Helsinki, Finland. Flickr/la-citta-vita After numerous business trips to Finland to do consulting and teach marketing at the Helsinki School of Economics (now Aalto University), I noticed that…

1. Everything in Finland seems to work better – from the way doors close, heating systems work, and safe transportation systems run on time.



2. Finnish young people are very smart – whether they have a college education or not.



3. Finnish products are made really well.

With quality people, methods, and products, why is Finland not on most people’s radar screen for doing business or visiting? The answer is quite simple. Finland has not done a good job of marketing itself, its companies, or its very capable people.

The Finnish brand is not well-known.

The first problem is that Finland is not very well-known outside its borders — especially in the United States. In fact, when I tell my friends and associates that I am going to Finland, without fail, the next time they see me, they ask, “When are you going to Sweden…, Norway…, Denmark…?” They rarely, if ever, remember that I am going to Finland. Even more amazing, when I return from Finland, they’ll ask, “How was Sweden…, Norway…, Denmark…?”

What’s the problem?

Why is this a problem? People are less likely to want to “buy a product” that has no clear, positive image in their mind. In fact, it is a rule of marketing that if prospective buyers cannot remember the brand (in this case, made in Finland), it is unlikely they will buy the product. Looking at some examples of other countries, most believe that France makes quality wine, Germany makes high-performance cars, Japan makes reliable consumer electronics, and the US makes desirable software for computers and entertainment. These brand images give products from companies in those countries an advantage in the marketplace.

The Finnish reaction is part of the problem.

When I have raised this issue with Finns, I typically receive one of the following reactions…

“This is not our area of responsibility,” “We have no control over this,” “We don't have the budget to market Finland.”

With regard to this last point, I was given a stack of brochures about Finland for background research on a piece I was writing for a Finnish client. All of them looked beautiful and were obviously expensive to produce (there was a budget for that). None of them emphasized the benefits of doing business with Finnish companies or visiting Finland. Some good “things” were in these brochures, but they were buried in the body text that most people (83.3% according to data) will not read. The money was spent, but it was not effectively invested because the proper marketing strategy and architecture were missing.

Evidence that Finland has a Corporate Image problem.

My point was underscored in a news “blurb” that appeared in the Business Section of the Los Angeles Times way back on the 17th of February, 1999. In the piece entitled “More on Tech,” the author wrote (and I am quoting verbatim), “Nokia to Buy Diamond Lane: Swedish cellular phone maker Nokia agreed to buy Petaluma, Calif.-based Diamond Lane Communications Corp. for $125 million to help meet demand for Internet access through wireless phones.” Nokia was, and still is, Finland’s best-known brand, and the writer of the article in a major newspaper thought it was a Swedish company. Case closed.

This is only part of a greater Marketing Problem.

The confusion of Finland with other better-known Scandinavian countries is really part of a larger marketing problem. This problem is underscored by the fact that Nokia has been in business since 1865, but it hired its first CMO in January of 2011. Just over a year later, Nokia laid off thousands of people, and she was gone. Not long after, Nokia sold its handset business to Microsoft. My Finnish friends were livid at the time and are still upset about this. It is as if Coca Cola or Disney were sold to a French company.

Nokia’s great fall.

At its peak in 2007, Nokia had a market capitalization of $250 billion. That was before the iPhone and Android phones took the lions-share of the smartphone market away from Nokia’s disappointing smartphone line-up. Before the Microsoft deal was announced, Nokia’s stock price was trading somewhere between $3 and $4 per share – giving it a market value between 2 and 3% of its 2007 value. While there are many reasons for Nokia’s sharp decline, experienced marketers know that Nokia had a great fall because it was a product-driven company dominated by engineers and a bureaucracy that missed the marketplace signals because of its lack of marketing expertise.

Finland is a great place to do business

When you have a great product and the world does not know about it, that is the ultimate proof that a lack of marketing expertise is the problem. What are some of the facts that support the notion that Finland has a great product and is a fantastic place to visit and do business?

