Just like the big luxury brandsSweden is also being a victim of the “dupes”, according to the latest campaign of the tourist entity Visit Sweden. The Nordic country believes that the existence of seven other places in the world with the same name can be confusing for the traveler, and wants to shed some clarity by registering its trademark.
This is stated in its latest campaign, titled “Visit the Original Sweden” and designed by the creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors. In it, a Visit Sweden representative explains in a letter addressed to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that there are cities and towns in the United States and Indonesia that are also called Sweden. Therefore, it wants to register as a brand.
But as stated in the piece itself, under current regulations countries cannot carry out this process, but destinations can. In this regard, the campaign points out that Sweden identifies itself as a destination and takes the opportunity to list some highlights of its tourist offer. “Dear authority, let Sweden be the first country to register your trademark. Together we can make a world less confusing”says the locution at the end of the piece.
“The fact that other countries are using the name Sweden is flattering, but the more Swedens there are in the world, the more confusing it becomes for potential tourists.”, explains the entity on a web page enabled for the campaign. “We just want to ensure that when people say Sweden they mean the destination with advantages such as tranquility, space, privacy and freedom.”.
On the same website a small form for users to show their support for the initiative and suggest what else Sweden could trademark as a complement to the process. The space also collects information of interest about Sweden, as well as other dupes which hosts the Nordic country, which has in its geography other Paris or Madrid.
“Visit the original Sweden” can be understood as a continuation of a campaign launched last year, also together with Forsman & Bodenfors, taking as insight the confusion around his name. On that occasion he reminded the world, with a humorous tone, that Sweden is not Switzerland.
From Visit Sweden they point out that the campaign launched now represents another step in their desire to present Sweden as a truly unique destination under the concept ‘A destination of a different nature’.
“We hope that this initiative will solve two problems in one fell swoop: getting more people interested in our country and preventing the name Sweden from continuing to be used. With current legislation, we could end up in a world where all countries are called Sweden, which would be very confusing”commented, for their part, Agnes Stenberg-Schentz and Marcus Hägglöf, creatives at Forsman & Bodenfors.
More info.: Visit the original Sweden
