Hurtigruten has unveiled a witty new brand campaign which draws on ingrained Norwegian idioms used to express how they’re feeling, as the coastal voyage operator looks to stand out in a sea of vanilla.
Conceptualised and launched first in Australia yesterday , Hurtigruten Norways’ new “Norwegianess” campaign is based on a series of quirky sayings, deep-rooted in society “that bring joy to the Norwegian culture and lifestyle,” says Damian Perry, Managing Director, APAC for Hurtigruten/HX.
Phrases such as “happy salmon” or “take it as good fish”.
“They’re funny, but they’re real,” he quipped.
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Briefing LATTE exclusively about the campaign, Perry said the concept was born when Hurtigruten CEO, Hedda Felin was in Australia recently and the pair were on a domestic Qantas flight skimming through the pages of a cruise issue of the inflight magazine and noticed a striking similarity between the messaging of the cruise advertisers.
He said the branding, taglines, strap lines and messaging between rival cruise lines was so similar it was difficult to tell some apart.
“The ads were very, very vanilla. Very generic with lots of platitudes. Everything had a sameness.”
Perry said those similarities in marketing presented an opportunity for Hurtigruten to think outside the box and focus on an area no other coastal operator could replicate. Hurtigruten’s Norwegian blood.
“There are a lot of companies that leverage the fact that they’ve got a history or association with Norway, but they’re not Norwegian companies. Hurtigruten is the only true Norwegian company that is Norwegian flagged, and has been operating on the coast for over 130 years.”
“Generational staff, local supply chains – incredible legacy that is so unique, yet we haven’t leveraged within our markets,” he said.
Encouraged by Felin, Hurtigruten’s Australian team roped in Joint Effort Creative agency and took a deep dive into the characteristics and quirks of Hurtigruten being Norwegian, from the ships and the food chain, to partnerships and the mail run.
“We soon realised we should be celebrating being Norwegian, we should be celebrating ‘Norwegianess’.”
“This campaign concept that will do exactly that, whilst concurrently celebrating the quirkiness of Norway with sayings like ‘yoke in the egg‘, ‘happy salmon‘ and ‘take it as good fish‘, the latter a derivative of ‘trust me, it’s right’.While the idioms have heritage to them, they are still used in daily conversations by Norwegians.
“This is a massive change in our brand communication positioning,” Perry told LATTE.
“Bringing light-heartedness to the campaign is a key differentiator whilst many brands continue to run with the same generic messages about cruising.”
“This way we can highlight the uniqueness of what we do whilst celebrating our position in the marketplace as being truly Norwegian with truly Norwegian experiences.
“This is primarily about us doubling down on everything Norwegian because we are the only ones in this space.”
“The campaign celebrates the brand, Norway, the authenticity and genuine experience of what we do, and will be used in key communications going forward.”
The Australian-born campaign has won the heart of Hurtigruten’s CEO, to the point that Felin has progressed the roll out from an Australian proposition to a global brand roll out.Perry said Australian trade partners have been enthusiastic about the new brand, which is currently centred around nine Norwegian phrases or words. Marketing material can be repurposed by partners through coops, digital or print assets, co-branded campaigns, social media, eDMs, print advertising and video.
That’s in addition to mainstream press, advertising, TV, radio and even outdoor billboards that Hurtigruten has planned.
“This campaign will differentiate, reaffirm, and underline our distinctive position of being truly Norwegian,” Perry concluded.