Lots of available space. 5.5 million people living in 131,000 square miles — 38 people per square mile.

5.5 million people living in 131,000 square miles — 38 people per square mile. Top of the world education. Frequently tops the world in education. Finnish students are frequently ranked amongst the top three in the world.

Frequently tops the world in education. Finnish students are frequently ranked amongst the top three in the world. Universities and research centers are great too. 21 Universities and 12 research Centers of Excellence.

21 Universities and 12 research Centers of Excellence. Leading in R&D. Among leading nations in R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP.

Among leading nations in R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP. Not as cold as most think. Average temperatures vary between 25 ° F in Winter and 64 ° F in Summer.

Average temperatures vary between 25 F in Winter and 64 F in Summer. Easy to communicate. Official international business language is English.

Official international business language is English. Western-style government. Western parliamentary democracy led by a President.

Western parliamentary democracy led by a President. In all the right clubs. International affiliations include membership in the EU, UN, WTO, OECD, IMF, World Bank, EBRD, AsDB, AfDB, IDB, the Nordic Council, ESA, CERN, and EUREKA.

International affiliations include membership in the EU, UN, WTO, OECD, IMF, World Bank, EBRD, AsDB, AfDB, IDB, the Nordic Council, ESA, CERN, and EUREKA. Bridge between East and West. Expertise to bridge the gulf between businesses and countries in the East and West.

Expertise to bridge the gulf between businesses and countries in the East and West. Advanced technology infrastructure. Europe's leading information society second only to the USA in the use of information technology, and it has the world's highest number of mobile phones and Internet nodes per capita.

Europe's leading information society second only to the USA in the use of information technology, and it has the world's highest number of mobile phones and Internet nodes per capita. Advanced financial infrastructure. World's most developed electronic banking system.

World's most developed electronic banking system. High-performing stock market . Stock market that has frequently outperformed most of the world's capital markets.

. Stock market that has frequently outperformed most of the world's capital markets. Uses the Euro. Monetary unit is currently the Euro – one of the world’s four hard currencies.

Monetary unit is currently the Euro – one of the world’s four hard currencies. Industrial leader. World leader in forest products, pulp, paper, and board technology, and shipbuilding.

World leader in forest products, pulp, paper, and board technology, and shipbuilding. Lower tax rates. The lowest corporate and capital tax rates of any EU country.

The lowest corporate and capital tax rates of any EU country. Safety. Safe and virtual risk-free environment.

Safe and virtual risk-free environment. Most wired and wireless . Most wired nation in the world with sophisticated digital and fiber optic voice and data processing networks.

. Most wired nation in the world with sophisticated digital and fiber optic voice and data processing networks. Lowest corruption . Tied with Denmark for having the least corruption in the world.

. Tied with Denmark for having the least corruption in the world. Most competitive. The most competitive nation in Europe in 1999.

As a result of the above, it is easy to see that Finland provides businesses a favorable business climate that is hard to beat. While it true that labor rates are higher than in the Far East, it is also true that the highly-educated workforce, Western-style business knowhow, and advanced technology infrastructure can more than compensate for higher labor costs. The problem is that to many potential business partners around the world, Finland is still a secret.

Finland needs to do some serious and effective marketing

To overcome the “best kept secret” syndrome, Finland needs to realize that the concept of “if you make it, they will come” is only found in movies. The benefits of Finland need to be actively marketed. That means they need to be highlighted in headlines, and not buried in the body text of communications. Finns need to overcome their shyness, and not be afraid to tell others how Finland can help them. The Finnish government and its better known companies need to lead the charge to communicate the great things that have come out of Finland.

How can businesses around the world benefit from Finland’s shyness?

The fact the Finland is marketing-challenged can be viewed as an advantage for American businesses because once the rest of the world discovers the hidden benefits Finland has to offer, competition for Finnish goods and services are likely to bid prices upward. For now, it is a win-win opportunity that businesses should learn about and not pass up. See you in the sauna.



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