Swiss - Swederland

Swiss - Swederland

Which pairs of countries confuse Americans the most? Apparently the list includes Austria and Australia, Uruguay and Paraguay - and Sweden and Switzerland.

And it’s not only Americans who confuse the Swiss and Swedes. It prompts confusion in China as well with the two names sounding similar in Mandarin (the same is true of Spanish as well). So much so that several years ago the SWISS and Swedish consulates in Shanghai ran a competition asking local residents for funny ways to differentiate the two countries.

Similarly, a blog exists explaining the difference between the two countries for the uninitiated.

Lufthansa owned SWISS used the insight that the two countries often get mixed up to run a competition to win flights to “Swederland.”

“We decided to put an end to the confusion by sending those in need of clarification to Switzerland, accompanied by a Swedish tour guide, to once and for all explain the differences between the countries,” Gabriel Leupold, Senior Director Sales Nordic & Baltic Countries, Lufthansa Group, said of the marketing campaign.

To be one of the “Swederland” winners, you have to visit a Swederland competition site. You are then prompted to find a Swedish / non Swedish Facebook friend (depending on your nationality) and to make a “confession” on your own Facebook profile.

For example, the suggestion for this writer was - “Before I travelled to Denmark, I thought Sweden was in between France and Germany. I had been to Paris 38 times….”

Entries for the competition close on 28 November, with a winning pair receiving return flights to Switzerland with a “Grand Train Tour” pass and all accommodation paid for. Meanwhile two runner-ups win a public transport pass and accommodation.

Key Take-Away

‘Swederland’ is a nice, creative hook that should get SWISS a fair amount of attention. The problem with the mechanic however is two-fold. It relies on Swedish and non Swedish people being Facebook friends, which immediately limits entries. And some people might shy away from making a ‘confession’ about confusing the two countries (even as a joke) as it could open them up to ridicule.

As a result, we’re interested to see how many entries SWISS gets by the time the competition closes at the end of the month.