campaign effectiveness winners from Sthlm Media
Award, which awards the most successful campaigns
and 100Wattaren, which awards the most successful
consumer advertising gives us an idea about what
types of campaigns that are successful. Clearly the
winners have been bigger brands (also international
brands) and they’ve been successful since they’ve
focused on ongoing brand building activities. Basically ‘re-building’ their brands and consistently
communicating the brand with clarity and reinforcing their leadership positions. Why have these
campaigns worked better than the average campaign? A large part of the campaigns have clearly
been extremely effective when it comes to integration and using different communication channels
and consumer touchpoints. But also breaking up
the international heritage and the standardization
perspective and working with a local market touch
(Swedish), which brings a more local personality
into the campaigns.”
Why do the Swedish campaigns look the way they
do?
”The Swedish consumers nowadays observe the
whole picture of the product/service/brand, not just
a silo view based on a classic advertising message
in just one silo channel. So today it’s more important than ever to distinguish what an advertiser says
from how one says it. The typical Swedish campaign
is also a reflection of what/which product/service
categories that have grown stronger during the last
couple of years and have taken a bigger share of the
consumers campaign consciousness.”
How is the Swedish consumer represented in the
Swedish campaigns?
”The usefulness of marketing in everyday life has
increased to levels never previously seen in history.
Why is this? Mainly due to the collective understanding amongst consumers, that the availability of these
new opportunities is the exchange of marketing or
information about themselves. The collective shift
vs. more promotional based marketing and offers
also makes the consumers aware of looking out for
the next big offer, and lets them know that the marketers are giving something back (eg private labels).
This is true both in the everyday life of the consumer
as well as the traditional shopping, where marketing
and marketers are striving to give something back to
customers.”
Note from the editors: We cannot help but note that
the Swedish expert answers in English. This is very
much in line with the report’s general observations
about the Swedes who have much more of an international outlook than the Norwegians or Danes do.
The Great Works website is, of course, also exclusively in English.
Page 61
Sources
Interview with Scandinavian couple
Nordic Statistical Yearbook 2012
Klaus Munch Haagensen, Statistics Denmark
genusfotografen.se
halogen.no
ikea.com
kreafon.se
mediebedrifterne.no
nationmaster.com
nordicom.gu.se (Norden)
overskrift.dk
portal.euromonitor.com
reklamombudsmannen.org
scb.se
socialbakers.com
ssb.no
tns-gallup.dk (Index Danmark)
tu.se
Literature
Interview with flight attendants
Danskerne er nordiske mestre i at se tv
Jan Dohrmann, dr.dk, February 9, 2012
Svenskerne vil ikke længere sige ’han’ eller ’hun’
Lotte Thorsen, politiken.dk, March 11, 2012
COs in Scandinavia
Danskernes Kulturvaner 2012
Udarbejdet af Epinion and Plus Leadership
Ministry of Culture
Swedish toy firm drops gender roles for Xmas
AFP, thelocal.se, November 24, 2012
forbrukerombudet.no
konsumentverket.se
fs.dk
Anna Borbye, air hostess at SAS
Britt Hilm, air hostess at SAS
Camilla Berg Hansen, manager at SAS
Cecilia Jeppsson, air hostess at SAS
David Cameron, air host at SAS
Hege, stewardesse at Widerøe
Jeton Sabanovski, air host at SAS
Kasper Fischer, air host at SAS
Linda Erlandsson, air steward at SAS
Søsser Schmidt, air hostess at SAS
Interview with marketing managers and
– CEO’s / professionals
