Scandinavian Communications adds New Zealand-based partner

29/11/2022By scandinaviancomContent Marketing, Management Communications, PR, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, Strategic Communications

Our global network PRGN (Public Relations Global Network) is now expanding with the addition of New Zealand-based agency, Alexander PR.
This addition raises the number of member agencies in the network to 53 and adds local PR and communications expertise in the southwest Pacific area from Alexander PR’s office in Auckland, New Zealand. Welcome!

The World’s Local Public Relations Agency

Scandinavian Communications is a Scandinavian member of PRGN. We are a connected network of more than 50 hand-selected public relations firms servicing key markets around the world. As leaders in our respective regions, PRGN agencies offer the “boots-on-the-ground” savvy of a local Public Relations agency, yet on a global scale.

PRGN’s model allows us to deliver a unique level of flexibility – scaling up or down across multiple markets to meet your business needs. Each PR agency knows its local community and it knows how to help clients connect with their audiences in those regions.

Read the full release here 

New podcast episode about Crisis Communications

21/11/2022By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, Podcast, PR, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Strategic Communications

When a crisis hits, you need a team of key people in place to respond quickly and effectively before the situation escalates.

In this episode of the PRGN Present’s podcast, host Abbie Fink of HMA Public Relations sits down with Scandinavian Communication’s Founder, Trusted Communications Advisor Christina Rytter to discuss the key roles in a crisis communications team and how CEOs should be preparing for a potential crisis.

Episode 6: The CEO’s role in Crisis Communications: 

PRGN Presents is brought to you by Public Relations Global Network (PRGN), the world’s local public relations agency. With PR leaders embedded into the fabric of the communities we serve, clients hire our agencies for the local knowledge, expertise and connections in markets spanning six continents.

PRGN provides customized communication solutions that combine the scale and stature of an international PR firm with the deep insights and hands-on, senior-level service of a local agency. This offers our clients a unique competitive edge. Scandinavian Communications is a member of PRGN.

Read more about Crisis Communications

Scandinavian Communications wins international Gold Award

10/11/2022By scandinaviancomChristina Rytter, Content Marketing, Management Communications, PR, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications

We are proud to announce that Scandinavian Communications won a Best Practice Gold Award in the category Agency Collaborations at this year’s PRGN Awards held in Singapore. The agency won the award for international client collaboration with our four skilled PRGN agency partners; Industrie-Contact in Germany, Sound Public Relations in Italy, Spider PR in UK and Roop & Co based in Cleveland, US.

PRGN (Public Relations Global Network) is a connected network of more than 50 hand-selected public relations agencies servicing key markets around the world. As leaders in our respective regions, PRGN agencies offer the “boots-on-the-ground” savvy of a local Public Relations agency, yet on a global scale.

Our model allows us to deliver a unique level of flexibility – scaling up or down across multiple markets to meet your business needs. Each PR agency knows its local community and it knows how to help clients connect with their audiences in those regions.

30 PR Tips – you can apply today!

25/08/2022By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Content Marketing, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends, Strategic Communications

In PRGN (Public Relations Global Network) we have created an eBook with 30 blog posts, where we offer our best tips in PR and communications from our members worldwide.

This is part of our 30th-anniversary celebration, that we want to share with you. Scandinavian Communications’ CEO Christina Rytter contributes to How you can Build a PR Crisis Team.

Download it here for free: 

Public Relations Global Network celebrates 30-year anniversary

15/05/2022By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Content Marketing, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR, Public Relations Global Network, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, Strategic Communications


This week we had the pleasure of meeting business friends from Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) at our 2022 spring conference in Scottsdale, Arizona – hosted by our partner agency HMA Public Relations.

This conference at the same time marked PRGN’s 30-year anniversary. Scandinavian Communications covers the Nordic markets in the network and our founder Christina Rytter is Past-president and has been part of the network for over a decade.

Founded in 1992 by a group of visionary public relations leaders, with approximately 1,000 professionals in 55 locations in 33 countries, PRGN is one of the world’s largest networks of independent public relations agencies.

All PRGN partners are independent, local, owner-operated public relations and marketing communications firms that share expertise and resources, while providing broad-based comprehensive communications strategies to clients worldwide.

Scandinavian Communications is looking forward to the next 30 years in this remarkable network ! 🤩

#prgn #prgn30 #pr #communications #marketing #socialmedia #agency #network #scandinavia 

Scandinavians – similar, but not the same!

22/03/2022By scandinaviancomContent Marketing, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, Strategic Communications

 

By Eva Helene Kabelmann, PR & Communications Advisor

When we’re talking Scandinavian countries and the peoples within, we tend to regard ourselves as a pretty homogenous bunch, where – as we have mentioned in earlier articles –  “the differences are far less than the similarities. And rightly so, for us Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and Finns are very similar to each other both in appearance, behaviour, levels of education, mentality, shopping habits – well, you name it. But. There are differences.” 

And it is worth noticing, that the small differences matter and being able to adjust your PR and marketing towards these can give you the highly sought after edge. 

