The Swedish Number was a tourism campaign that included a phone number to call Swedes that volunteered to participate, by the Swedish Tourist Association, Intelcom, Ingo Stockholm and the Swedish Institute. It was released on April 6, 2016, and was ended on July 25.
| The Swedish Number | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mission statement | "spark people’s curiosity about Sweden," to "connect people in troubled times," and to recruit more people to the tourist association. |
| Owner |
|
| Country | Sweden |
| Established | April 6, 2016 |
| Disestablished | July 25, 2016 |
| Status | Ended |
| Website | www |
History
editThe campaign was in development for 2 years. Near a month before the campaign released, Visit Sweden left development.[1]
On April 6, 2016,[2][3] the Swedish Tourist Association along with Intelcom, Ingo Stockholm, and the Swedish Institute released the campaign.[4] The campaign was released on the 250th anniversary of the removal of censorship in Sweden.[5]
The date when the campaign was supposed to end on was June 6th if it didn't find a sponsor for the amount of money for maintaining the campaign's calls,[6] but on July 25th, the campaign ended.[7][8]
Overview
edit| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Official campaign video for The Swedish Number |
The campaign had a phone number (+46-771-793-336), to call random Swedes who signed up to be called on a website.[9] In order for a caller to have a call, the Swede on the other side must accept the call through an app,[10][11] and requests for calls only go to people who enable calls to go to them.[12] Before the caller gets a response, a synthetic voice will say "You are calling Sweden, you will soon be connected to a random Swede somewhere in Sweden."[13][14][15]
The mission statement of the campaign was to create more interest to Sweden, to "connect people in troubled times,"[16] and to recruit more people to work in the tourism association.[17][18]
The campaign reportedly had ~11,000 calls.[12] With most of the calls coming from the United States, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.[15][12][11]
Reception
editMultiple sources note that this is the first phone number for people from a specific country.[note 1]
One year after the campaign started, UNICEF, and Forsman & Bodenfors created a spinoff named "The Syrian Number," in reaction of to the popularity of the campaign, and the Syrian civil war.[20]
Accolades
edit| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Clio Awards | Innovation | Won | [21] |
| Direct | Won | |||
| Cannes Lions | Direct | Won[note 2] | [22] | |
| Innovation | Won[note 3] | [23] | ||
| Engagement/Experiential | bronze | [24] | ||
| Public Relations | Shortlisted | [25] | ||
| 2017 | One Show | Mobile Advertising | Won[note 4] | [26] |
| User-Generated Content | silver | [27] | ||
| Innovation in Direct | gold | [28] | ||
| Effie Awards | Leisure & Lifestyle | silver | [29] | |
| The Digital Dozen: Breakthroughs in Storytelling Awards | N/A | Won | [19] | |
| DMA Echo Awards | Best Campaign under 250,000 Dollars | Won | [30] | |
| Transport and Hospitality | Won | |||
| Best Use of Mobile | Won | |||
| Best Use of Experiential | Won |
See also
edit- Curators of Sweden – a similar tourism campaign
- ABBA The Museum
- IKEA Museum
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ Winberg, Yasmine (August 7, 2017). "Spelet bakom The Swedish Number – hoppade av månader innan lanseringen". Resumé (in Swedish). Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ Brokaw, Alex (April 9, 2016). "I called Sweden's new national number to talk to a random Swedish person". The Verge. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Trembath, Brendan (April 8, 2016). "The Swedish Number: You can now call Sweden and chat to a random Swede". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ a b "Sweden Creates the World's First Telephone Number For the Country". Marketing Communication News. April 18, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^
- Multiple sources:
- Kumagai, Jillian (April 13, 2016). "Sweden: Uncensored". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- O'Hare, Maureen (April 18, 2016). "Swedish Number: People can call random Swedes for a phone chat". CNN travel. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- Smith, Alexander; Burke, Sarah (April 8, 2016). "'The Swedish Number' Allows You to Call Random Swedes — So We Tried It". NBC News. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
- Graham, Luke (April 8, 2016). "Sweden's tourism board launches Dial-A-Swede hotline". CNBC. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Chokshi, Niraj (April 8, 2016). "'Hello, Sweden speaking': Official hotline connects you with a random Swedish resident". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ a b Wittig, Rob. "CHAPTER 9. GAMES, ROLE-PLAY, AND NETPROVS IN THE REAL WORLD". Netprov. Amherst College Press. pp. 189–190. doi:10.3998/mpub.12387128. ISBN 978-1-943208-29-6. JSTOR 10.3998/mpub.12387128. S2CID 245087341.
