The campaign will be running for a month in the capital region and in selected cities in Finland, where the companies can find the expertise, they need. In addition to the City of Vaasa, ABB, Crimppi, Danfoss, Hitachi Energy, Isoplus and VEO all participate in the campaign to tell about their career opportunities.

– We know that young adults with fewer commitments move more easily than, for example, those who have already built their own houses and started a family. Therefore, the campaign is targeted at people aged 23 to 40, says VASEK's Marketing Manager Mari Kattelus.

The campaign is mainly carried out on social media channels and in streaming services. In addition to this, the campaign is visible in outdoor advertisements and on the digital screens in public transport, as well as in the cinemas.

The challenge is to stand out among the other cities and municipalities in Finland as many of them showcase the same strengths: short commutes, closeness to the nature, lack of rush hours, high-quality services, and diverse recreational opportunities.

– We need to find things that no one else has to offer. Meaningful work is important to young people, and this is what the companies in the energy sector in the Vaasa region have to offer. Many of the companies make innovations that promote the green transition, says Kattelus.

– Vaasa also stands out from other cities as the residents’ happiness has been highlighted as one of our main strategic goals. This message and the actions to increase happiness have attracted attention and had positive effects on the city's recruitments. It has also brought international media attention to Vaasa in, for example, Belgium and Norway, says Leena Forsén, Communication and marketing director.

Good jobs lead to Vaasa

The campaign messages have, for many years, been all about promoting happiness. Last year, we highlighted the permissiveness and humanity of working life in Vaasa. This year the focus is on doing good deeds and on doing a good job.

– The companies in the region do a range of bigger and smaller good deeds for the climate, the work community, the co-workers, the new employees, the society, and the nature. Responsibility is an important value in the companies, which also brings value to the employees’ own work. This is the message we are conveying together, and we believe that it strongly reflects young people's values, says Kattelus.

– In Vaasa we currently have a year of good deeds led by the city, in which residents, associations and companies are encouraged to do good deeds for loved ones, strangers and the nature. Doing good deeds increases happiness, so it has an impact on the well-being of the people. And if good deeds are done in the work community, it naturally increases well-being at work, says Forsén.

The campaign is conducted in Finnish and English

When the image of Vaasa is evaluated, every three years, the results show that Swedish-speaking people have better knowledge about Vaasa than Finnish-speaking people. It is also the Swedish-speaking people, who are more willing to move to Vaasa.

– The campaign is conducted in Finnish because we know that the Finnish-speaking people are not so familiar with the city and when this is the case, the threshold for looking at vacancies here is also higher. The language of the campaign video is English because it fits in with the movielike detective style of the video and it also highlights the internationality of the city and the companies, says Kattelus.

The image survey also revealed that Vaasa in general is a quite unknown city for most Finns. Therefore, it is very important that we together highlight Vaasa’s strengths: the opportunity to live a happy life by the sea and the unique nature, experiences for all the senses, culture, exercise, international environment, and meaningful work.

– All the residents in the Vaasa region have responsibility to spread the word about the strengths of Vaasa. Through our campaigns, we can increase visibility and attractiveness, but it is even more important that all of us living in Vaasa and the region contributes to the same story and shares the common message. For example, you can participate in this campaign by sharing the campaign video on your own social media channels and by telling how good jobs or good deeds are visible in your own life, Forsén encourages.

Campaign period 15 January – 11 February 2024. The campaign targets people in the ages 23-40 living in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Seinäjoki, Rovaniemi and Lappeenranta, as well as in Sweden in Umeå, Skellefteå and Luleå. The campaign is visible on social media channels, streaming services, and university media, which are popular with the target group. Campaign material is also widely seen in the target cities in outdoor advertising, on digital displays in public transport, and in the cinemas. The advertising agency partner to the campaign is the Kind Company.