Let’s have a look at some of the cultural differences within the 4 Scandinavian countries. Again taking into consideration that they are small, there are a few that stick out, as the Hofstede Insight bureau’s very interesting “Culture Compass TH” indicates. 

Especially the following points should give pause as they speak volumes in their own minuscule way.  


Denmark
The Danes tend to score relatively low, when we look at how they act towards power within organisations, in this case relating to Danes having a high degree of employee autonomy: Danes do not lead – they coach. Employees expect to be consulted. Danes have a very egalitarian mindset and respect is something to be earned, it’s not inherent in your position. Understanding how Danes in their working environment have a very informal atmosphere with direct and involving communication can nudge you towards how to proceed with a more effective MarCom strategy. 

Sweden 
The swedes tend to have a high rate of indulgence, which in this case means, that they generally exhibit at willingness towards realising their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. And they place a high value on the importance of leisure time, being able to act as they please and spend money as they wish.  Taking this tendency into consideration could be one of the points that sets you aside from the competition, when developing an approach towards the Swedish market. 

Norway
When taking a look at the Scandinavian peoples culture, when it comes to the attitudes towards the challenges of the present and the future, the Norwegians tend to have a so-called normative attitude. This  entails a preference towards maintaining time-honoured traditions and norms, no explicit desire to save for the future and a focus on achieving quick results. Also a small, but in no way insignificant point to consider, when approaching the Norwegian market.

Finland 
On a scale, that measures the 4 scandinavian countries tendency towards Masculine values (competition, achievement and success) vs Feminine values (caring for others and quality of life), they all have a very low score, which indicates a strong tendency towards the Feminine, it is worth noticing, that Finland (of the 4) has the highest score indicating, that Finns have a less predominant tendency the feminine. So even though Finland is considered a Feminine society, where conflicts are resolved by compromise and negotiation and focus is on wellbeing, solidarity and quality in their working lives, you might not have the same resonance with a MarCom approach taking feminine values into consideration in Finland as in the remaining 3 Scandinavian countries.

Top 5 tips to PR success in Scandinavian media

11/03/2022By scandinaviancomChristina Rytter, Content Marketing, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, Strategic Communications

By Christina Rytter, Founder & Trusted Communications Advisor

If you like to create better PR coverage in Scandinavian media these five focus points are key.


1. Write real journalistic stories

Think through and create a real journalistic story from scratch for the Scandinavian markets – and then get your corporate or product messages to fit with a downplayed balance. Always work with a journalistic approach in your PR Press kit for Scandinavian media. A Marketing approach towards Scandinavian Tier 1 media is a sure dead end – and your press release will easily end up in the garbage can at the newsdesk.

2. Find the local angel

Write a local angled story for each Scandinavian market. Your PR core story for Scandinavia can be the same – but to really get it right, you then need to work out a local PR angle for each market; Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, etc. Understanding and acting on the small cultural differences between each Scandinavian market give you much greater PR results.

Work out a tailored media list for each Scandinavian country with a key journalist from Tier 1 media depending on your target group. Pick a broader range of media to get more volume, when you send out your press release – Scandinavia has a very narrow media structure with only a few media in each category.


3. Offer exclusivity 

Work with exclusive sell-in of your press release / PR story. This means that you only talk in person with one leading key media at the time. It’s key for most Scandinavian journalists to get their own stories with a unique angle. When you succeed with your PR sell-in. Wait for the agreed publication – and then go for a wide distribution of the press release to create a 2-waved PR effect. This can be very efficient!

Take into your planning that different Scandinavian media work with very different timing. If you go for a business daily, you might only need to approach the editor a couple of weeks before you like to see some media coverage. But if it’s a high-end lifestyle Magazine on print, you might need to talk to the editor 3-4 months ahead.


4. Except that media decide the content 

Don’t expect to get any control over the final journalistic content in articles. Scandinavian journalists and media are very Independent – it’s just part of their DNA and our Scandinavian culture. You can approve your own quotes – and offer journalists a quality check of facts. Nothing more. Otherwise, you could offend the journalist. This independence also means that your PR adviser rarely is present at face-to-face interviews with the Scandinavian journalist.

Offer Media professional PR photos to strengthen the possibility of media coverage. This could be PR headshots of your company spokesperson or of your Product/Services. This must preferably be PR photos take for media in a journalistic context supporting the journalistic angle of your story – NOT traditional marketing photos.

5. Follow-up in person

Follow up on journalists in person on phone and email to secure the sell-in of the story and final media coverage. In Scandinavia, this is a very delicate balance between being proactive without being annoying for journalists, who have a very busy and tight work schedule and a lot of people approaching them every day.

Read more about PR

Reboot Strategy: Create your MarCom Plan 

03/09/2021By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, Scandinavian Communications, Strategic Communications


By Christina Rytter, Founder & Trusted Communications Advisor

A Marketing Communications Plan (or MarCom plan) is your bridge between Strategy and Execution. The MarCom Plan gives an overview of how you communicate your message through specific communications and marketing activities to create awareness and desired behaviour/action in your key target groups. You can have the best strategy and positioning in the world, but if you don’t effectively communicate it to your target customers your business will fail regardless.