- ^ Camilleri, Mark; Campoverde, Beder; Alves, Gisela; Chan, Chung-Shing; Coelho, Arnaldo; D'Auria, Anna; Dedeoglu, Bekir; Corte, Valentina; Di Caprio, Veronica (December 4, 2018). The Branding of Tourist Destinations: Theoretical and Empirical Insights. Emerald Group Publishing. doi:10.1108/9781787693739. ISBN 978-1-78769-374-6.
- ^ a b
- Multiple sources:
- Farrugia, Anaïs (April 11, 2016). "Appelez donc un Suédois". L'adn (in French). Retrieved February 23, 2024.
- For the "on the website" claim, see "民間人が誰でも観光大使に！スウェーデンのことなら何でも教えてくれる"国直通の電話番号"" Japanese [Any civilian can become a tourism ambassador! “Direct phone number” that can tell you anything about Sweden]. PR EDGE (in Japanese). April 10, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- For the sources that note that "this is the first phone number for a country," see
- "Cannes Lions case study: 'The Swedish Number' lets world call a random Swede". Digital Training Academy. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- Löfgren, Emma (April 6, 2016). "Sweden becomes first country with its own phone number". The Local. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ Burke, Michael (June 22, 2016). "Want to call a random Swede? Better hurry, because time is running out". USA Today. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c White, Daniel (April 8, 2016). "You Can Now Speak to a Random Swedish Person on the Phone". TIME. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c Davidson, Helen (April 8, 2016). "Sweden launches Phone a Random Swede hotline - but don't mention the chef". The Guardian.
- ^ Weller, Chris (April 8, 2016). "Sweden now has an official number you can call to talk to random Swedes". Business Insider. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ Weaver, Hilary (August 2, 2016). "Watch Alicia Vikander Call Random Swedes". Vanity Fair. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
- ^ a b Victor, Daniel (April 8, 2016). "'Calling Sweden. You Will Soon Be Connected to a Random Swede, Somewhere in Sweden'". The New York Times. p. 4. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
- ^ Horton, Helen (April 7, 2016). "'Call a random Swede' - We tested the Swedish tourist board's quirky new initiative". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ Ritter, Karl (April 7, 2016). "Sweden invites world to call 'random' Swedish citizens on new hotline". Global News. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
- ^ "A Random Swedish person is waiting to take your phone call". New York Post. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
- ^ a b "THE SWEDISH NUMBER". Digital Dozen. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ Beltrone, Gabriel (March 14, 2017). "Swedes Are Asked to Call 'The Syrian Number' in Sobering Spinoff of 'The Swedish Number'". Adweek. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ Nudd, Tim (September 28, 2016). "REI's #OptOutside, The Swedish Number Each Win a Pair of Grand Clios". Adweek. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- ^ "Succé för The Swedish Number – INGO vinner sitt första Grand Prix någonsin" [Success for The Swedish Number – INGO wins its first ever Grand Prix]. Resumé (in Swedish). June 21, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
- ^ "The Swedish Number". Clios. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "The Swedish Number". Clios. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ "The Swedish Number". Clios. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
- ^ Kelly, Alan (May 16, 2017). Best Of Discipline Mobile Alan Kelly (Video). The One Club for Creativity – via YouTube.
- ^ "THE SWEDISH NUMBER". The One Club. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
- ^ Langseth, Tove (May 16, 2017). Best Of Discipline Direct Marketing Tove Langseth (Video). The One Club for Creativity – via YouTube.
- ^ "The Swedish Number". effie. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Nilsson, Thomas (October 9, 2017). "Elva svenska priser i Echo Awards" [Eleven Swedish prizes in the Echo Awards]. Resumé (in Swedish). Retrieved March 17, 2024.