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For six years in a row, Finland has been named as the world’s happiest country. Now, as part of an initiative to drive tourism, the country’s tourism bureau has been offering people the chance to be trained in being happy—and has received more than 150,000 responses through social media.
The initiative, led by Visit Finland and developed by agency SEK, will offer a select group the opportunity to participate in a four-day masterclass in Finnish Lakeland to help “Find Your Inner Finn.”
Featured in the masterclass are four key themes: nature and lifestyle; health and balance; design and everyday; and food and wellbeing. Helping participants to connect with nature, the masterclass takes place at the Kuru Resort in the Finnish Lakeland, a luxurious destination surrounded by fragrant pine forests. It will also be made available as an online resource in the fall.
“We believe Finnish happiness is a skill that can be learned: Anyone can connect with nature, learn about a more balanced approach to life, and discover their inner Finn. With this masterclass, we want to give more people the keys to happiness,” explained Virva Katajala, head of marketing at Visit Finland.
A 45-second campaign film outlining the opportunity to win a place in the masterclass was also released across social media platforms, showcasing the natural landscapes of the country.
To get involved, social media users on Instagram and TikTok were encouraged to share the first thing that came to mind when thinking about Finland to win the chance to attend the masterclass. Influencers around the world were tasked with joining in to drive awareness of the initiative, too.
”We encouraged people to create Reels on Instagram and Duets on TikTok. This allowed us to experiment with the strengths of the two channels; at the same time, participants could have a lot of creative freedom and fun,” said Enoma Edevbaro, social media and influencer marketing lead at SEK.
“We gained lots of organic traffic, and the message of Finnish happiness reached diverse communities from all over the world,” she added.
Having begun in March, the social campaign led by Accenture Song using the hashtag #FindYourInnerFinn drove around 150,000 video entries from more than 190 countries, and more than 20,000 social media challenges were received. It was supported by PR outreach which has, so far, generated coverage across 900 media outlets including CNBS and CBS News.