In order to once and for all sort out and distribute the associations between the countries, and make it clear which country is which and in which country you will find what - Visit Sweden is launching a marketing campaign on October 24 to clarify the concepts.

Over 120,000 international Google searches have been made by people in the past year, just to figure out which country is which. As recently as Sweden's football match with Switzerland, in the round of 16 of the World Cup, Dagens Nyheter picked up on the challenge that Sweden constantly encounters: the recurring confusion with Switzerland. But it's far from the first time:

• On Canadian television during the 2015 World Cup against the USA, the countries were confused and Sweden became Switzerland.
• When the Swedish music service Spotify went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018, the Swiss flag was captured on camera waving outside the stock exchange building.
• The Swedish Institute noted a couple of years ago, in a Latin American survey on awareness of Sweden, that Switzerland's most famous football player was Zlatan...
• Common associations with Sweden that have appeared in the Swedish Institute's measurements over the years are high alpine peaks, deep valleys and cuckoo clocks.
• In 2011, Rihanna apologized for the canceled concert with "I apologize to all my fans who were going to the concert in Malmö, Switzerland.".

The confusion and the fact that Visit Sweden wants to highlight that Sweden is a different type of destination, a destination with natural luxury - "a destination of a different nature" that offers "luxury of a different nature" - are some of the foundations for the campaign.

– With larger creative campaigns like this, we want to reach out broadly to our markets and create curiosity for the travel destination Sweden. We have a clear idea with our campaigns and have a robust model to increase the chance of reaching out and reaching through in international media. With campaigns that sometimes may be a little outside of what some associate with traditional destination marketing, we want to challenge ourselves so that we can highlight what the travel destination Sweden has to offer and stand out from the noise from other travel destinations, says Nils Persson, Visit Sweden's marketing manager.
 

– The goal of campaigns of this kind is to create reach in relevant media, reach out widely and attract both journalists, tour operators and travelers to want to visit Sweden and increase searches and Googling of the travel destination Sweden, continues Nils Persson. 

The campaign launches globally on October 24th, focusing on Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, the US and China. It will also be highlighted in Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

The campaign is primarily PR-based and digital, which means that Visit Sweden's international PR team and the company's team working with websites and social channels in different languages are the ones spreading the campaign's message.

Behind the campaign's idea and production are Visit Sweden's contracted agencies Forsman & Bodenfors and Mindshare.

– Like previous campaigns, we have chosen to highlight, together with a good dose of humor, things that we know attract travelers to visit Sweden. This time based on the thesis that Sweden offers luxury of a different kind, says Visit Sweden's CEO Susanne Andersson.

– With the campaign and its theme, we have the opportunity to talk about ”a different type of luxury” that represents other values and something that we want to clarify. We can talk about the valuable, sustainable and attractive experiences that Sweden as a travel destination has to offer. Experiences that are based on our progressive approach, our relationship with our nature and the care for it. Towards more conscious travel, Susanne continues.

Previous global marketing campaigns from Visit Sweden have aroused great interest and curiosity about Sweden far beyond the countries the campaigns were aimed at. For example, the company's campaign where the locations behind better-known furniture brands are showcased, to showcase the originals.

During the first two months of the campaign alone, over 600 articles in the press, 300 blog posts and around 300 tweets about the travel destination Sweden were published in 59 countries. From New Zealand and Japan in the east to Chile, Colombia and Venezuela in the west.

By marketing Sweden now and not before the summer or during the winter, Visit Sweden creates attention for Sweden as a travel destination outside the traditional high seasons, something that is also in line with Visit Sweden's goal of leading towards more conscious travel.

According to a press release.