Positive Change

We applied to put female genitalia on UNESCO’s World Heritage List

The Finnish International Solidarity Foundation (ISF) combats Female Genital Mutilation in East Africa but in 2023 they were facing funding loss as this ongoing tragedy was disappearing from the public eye. FGM is often seen as distant, when in reality it’s hindering the economical, cultural and social development of hundreds of millions of people and communities worldwide as well as in Finland.

As a last resort, The ISF decided to turn to the ultimate guardian of
humanity’s most priceless heritage. On the International Day of the Girl Child, Oct. 11th, the ISF submitted the application to Finland’s UNESCO representatives and ministries demanding the inclusion of female genitalia on UNESCO World Heritage List.

The act was embraced by major news outlets in Finland. It also made front page news in Kenya, a key country in battling FGM, urging decision-makers to take action against the deadly tradition.

And crucially, it led to record-breaking donations, securing ISF’s future work and giving new hope for the fight against female genital mutilation.

A single stroke CHANGED the meaning of 20th century swastika

We united artists and companies to build a community to change the meaning of the ”Z”-symbol and extinguish this 21st century swastika. The Z can be stroked over by a simple dash in order to change, even reverse, its meaning. The shape the dashed letter Z becomes has throughout history stood for positive and evoking things – equality and balance, sky and earth and of course time.

A virtual gallery at www.counterstroke.one showcases a range of art and supporting products counter-branding the ”Z”-symbol. Proceedings from the art will be donated to Ukraine Crypto Donation and other organisations supporting Ukrainian relief efforts.

We changed how Hartwall talks about sustainability

Consumers are into making more responsible choices, but often find it a bit of a hassle. Meanwhile, big companies tend to talk about sustainability in a formal, boring, and uninspiring way. Especially among the 18-34-year-old target audience. It was time to shift into a higher gear – from issue-centric to people-centric.

You don’t always have to be smart when talking about smart actions. That’s why Hartwall spiced up its sustainability communication a bit. When they turned their beer and beverage production’s carbon footprint to zero, you can say that the whole operation became senselessly footprintless (The term ’footprintless’ translates to ’jäljetön’ in Finnish, which bears a resemblance to the word ‘senseless’). And when Finns’ favourite drinks are made “senselessly footprintless” the news had to be shared in an equally senseless way. And so all executions on every surface and channel became pretty much senseless too.

The “Pretty Senseless Action” campaign was crafted by Hartwall to highlight the carbon neutrality of their beverage production memorably, spreading across multiple channels. Alongside the wordplay, a visual identity was designed to complement the concept’s ”vanishing act” and support senseless messages.

The pretty senseless video clips provided an in-depth look at their recycling processes, while a print ad turned the old sustainability report pretty senseless too. Moreover, the same story ventured out to share key figures about sustainability on social media.

All in all, a pretty senseless campaign showed, that sustainability communication can be made more creative and fun – even a tad senseless if needed.

New idea competition CHANGED how young people can impact our future

Spring is an idea competition for young people in search of ideas that make the world a bit better and more hopeful. Together with the Children and Youth Foundation we created a platform for young people to create and submit their ideas. We also refined the concept, created a brand for Spring and launched the idea competition.

Spring was initiated by influential Finnish business, science and social decision-making professionals who want to give young people a chance to realise their ideas and play an important part in solving current global and local problems. Spring was founded by Sari Baldauf, Matti Alahuhta, Antti Herlin, Martti Hetemäki, Bengt Holmström and Jorma Ollila.

World’s first virtual twin city on Fortnite CHANGED the Eurovision promotion game

As Fortnite released a new open-source update to their Unreal Editor, the Finnish metaverse company Zoan partnered up with the Finnish Eurovision representative Käärijä to create a new kind of promotional experience to maximise the amount of international audience votes. Finland became the first country to promote its Eurovision contestant on Fortnite. The new gaming experience took place in virtual Helsinki – the world’s first city with a photorealistic virtual twin on Fortnite.

The new Käärijä themed Helsinki field created on Fornite spread across Europe and the world on numerous publications from gaming and music industry media to television and word of mouth. The activation reached 130+ million people around the world. In the Eurovision finale Käärijä was the clear audience favourite with 376 points from the public vote – the second biggest number ever in the history of Eurovision. Thanks to enormous audience support he came in second in the competition, right behind Sweden’s Loreen who won based on jury votes.

Transparent lobbying campaign CHANGED the perception on pharmacy reform

Finland’s biggest retail chain, S Group, wants Finnish consumers to benefit from more affordable medicines, better opening hours and new pharmacy services. It wanted to challenge the country’s long-lasting pharmacy monopoly.

Together with S Group we kicked off a transparent lobbying campaign featuring a model pharmacy in the heart of the city. The campaign asked a serious question, why shouldn’t the Finnish pharmacy market be open to all who meet the requirements? The message was amplified with a national cross-channel media campaign. Also the media picked up the theme, leading up to a passionate discussion on the topic.