Finland is not well known abroad in general and especially among young people. How could the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland do its traditional Christmas calendar in a way that people would share, that would generate earned media and create a positive interest in Finland, Finns and Finnishness – and still be true to what we are? Paid media was not an option. Digitality was the way to go.
Finns are not known for talking a lot. Especially communicating and showing emotions can be a challenge. We created a set of tongue in cheek emojis – each communicating one specific Finnish emotion. The emojis featured different emotional aspects of Finland and Finnishness from “kalsarika?nni” (getting drunk alone at home with no intention of going out) to famous Finns like Martti Ahtisaari. Finland IS the first country in the world to publish its own set of country themed emojis.