Things have been developing fast and in unexpected directions in 2012 with new opportunities popping up around every corner. I am very grateful for all the amazing projects and fantastic people I've got an opportunity to work with.
It didn't start of too well, with one of my new clients going belly up, leaving me with unpaid work and a pretty empty schedule. Again. I had organized some workshops in January which gave me the opportunity of driving around Iceland fighting winter storms and heavy snow but at the same time enjoying the fantastic winter landscape and some of the most amazing northern lights I have seen.
It was the most amazing green night sky I have ever seen on my way to Isafjordur in the Westfjords.
I was soon getting very busy and March took me to ITB in Berlin and back to Iceland on a week long expedition where the mission was to put Nokia's prototype 41mpx camera phone to the ultimate test. You can see the results here:
The next thing I knew I was standing in the livingroom in the home of one of the world's most riddling minds asking him to bend a spoon for me with his mind power. Which he did. And then I was off to Uni in North Iceland to teach innovation and product development. At the same time the second season of Game of Thrones was aired on TV where I was playing a Wildling, one of the free people North of the Wall.
Yep, that's me grabbing Qhorin Halfhand in the fight. An unforgettable moment in film history ;)
The presidential elections in Iceland were coming up and I got another unexpected opportunity. A friend of mine decided to run for office and all of a sudden I was one of her advisors and running her social media campaign. I got the opportunity to work with a lot of fantastic, inspiring people and though we didn't manage to win, we got the best results any candidate has ever got against a sitting president in Iceland. Thora is a clever young woman who doesn't let anyone tell her what she can and can't do. Among other things, she had her third baby in the middle of the campaign. Her campaign grabbed international media attention with at one point the NRK from Norway, RTL from Germany and the BBC simultaneously following her with TV-cameras whereever she went. Though we didn't win I know her running was an inspiration for women around the world and I am proud to have been a part of that.
Here is NRK's coverage on Thora (Norwegian)
Here is BBC's coverage on Thora (English)
What's UP?
I was asked to give a few talks on the role of social media in the branding of Iceland through crisis. Iceland has not only managed to stay put through an economic collapse, an earthquake and two volcanic eruptions but has actually seen the travel industry booming like never before. I gave a talk at Emmerson College in Boston and at a place branding conference in Jönköping in Sweden where I met another interesting speaker who was talking about "The Capital of Scandinavia", Julian Stubbs.
Julian runs *UP There, Everywhere, a global cloud based agency sepcializing in among other things place branding. After a talk we had in August he decided to offer me to join UP, a network of now 130 marketing specialists in 19 countries. I decided to jump on the opportunity and take it all the way. The morning after I had ordered a container and put my house up for rent. I was moving to Copenhagen now focusing on international clients and place branding, seeing the possibilities of landing my dream projects as a part of UP, offering me the ability to put together the perfect team of experts for any project. It was a bit crazy moving that fast with all the kids finding schools, a home, ballet school and a swimming team within 3 weeks, but well doable once we put our mind to it. Of course it helps having lived here before. We are loving it here in Copenhagen and I am now working on place branding projects for East Greenland and the city of Oslo as well as doing branding work for a world leading cancer diagnostics company in Denmark.
A veteran Bell 212 helicopter from the Vietnam war was my ride on my trip in East Greenland last month.
I feel extremely fortunate to be able to work on projects where I wake up excited every morning. With a clear vision of where I was heading, I have been working hard for years to build up a strong network opening up for new opportunities. It's been a long road with many projects, quite a few mistakes but great successes inbetween - and a very patient wife. I couldn't have asked for a more exciting project porffolio than I had this year. The next milestones to reach is to finish my book and get it published, and secure funding for my 2014 "Last Viking in America" film project.
I have a feeling 2013 is going to be a fantastic year. I hope the new year will bring you exciting opportunities and the courage to grab them.
I wish you a beautiful Christmas and a fantastic new year!
Thank you all for being a part of my awesome network!
Yours
Hjörtur
A new campaign has been released where the aim is to collect heaters for the freezing Norwegians. It's called Radi-Aid where Africans send some heat to Norway. You can watch the video here:
This video is actually made by The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund. Imagine if those images you see in the video from Norway where the only images you had ever seen from Norway. What would you think of Norway then? As the world's best place to live? Not really.
