Day 4 - Wait? This is a business trip?

Business:

Skapa:

Today we were able to visit Skapa, an agency specialized in creating smart online communication. They have been helping their customers improve their business using various online solutions ever since their start in 1996. Today, they focus on online strategies and content marketing for their customers. They help them create relevant content in their channels that define them so well that Google sends visitors of better quality into their sales funnels. They call this inbound marketing or content marketing- it’s the new SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Lucky for us, we were able to have our presentation by Erik Ekholm. Erik Ekholm (Chief Executive Officer)  is passionate about finding smart solutions for customers’ problems and needs. He thinks it is always interesting to meet customers as he familiarizes them with his businesses and allows them to understand their business to the fullest. He then uses his past experiences and proposes innovative strategies, plans, and solutions to supply the best products possible for his customers.

But before I spoil the fun of his presentation, I should start by illustrating my first experience stepping into the Swedish Business world. The office space was open for more collaborative work. This is not surprising considering the Swedish belief in the Law of Jante. I will explain the Law of Jante in the "Daily Reflections" subheading below. In addition, the layout is modern and crisp.



When we enter into the conference room, it is warm and cozy. On the table, there is an assortment of fruits, pastries, chocolate, tea, water (both carbonated and still), and of course coffee. I swear they must drink more coffee than water here! Regardless, I love coffee and this is great!





Erik started off his presentation discussing how to drive sales with social media through numerous YouTube videos. His communication marketing strategies are mainly focused on advertisement in online media. He described the importance of engaging the consumer, creating emotion, and surprise to create a viral video.

Engaging: One good example he showed us was dumb ways to die for the Melbourne Metro safety campaign. This campaign helped reduce accidental deaths by 21%.

Emotions: (Caution! This video will make you tear up) Also, it is not in English, but it has English subtitles. Yet, it was still able to generate 15+ million views.

Surprise: This video illustrates how consumer attention can be retained by having an ad that surprises the consumer with an idea. It was a great way to increase consumer attention towards the movie Devil's Due.

Through his presentation, Erik described SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and his experiences on smart online communication. He discussed the difference between great online communication that creates emotions, engages the consumer, and/or surprises the consumer versus poor communication practices. In addition, his presentation illustrated the proper utilization of the Ecosystem of marketing through Youtube.com commercials and social media websites. Lastly, Erick gave us a tour of the facility and described his day-to-day operations, challenges, and opportunities in the smart online communication industry.

Another concept we talked about were the benefits of social media. The four of them being:

1. The opportunity to gather information from opinion leaders, business specialists, colleagues, etc.
2. Publishing material to create activity – such as “likes or followers”
3. Publishing of valuable and customer focused content
4. Engagement and dialogues build relations to the company and between your fans or followers

However, one of the biggest struggles Erik faces is that some companies don't believe in the effectiveness of social media. They believe that if they are not online, they can avoid negative posts. Erik corrects this by simply saying, "People are going to say what they want to say whether you are online or not; but, would it not be better to be there online to defend it?"

Another struggle he has is that customers are afraid to provide competitors with too much information about the company operations. Erik quickly counters this with the idea that competitors generally know more about your product than customers do. So, why not better inform the customers on your product?

The last key note was that "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." This was stressing the importance of personal relationship management. You need to have courage in your given industry. In addition, it is impossible to be successful if you can't meet the needs of customers. So, you must be well cultured and understand and listen to the customer.

It was great hearing from Erik Ekholm about Skappa. His expertise and knowledge in the industry was vast and his presentation was highly insightful. He was personable, responsive, and direct with the time he had. Thank you Erik for presenting to us!

Here is the link to the presentation presented to us if you are curious to investigate this subject further.

http://www.slideshare.net/erikekholm/skapa-carthage-college-2014-0120-003distr

Gotenburg University:

Later in the day we were able to visit Gotenburg University. We were given the opportunity to speak with Cleas G. Alvstam, Martin Öberg, and Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. It was great to have the opportunity to listen to these lectures in Swedish economics, retail marketing and shopping centers, and the history of Sweden and Swedish management styles.



Cleas G. Alvstam presented us with a knowledgeable presentation on the economic factors in Sweden and the appreciation of the Swedish Krona over the past few years, and how dependent Sweden is on their exports. In addition, he compared Sweden's GDP to the US and other nations, while illustrated that it cheaper for the previous J-term group to travel two years ago compared to the stronger economy we are visiting. To help us better understand the successes and downfalls of the Swedish economy, Cleas G. Alvstam provided students a  Manufacturing and Service of Sweden book that he helped write!

The next lecture was from Martin Öberg. Martin Öberg presented on the retail marketing industry specifically in relation to shopping centers. He discussed the architectural, design, and functionality of malls around the world. He said he had visited numerous malls around the world with students to discover the pros and cons of each facility and understand the functionality of malls.



The third lector was by Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro presented on the history of Sweden and Swedish management styles. She depicted the differences between a collaborative work environment versus a more singular work environment. She also hit upon the differences between a direct orders workforce versus and more free work environment. Being a rule breaker by heart, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro illustrated her struggles and successes of working in Sweden. On a side note...( I TOTALLY GOT TO HUG Singapore's Miss Universe!) She truly is "The Beauty with Brains."

The last lecture was from a PhD student who discussed the differences between American Culture and Swedish Culture through his experiences at the Michigan State. His presentation was highly personable and allowed the audience to truly relate to the differences between the two cultures. The bigge
st difference he presented was the capitalistic views of America versus  the Law of Jante. It was interesting hearing his opinions on political correctness as well.

It was a pleasure hearing all four lectures from Cleas G. Alvstam, Martin Öberg, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, and the other PhD student! It was a great learning experience and an eye opener on the Swedish culture, economy, mentality, management styles, and retail functionality. Thank you for your time!

I can't believe students don't pay for school (taxes do) and they get libraries comparable to law school libraries in the United States! Super jealous...I'm telling you, if our library looked like this, you just might see me in there more...MIGHT! 

Leisure:

Because I had to work the night before on a project back at Carthage College overnight, my leisure time was spent in bed and blogging! ;)

Daily Reflections:

1. Erik Ekholm, Cleas G. Alvstam, Martin Öberg, Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, and the other PhD student are awesome!
2. If you want to make a viral video, then you must engage the customer, create emotion and surprise. 
3. I wish I would have went on the Sweden trip two years ago because it would have been cheaper
4. Swedish people are more similarly associated with Japan in management culture
5. Proper mall architecture is essential for success
6. Singapore's Miss Universe is gorgeous and smart
7. If you want to talk to a Swedish girls, just say hello! I'm American
8. Swedish People like to drink...ALOT! 
9. This country is awesome
10. The Law of Jante
1. You're not to think you are anything special.
2. You're not to think you are as good as us.
3. You're not to think you are smarter than us.
4. You're not to convince yourself that you are better than us.
5. You're not to think you know more than us.
6. You're not to think you are more important than us.
7. You're not to think you are good at anything.
8. You're not to laugh at us.
9. You're not to think anyone cares about you.
10. You're not to think you can teach us anything.

Posted in: Cleas G. Alvstam,Dr. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro,Erik Ekholm,Gotenburg University,Martin Öberg,Skapa