This autumn almost 300,000 students will begin at one of Sweden’s universities or colleges. So far their main concerns are probably about finding somewhere to live and passing exams. But soon their thoughts will turn to their future dream career and employer.

The German company Trendence Institute has tracked employer preferences of Swedish students. In 2009, Ericsson was top of the list, closely followed by Sony Ericsson, IKEA, Google and Skanska. No big surprise – they are large, well-known established companies with a good international reputation. But they are also companies that are good at ”employer branding”, that is brand-building for potential and existing co-workers. They are highly visible in the media and often participate in fairs and exhibitions and hold lectures.

We are living in a time when the competition for talent is getting tougher. Attracting, recruiting and motivating the right person is crucial for future success. You need skilful, ambitious students on your side. The earlier you start communicating with them, the better.

Perhaps your company does not have the same resources for employer branding as the top 5 mentioned above. But that’s OK. Even small activities can make a difference. Here are some tips.

• Guest lectures. Contact some universities or colleges that teach subjects close to your areas of competence. Make a professional digital presentation. Make sure you have something to leave behind, for example a brochure, a USB memory stick or something similar. For several years Sandberg Trygg has lectured to students of International Economics at Chalmers. Thanks to this we receive a number of qualified applications every year.
• Review your job ads. Too many ads include a company description that would be more appropriate for an annual report than for attracting potential co-workers. For example. Nothing wrong with hard facts, but don’t forget the soft facts.
• Be active on the net. Many websites include a section called “Vacancies”, but it’s often slim pickings there. Make sure that those who are interested in your company can send in an application right there and then. Highlight the different professions in your company with co-worker interviews, for example.
• Don’t forget social media. It doesn’t have to be so special. A Facebook group for students in a certain target group is easy to get going. Just make sure you have the resources to conduct a good dialogue.

On September 1st, Birthe Jörgensen will join Sandberg Trygg in Stockholm as strategic executive. Birthe comes to us from Saatchi & Saatchi and has previously worked at Åkestam.Holst, Lowe People, Observera Grey and BBDO Scandinavia.

Birthe’s deep knowledge and interest in communications combined with a modest approach were what attracted us.  Projects for existing clients and new business development are on the agenda. You can reach Birthe on birthe.jorgensen@sandbergtrygg.se.

Today Epica Book 23 arrived at the agency. On page 253 in the category “Prescription products” you can see our ad series for Sectra RIS/PACS. Something tells me that page will be well thumbed, at least here at the agency.

The Epica awards have become the reference for creative achievement in Europe. During 2009/10, 3 196 contributions were sent in from 476 agencies, photographers and TV and web production companies in 48 countries. About 900 contributions are then chosen and published.

Every so often a new word comes along that takes every conference room by storm. Proactive is a recent example. There’s hardly an office canteen not packed with earnest-looking people imploring each other – and everybody within earshot – to be proactive. It doesn’t seem to matter what you say (or write) as long as it contains the magic word.

Nynas decided to depart from the clichés and explore what proactivity really means (not a bad idea, given that it’s one of the company’s core values). So they invited key staff to a conference to do just that. Our job was to get everyone in a ‘proactive’ mood before the event. Because anticipation is a key component of proactivity, we designed an e-mail invitation and suggested a kit with the following potentially useful items:

• tie and mascara (you never know when you need to look your best)
• marshmallows (unbeknown to the invitees, there was a ‘marshmallow activity’ planned for the conference)
• ear-plugs (in case your neighbour’s raucous revelry disturbs your sleep)

Apparently, the conference was a success and the kit was appreciated. Being fairly proactive ourselves, we had, of course, already anticipated that.

The German group Kraftwerk was formed in 1968 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. During the first few years they mainly did instrumental, experimental music but then they gradually moved over to electronic pop music. They often had to develop the instruments themselves to get the sound they were looking for.

The big breakthrough came in 1975 with their album Autobahn. In the following years the group released a number of successful albums: Trans Europe Express (1977), The Man Machine (1978) and Computerworld (1981). But then something interesting happened. The next record, Electric Café, was first released in 1986, The Mix came in 1991 and after that nothing until Tour de France in 2003. Despite this, the group has steadily grown in popularity. How is this possible?

As early as in the 70s and 80s Hütter talked about Kraftwerk as a concept where the band members were regarded as music workers. The members were often replaced by robots, for example, in photos and concerts. The band never mentions a word about their private life and don’t even talk much about their music. Their studio in Düsseldorf has no phone, the only way to contact Kraftwerk is to go to the studio and ring the doorbell. And hope they open the door.

The combination of concept thinking and mystery has created an aura round Kraftwerk, which makes the band’s music more important than what the individual members think and what sort of lives they live. A visit from MTV Cribs would be unthinkable. In many ways, Kraftwerk is like a company. The management hammer out the values and message, which is then communicated consistently. The strength of the brand grows and the company becomes more and more successful.

What co-workers, or band members achieve is, of course, important. But most important is that the big picture, the brand, is greater than the individual parts. A member of Kraftwerk between 1974-1989, Wolfgang Flür, even published an autobiography called “I was a robot”.