But when the only thing majority of people in the Western world see from Africa are hunger and war campaigns the image of Africa becomes the image of hunger and war - and therefore make it a very unattractive place for tourism and business which is what they need the most to build a sustainable economy. Some of the fastest growing economies in the world are African but we don't hear much about that.
People remember strong stories. Images of hunger, war and natural disasters can create serious implications for a place brand, specially if it's a weak brand. It is therefore very important to fight the image of misery with strong stories of the strength of the location, not only the weaknesses.
Hjörtur
More info: AfricaForNorway.com
Point made...
"How do I get likes on my Facebook page?" is a question I get a lot. Like if Facebook was a target group. It's not. It's a medium. It's a platform. It's a tool to reach your target group but not a target group in it self.
That means it depends on your target group how you get likes on Facebook. The methods to do it can vary greatly, based on your target group. So just like you try to realize what your target group is interested in before your engage in other marketing activity, you need to do exactly the same for Facebook. Try to realize what pictures your target group likes to see, what topics they like to discuss, what videos they like to watch, what info they like to share. That is what you need to know before you start engaging Facebook. So find something your target group will love to share on Facebook.
It's not about how many likes you get. It's all about who likes you.
Hjörtur
ps. speaking of which, would you like to like my Facebook page?
Last Friday night an 11 year old boy hung himself after being bullied for a long time. Tonight BULLYING IS FOR LOSERS is trending world wide on twitter following this tweet:
As tragic as this event is, it is even more tragic how common they are. Everyday tens of teens commit suicide because of bullying. We all remember school, some of us were bullied. Some of us were the bullies. This has ruined so many peoples lives. It is easy for all to support actions against bullying in school, since it doesn't demand any change in behaviour from ourselves! But actions are needed in more places than just in school or just among kids.
ARE YOU A BULLY?
We might actually have participated in bullying more often then we realize. Internet memes are often at the cost of someone. Looking like a joke about someone we've got no clue who is, or someone we know who is, though we don't know him or her personally, like celebrities. People seem to think that just because they don't know someone in person it is alright to make fun of them, insult them, humiliate them and actually bully them online. But you know what, just because we don't know someone doesn't mean they don't have feelings. Or that they don't have Google. You'd be surprised how many celebrities actually google themselves. And actually do take it personally when their personality is being trashed. It is hard not to.
We can take Britney Spears as an example. Or Monika Lewinsky. Or million others.
So let's all show each other respect, also online, and also people we don't know in person.
Peace!
Hjörtur
Jonkoping is a city in Southern Sweden with about 100.000 inhabitants - and growing. Helena Nordström from Destination Jönköping agreed to give us an insight into "We Miss You" - a campaign they have been running in the last months in Sweden to attract new talent to the city.
One of the campaign posters reading: Sofia Dahllöf - Your best friend Maria Lindén misses you <3
What is the aim of the campaign and the reason you started this?
The campaign is part of the project Welcome2work which was established in 2007 as a platform to attract talents to Jönköping. The project is runned by Destination Jönköping in cooperation with 40 employers in the region. The reason we started the campaign is that people are listening to their own network when it comes to different kinds of decisions, for example where to move. So we decided to ask the citizens of Jönköping who they are missing, who they want to Jönköping, for making it possible for us to then start to influence these people.
What is your target group and what channels are you focusing on to reach out to them?
The main target group is people between 28 and 38 years old, in big cities, searching for high-level jobs. After 38 the tendency to move is decreasing. In the first step the focus was to reach citizens of Jönköping. We reached them through billboards and web ads. The output of the first step was a couple of hundred addresses to people in our target group. The day before Christmas they received a gift from Jönköping with a letter from the one that want the them to move to Jönköping.
In April we started the next step of the campaign where we tell people that someone in Jönköping is missing them. In Gothenburg we have bought bill boards with greetings from Jönköping and from the person that are missing someone. In Stockholm you can hear personal greetings at Radio NRJ. In Malmö we focus on Facebook Ads. In addition to that we have several different Youtube videos where cititzens in Jönköping tell who they are missing and why. Only a week after the start of the campaign we could track a viral effect on the web, mainly on Facebook and Twitter.
You say that 40 companies are behind the initiative. What kind of companies are they?
The power of the project Welcome2work is that it consists of a wide range of employers who are an active part of our market activities. Since 2007 we have visited Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö several times with own events where we have invited people curious of a life in Jönköping. The employers are always attending the events to make it possible for our target group to talk directly to the specific employers they are interested in.