SO what makes a strong marketing communications plan? It’s actually pretty simple. There are really four key ingredients in my perspective, that you need to put in the matrix: 

Step: Indicate which step of your strategy the activities support. 

Objective: What are the activity objectives and how do we measure the result (KPI)? 

Activity: What type of activity? 

Timing: When do we execute the activity? 

Remember to be reasonably broad in order to be effective. Relying solely on a single communication vehicle is not likely to produce good results. However, it is very important to always stay focused on communication channels that reach your ideal targeted customer and other key target groups and influencers you find important.

Your MarCom plan should always be developed in the context of a strong marketing and communications strategy – in synch with the overall business strategy.

Need help to Reboot your Strategy and reset your MarCom Goals & KPIs? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here to help! 😊

Read more Tips to Reboot your Strategy:

Tip 1: Rediscover your purpose

Tip 2: Evaluate your target group 

Tip 3: Adapt your Key Messaging

Tip 4: Tweak your MarCom Channels

Tip 5: Reboot MarCom Goals & KPIs

Learn more about Strategic Communications

Reboot Strategy: Reset MarCom Goals & KPIs

25/08/2021By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Content Marketing, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends, Strategic Communications

By Christina Rytter, Founder & Trusted Communications Advisor

Remember this! As part of your MarCom strategy – you also need to strategic decide on and set KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for your communications, PR and marketing. Otherwise, you can only to a lesser extent measure the effect, business value and ROI (Return-on-Investment) of your invested MarCom budget.

So, if you Reboot your Strategy – you of cause also need to Reset Goals & KPIs. When you set KPIs and thereby measure results, you will be able to have a clear evaluation of, what is driving the business forward. AND what is not. You can evaluate and demonstrate the direct business value of communications, PR, marketing and social media to the management and the board.

How to measure MarCom results?
MarCom KPIs can be concrete actions or registration of change in behaviour or point of views in the target group before, under and after your work/campaign. Test the measurability of your indicators with SMARTSpecific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Time-bound. When we work with earned communications such as PR you can set both quantitative and qualitative deliverables to get a more sufficient evaluation.

Quantitative PR deliverables could be the number of articles your PR-campaign created separated within your chosen Tier 1 Media in each market. Also looking at the PR-value of each media clipping, which we traditionally measure by finding the Equivalent Advertising Value for each media clip and then multiply the value with 3, because earned media have higher trustworthiness. A quantitative deliverable could also be the measurement of increased website traffic directly related to your PR-results.

Qualitative PR deliverables could be message resonance included in the media coverage such as your Top 1-3 Key Messages. It could be mentions of Brand Name & Product Names and back-links in your media coverage.

In Social and Digital campaigns I would always recommend you to create high-quality content relevant for your key target groups – and then as an ad on set aside a media budget to work with sponsored posts to get a much larger reach and higher amount of web traffic and response from your preferred audience.

KPIs for Social Media could be Engagement and Relevance for your target group measured by; Clicks per post (Traffic to the website), likes, shares and comments. You can also look deeper into development in your followers such as; Audience growth rate, new follower rate, follower/following ratio, which show Thought Leadership position.

SoMe Influencer campaigns can also be very effective when you select bloggers and Instagrammers relevant for your target group to help deliver your key messages. Be aware to set very clear KPIs in paid contracts with influencers to make sure your campaign goals and measure points are clear.

Need help to Reboot your Strategy and reset your MarCom Goals & KPIs? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here to help! 😊

Read more Tips to Reboot your Strategy:

Tip 1: Rediscover your purpose

Tip 2: Evaluate your target group 

Tip 3: Adapt your Key Messaging

Tip 4: Tweak your MarCom Channels

Tip 6: Create your MarCom Plan

 

Learn more about Strategic Communications

Reboot Strategy: Tweak MarCom Channels

10/07/2021By scandinaviancomChange Communications, Christina Rytter, Crisis Communications, Management Communications, PR, PR Tips & Trends, Scandinavian Communications, Social Media, SoMe Tips & Trends, Strategic Communications

By Christina Rytter, Founder & Trusted Communications Advisor

When your business conditions suddenly change you often also need to Reboot – or at least evaluate – your existing commercial strategy to adapt. So, you can work successfully within the new normal.  When you have your overall purpose, target group and key messaging in order the next cornerstones in your strategy is your communications channels. If some of the other important areas of your strategy change, it might also be relevant to tweak communications channels. It must always be your target groups and influencers preferences, that decides which channels you use for Marketing, PR and Communications. NOT your preferred channels 😉.

To reach each of your key target groups, you need to tailor your content and then communicate and get into dialogue in the relevant and strategic/tactical selected channels. Again, this often very in different target groups across business position, country, age, gender etc. Your business needs to be present, engage and communicate authentic and clear in the channels where your target groups are present.

Need help to Reboot Strategy? Don’t hesitate to contact us.

Read more Tips to Reboot your Strategy:

Tip 1: Rediscover your purpose

Tip 2: Evaluate your target group 

Tip 3: Adapt your Key Messaging

Tip 5: Reboot MarCom Goals & KPIs

Tip 6: Create your MarCom Plan

 

Learn more about Strategic Communications