Visit the Original Sweden
Sweden becomes the first country in the world to apply for Trademark
Did you know that there are eight places in the world called Sweden? Quite confusing, isn’t it? So our client, Visit Sweden, is now applying for trademarking Sweden in a new campaign.
In 2024, “dupes” has been a trending topic. But while fashion brands can protect their names through trademarking, countries can’t. Something that Sweden now wants to change.
This is not the first time we’ve taken a playful approach for Visit Sweden to clear up international confusion. Following the success of past campaigns – like their humorous plea to Switzerland to finally settle the “Sweden not Switzerland” mix-up – Visit Sweden once again attempts to clear up a potential mix-up.
“We hope that this initiative will solve two issues in one blow: getting more people interested in visiting our country – and preventing further use of the name Sweden. With the current legislation, we could end up in a world where all countries are called Sweden, and that would be extremely confusing.”
Agnes Stenberg-Schentz and Marcus Hägglöf, creatives at Forsman & Bodenfors
“This campaign is our latest step in presenting Sweden as a truly unique destination under the concept ‘A destination of a different nature.’ It’s flattering to see Sweden’s name used globally – it speaks to the strength of our brand. But with every ‘Sweden’ out there, it gets a little tougher for travelers to find the real one. With this campaign, we hope to make it easier for the world to recognize the original,” said Nils Persson, Chief Marketing Officer at Visit Sweden.
The trademark application addresses a common problem travelers face with name-alike locations – with eight places around the world called “Sweden”, multiple Germanys, dozens of Americas, and 34 Londons globally, it’s not hard to see why a little brand clarity might be in order.
“We hope that this initiative will solve two issues in one blow: getting more people interested in visiting our country – and preventing further use of the name Sweden. With the current legislation, we could end up in a world where all countries are called Sweden, and that would be extremely confusing,” says Agnes Stenberg-Schentz and Marcus Hägglöf, creatives at Forsman & Bodenfors.
If successful, Sweden’s trademark could lead to clearer travel planning and fewer mix-ups in the future. With the online petition now live, Visit Sweden is calling on everyone’s support to help create travel harmony. Please sign. This concerns all of us.