In August we are trying another kind of event. We are chartering an aero plane from Stockholm and are inviting young talents to a flight to Jönköping where they can experience the city, have a look at residential areas and meet employers.
The Visaknardig Campaign is helping us to make people curious about a life in Jönköping.
How has the reaction been? Are you seeing people viewing Jönköping in a different way, or maybe considering Jönköping as a realistic alternative as a place to live and work?
Yes, and we have a tight dialouge with the people considering Jönköping, helping them to find the right people to talk to when they are looking for a work, a house, kindergarten for the children and so on. We even offer a network called Newcomers Club with 8 meetups every year, making it easier to get to know people and to experience their new home town.
Most DMO's seem to focus primarely on tourists but you're also trying to get people to relocate to Jönköping. Do you think DMO's should have a broader focus in general? Why?
In Jönköping we have chosen to gather different kinds of attraction activities in the same organisation. In Destination Jönköping we are working to attract tourists, citizens and companies. We believe that this wide focus makes us a very powerful organisation with synergies between the different target groups. Jönköping is increasing and we are, in cooperation with several organisations, working hard to make sure Jönköping is an attractive choice in the future.
For information about Jönköping visit Destination Jönköping or follow Helena Nordström on Twitter.
Why don't people sign up? Finish the form? Follow the instructions?
While copy writing is something most people realize the importance off, I don't think many people realize the importance of micro-copy. So what is micro-copy?
It's all those small words that explain to you what you are doing or what you should do next. Usually just a single word or a short phrase. There is a simple error of thought that most websites suffer from which I'm going to correct right here and right now:
Do not write the micro-copy from the viewpoint of the company, but the viewpoint of the reader!
This is crucial. It is not about what you want them to do, but why they would want to do it. The wrong wording here can actually be really damaging to your conversion. Let's look at an example. A friend of mine has a website for a computer game. To start playing the game people had to register. Nothing much, nothing complicated, just a name and an email address. The link people had to click on to start that process was called "Register".
Now, who would want to "register" on a website you don't know? You might want to "register" to get the right to vote, or with the IRS because the law says you must, but it is not something you're eager to do, because it sounds something serious.
So he changed the word from "Register" to "Play now". People still needed to provide a name and an email address and everything else was just like it had been before. The results of changing that one word were mind-blowing. Over 100% increase in conversion of visitors to players!
So how is your micro-copy? Do people need to "register" on your site or can they "play now"?
Hjörtur
ps. To learn more about microcopy, I recommend reading "The Construction of Instruction" by Relly Annett-Baker.
From the flying hotelicopter.
These months airlines seem to be mostly thinking about how they can cut down on service or add extra fees. The passangers on the other hand wouldn't mind seeing some improvements in service, instead of down cuts. At #TNI (Travelers Night In) on twitter last night, innovation in travel was the topic (you can read more about it on ZipSetGo.com). One of the questions was:
"State-of-the-art features you’d like on planes?"
And the answers rolled in, some being more "ambitious" than others:
@banffrocks: We should give airlines a clock that works.
@BridalTravelGuy: Sober pilots & air traffic controllers who are awake
@Mematw: a bigger toilet on long distance flights? Blankets big enough to make me warm. That's all, simple wish really
@LATravelWriter: A fitness center on long haul flights
@MonicaLWilliams: A pool, spa and a workout room.
@raghavmodi: A glass bottom and ceiling plane.
@trouthfultourist: Airlines seats made for human beings, not crash-test dummies, please.
@HikeBikeTravel: How about good coffee - lattes would be gr8 & something other than apple & orange juice.
@HotelPRGuy: iPad style inflight entertainment!
Considering the popularity of coffee shops, better coffee and more variety on board might be something people were even willing to pay more for. Same goes for the work out. Is there a possibility that passengers might do some work out on board? Or in the seat even? You really need to stretch on a long flight!
Regarding the iPad style inflight entertainment I know some airlines have simply started to rent out iPads with uploaded movies and others are looking into iPad like solutions. Those present day inflight entertainment systems can play movies - but shouldn't they be able to a lot more than just that?
I'm interested in hearing more ideas about how your flight experience could be improved by increased service, entertainment or facilities on board the planes.
Hjörtur