Aris Theophilakis, CEO, Futatsu Industries
Bodil Marloth Meldgaard, Development, Midtjysk
Tourism
Carl Erik Stubkjær, media and event manager, JYSK
Carl Kristian Birch, director of marketing, HTH
Claus Thrane, CEO, Shoe-d-vision
Gitte Elkær Bruun, Marketing, Odense marcipan
Jens Bursell, Chief Editor Editor in Chief, Fisk & Fri
Richard Falk, marketing, Rynkeby
Kaspar Basse, owner, Joe & The Juice
Niels Berg Heil, CEO, HumanConsult, Chairman,
Creative Circle
Petronella Panérus, CEO, Great Works, Stockholm
Tina Raasteen, Nordic Brand Manager, Estee Lauder
Anthropologists and other smart people
Dennis Nørmark, writer and anthropologist,
Living Institute
Jeppe Trolle Linnet, anthropologist,
Syddansk Universitet
Kirsten Weiss, journalist, Co-A
Page 62
Lone Cross Lund, Nordic acquisitions manager,
Nordisk Film
Marion Lobedanz Witthøfft, Head of Research,
Copenhagen Airports
Meik Wiking, Director, Institute for Research into
happiness
Michael Street, construction advisor, Dana-Bo
Træhuse A / S
Niels Svendsen, manufacturer, Green house
Per Schultz Jorgensen, former president of
the National Council for Children
Peter Aalbaek Jensen, CEO, film producer Zentropa
Stian Kleppo, sports manager, TV3 (Viasat)
Anna and Mark Mikael Müller
Anne and Anders Fauslet Kongsted
Christine Dueholm and Perry Stenbäck
Elisabeth and Sven Åradsson
Eva and Ole Ørris
Guro Frantsen Korterød and Matias Thorn
Janni Degn and Jon Tangen
Jennie Mette Johansson and Carsten Jørgensen
Kristin Bernes and Sten Degn
Kristin Birkeland and Paul Natorp
Lill Frederikke and Jens Dahl
Lone and Erik Jørgensen
Ragnhild and Jonas Melbye
Sandra and Johannes Mult Gutkin
Dansk-produceret reklamefilm blev for meget for
nordmændene
Finn Graversen, bureaubiz.dk, March 5, 2013
Dansk reklame chokerer i Norge og Sverige
Helle Lho Hansen, bt.dk, April 6, 2011
Dansk tidning lockar läsare med fiskporr
Erik Carlsson, nyheter24.se, January 23, 2012
Det nye Skandinavien
pej gruppen, kompendium 2011
European Coffee Federation
Genushysteriska svenskar missar humorn
i fiskporren
Mikael Jalving, debatt.svt.se, January 24, 2013
Norsk mediebarometer 2011
Statistisk sentralbyrå
Når Vikinger slås
Kirsten Weiss, 2009
Organic agriculture worldwide
Helga Willer and Julia Lernoud, FiBL, 2013
Svenskerne raser over dansk ’fiske-porno’
Berit Hartung, bt.dk, January 24, 2013
Sådan vil Norge brandbeskatte ost
Ritzau, borsen.dk, October 8, 2012
The Nordic outbound travel market
– potential and possibilities
Tourism Trademark and Medieministeriet
The World of Organic Agriculture 2013
FIBL & IFOAM
TID & tendenser. Særudgave: Skandinavien
pej gruppen, #01 february 2012
Toys”R”Us scolded for gender discrimination
David Landes, thelocal.se, October 6, 2009
17. maj og den norske nationalisme
Rikke Kolbech Andersen and Anne Mette
Christiansen, information.dk, May 16th 2008
www
Könsrollerna kastas om i nya leksakskatalogerna
Jenny Sköld, metro.se, November 2012
Medieutveckling 2012
Myndigheten för radio och tv
Nordic e-commerce 2012
TNS Gallup
ae.dk
consumerbarometer.com (TNS Gallup og Google)
dfi.dk
dn.se
do.dk
dr.dk
dst.dk
economist.com
fdim.dk
Thanks to
Photopop, Runolfur Gudbjørnsson og
Gisli Dúa Hjörleifsson.
Le Management, Jannick Lindberg og Pia Poulsen
Analyse Danmark og Nordic Research Aliance.
Kreativitet & Kommunikation, Tina Bøggild,
Tove Meyer Højlund for venligt udlån af norsk
folkedragt.
Thilde Nyborg, Sofie Billeskov and Tina Asly
Lading who acting as respectively Swedes,
Norwegians and Danes inthe pictures.
”Scandinavia has in recent years ridden
on a crime wave. Danish Jussi Adler-Olsen,
Norwegian Jo Nesbø and Swedish Stieg
Larsson sold in millions worldwide and has
made thrillers to a Scandinavian trademark.”

we knøw scandinävia

Transcription

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