STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: Edelman has opened a new communications shop in Sweden that it hopes will be a launch pad for innovative communications marketing techniques throughout its network.
The firm, Edelman UFO, was formed with seven former advertising and PR execs from a Stockholm ad agency. Edelman said that launching such a shop in Sweden makes sense because the market is widely regarded among the marketing community as being especially pioneering in the creative field.
The country's creativity is apparent in the brand images portrayed by such local companies as IKEA, Ericsson, Volvo, and Saab, as well as the renowned offbeat TV ads created by production company Traktor.
"Sweden is a very innovative, very dynamic market, and it has a history of being a country of early adopters," said Allison Canning, president of Edelman's international operation. "It's a great place to explore and discover trends. It's a petri dish in that respect."
UFO plans to explore several new communications marketing methods that exploit the growth of internet-based technology among consumers. These include viral marketing, which entails spreading marketing and brand messages over the internet by pinpointing entry areas - such as a chat room - from which a message is likely to spread rapidly to other members of a desired audience.
"It's about getting the right opinion formers to agree that something is cool," said Canning. "It's called viral marketing because once you get the right group of people focused on your message, it just spreads on its own accord."
If successful, Edelman plans to expand UFO throughout its European network.