What Kraftwerk can teach us about successful brand building is the importance of consistency, persistence and the ability to differentiate oneself from the competition. Curious to find out more about Kraftwerk? Read Kraftwerk – Man, Machine and Music by Pascal Bussy. ISBN 0-946719-70-5.

This article is published on Tuesday the 27^th of July at 1:48 p.m., Swedish Time. At this point in time, I, the writer, am on holiday with my wife and daughter. But that’s not stopping me from communicating with you anyway.

If I hadn’t told you I am on holiday, you would probably think that I have just finished writing this article. In other words, when almost everyone else is on holiday. And you’d probably think that I am pretty ambitious, perhaps even bordering on workaholic.

Digital media opens up completely new opportunities not only for how we communicate but also when. All it takes is a little bit of planning and a good digital publishing tool. Time-delayed digital operations could, for example, be useful for international companies during holiday periods, when it’s difficult to synchronize employee and customer holidays. Even if your colleagues aren’t able to take calls and discuss things, you can at least spread a message that adds value and blocks sneaky competitors.

But enough about that. I’ve got to get back to a client project. After all, it’s 4:37 p.m. on Wednesday the 14^th of July …

I really hate to shop at Biltema. But don’t get me wrong; it’s not my intention to bash one of Sweden’s most popular retailers of car accessories. No, it’s just my personal, and very strong, lack of interest in almost everything they sell. I get jumpy just setting foot in one of their stores and the mere thought of endless shelves of wiper blades, metal whatchamacallits and gallons of windscreen washer makes me want to run in the opposite direction. Very fast and probably screaming.

That’s why I wasn’t too happy when my husband – very gently – asked me to pick up a few things at our local Biltema store.  Reluctantly I agreed and asked him for a shopping list. And here comes the beauty of it. Instead of just scribbling down the things he wanted (half of which mean nothing to me), my husband went online to the Biltema website and soon had the SKU, shelf and department number for each and every item.

So, armed with my list, I head to the first department. Easy. Big signs show the way. And even the shelves are clearly marked. Soon I find the first SKU. On to the next. Within minutes I’ve filled my shopping basket with everything on the list. And without –as I’ve pictured it– aimlessly looking for something I wouldn’t recognise even if I saw it, desperately trying to find someone to ask, then finding the right shelf just to realize the item is out of stock and finally collapsing in a pile of sponges.

Standing at the checkout (even the line is short) it hits me how quick and painless the whole experience has been. I’ve got everything I came for and I’m in a good mood.  The professional part of my brain can’t help noticing that Biltema actually have succeeded with their customer communication, from the website to the store, in such a way that even a very negative customer can have a positive shopping experience. Through gritted teeth, bravo Biltema.

A backlit image of a human body. Layers of skin are peeled off, then the flesh. Various organs and blood vessels are exposed in spectacular detail. And finally the skeleton.

No, this is not a scene from a horror film but a three-dimensional journey inside the human body using a Virtual Autopsy table. This advanced visualization tool has been developed by among others, CMIV and is currently being shown at Norrköpings visualiseringscenter.

Virtual Autopsy is already helping in conventional autopsies. It dispenses with the need for invasive surgical procedures and opens new possibilities in countries where traditional autopsies are not accepted for cultural and religious reasons. The technique can also be applied in many other areas of health and medical practice.

You’ve heard of course Aesop’s fable about The Hare and the Tortoise. An ancient story with a moral that may be hard to apply to the world of business today.

About 50 years ago a lot of companies could act like tortoises and still be successful. Product lifecycles were long and competition was limited. Sales reps had the time to visit all customers and prospects before anyone else could come up with a better offer.

But business got faster. Markets were divided into more and more segments to better satisfy customer needs. Time to market grew in importance, as did adaptation to the market. A classic example is Facit AB, who was world-leading in mechanical calculators and did everything to prevent the progress of digital calculators. But around 1970 digital calculators took over and in 1972 Facit was already on the brink of bankruptcy even if it took until 1998 for the company to be put into liquidation.

An important milestone in marketing was when Al Ries and Jack Trout launched the concept of positioning in 1972 in a series of articles in Advertising Age. Being first on the market was key. And if you weren’t first you had to invent a new category (“raise a new ladder”) where you could take the lead. Or to put it another way: Better to be a fast, high-leaping hare than a slow, low-profile tortoise.

Without doubt it’s the hares that win today. The web has changed the pace at which news and campaigns spread and goods, services and ideas break through. Now it only takes a few hours. Take for example, BP’s chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, who happened to say,  “We care about the small people” in front of the world’s press. Only a few hours later someone had done a parody on the Berlitz ad concept “Improve your English” with Svanberg in the main role.

The hares stay ahead, get attention and gain influence. And probably that’s the way it’s going to be.

But only when it comes to our newsletters. Summer and vacation time is here. Update is therefore taking a break and will reappear in September. But as some projects will be in progress all summer, one or two news items or inspiring articles can still turn up on the web.

Have a great summer!

Sandberg Trygg