There are eight places in the world called Sweden? Quite confusing according to Visit Sweden, who is now applying for trademarking its country’s name in new campaign, developed with Forsman & Bodenfors.
In 2024, “dupes” has been a trending topic. But while fashion brands can protect their names through trademarking, countries can’t. Sweden is hoping to change that. The trademark application addresses a common problem travellers face with name-alike locations – with eight places around the world called “Sweden”, multiple Germanys, dozens of Americas, and 34 Londons globally, it’s not hard to see why a little brand clarity might be in order.
It’s not the first time Visit Sweden has taken a playful approach to clear up international confusion. The new campaign to clear up potential confusion (and put Switzerland top of mind for tourists) follows the success of past campaigns, like its humorous plea to Switzerland to finally settle the “Sweden or Switzerland” mix-up.
“This campaign is our latest step in presenting Sweden as a truly unique destination under the concept ‘A destination of a different nature.’ It’s flattering to see Sweden’s name used globally – it speaks to the strength of our brand. But with every ‘Sweden’ out there, it gets a little tougher for travellers to find the real one. With this campaign, we hope to make it easier for the world to recognize the original,” stated Nils Persson, chief marketing officer at Visit Sweden.
If successful, Sweden’s trademark could lead to clearer travel planning and fewer mix-ups in the future. With the online petition now live, Visit Sweden is calling on everyone’s support to help create travel harmony.
The application reflects recent trends in protecting brand authenticity as people become more alert to “dupes” in fashion, products – and now, destinations. The campaign is being launched globally.
“We hope that this initiative will solve two issues in one blow: getting more people interested in visiting our country – and preventing further use of the name Sweden. With the current legislation, we could end up in a world where all countries are called Sweden, and that would be extremely confusing,” stated Agnes Stenberg-Schentz and Marcus Hägglöf, creatives at Forsman & Bodenfors.
Credits
Client: Visit Sweden
Chief Marketing Officer: Nils Persson
Head of Partnerships & Project Leader: Kristina Nyström
Head of PR: Viveca Burkhardt
Project Manager: Frida Wallén
Head of Web & Social Media and Digital Production: Malin Careliusen
Digital Analyst: Louise Blomberg
Site Manager: Jenny Grundemark
Digital Producer & Coordinator: Emmie Bolmstedt
Creative Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors
Account Director: Ann Spennare-Bengtsson
Account Executive: Linus Larsson
Agency producer: Åsa Hammar
Art Director: Agnes Stenberg-Schentz
Copywriter: Marcus Hägglöf
Designer: Sara Lemchen
Strategist: Kaj Hettman
PR Strategist: Julia Sjödin
Producer: Lea Alexandersson
Post-Production: Jimmy Wulff
Production Company: BRF
Director: Torbjörn Martin
Producer: Kith Hansen
Executive Producer: Martin Ronström
Production Manager: Andreas Hansson
DoP: Daniel Takacs
Grade: Joakim Rissveds
Online: Andreas Godwin
Music Agency: Upright Music
Media agency: Mindshare
