The energy company Fortum wanted to share the Christmas spirit and tell about how modern LED-technology gets you lot of light at a low cost. The predominant image is that electricity is expensive. To show the opposite Fortum sponsored Stockholm with 600.000 lights and still the electric bill didn’t amount to more than 60 euros a day.

But Fortum couldn’t decorate a whole country. So how to reach beyond the people in the capital? And how to get the message across? We arranged a competition on Facebook. Could we find Sweden’s Craziest Christmas Lights? As first prize we gave away one year of free electricity.

As inspiration we decorated a balcony and a hot dog stand. The installations became Instagram blockbusters. We also decorated hot dog stands in various small towns. We promoted the competition through outdoor advertising, newspaper ads and on hot dog napkins.

At the same time we kept repeating and exemplifying the message on Facebook and Twitter, how a little money gets you a lot of light. Various bloggers picked up the activity giving it an extra boost. The campaign got massive media attention reaching more than 3,2 million people.

The competition got hundreds of entries and tens of thousands of votes. After the campaign 8 out of 10 were positive to the co-operation with Stockholm City. And the attention for Fortum’s CSR-work increased by 200%. Also Fortum tripled its number of followers on Facebook and made a lot of Swedes happier in the process.

We arranged the competition 'Sweden's Craziest Christmas Lights?' on Facebook, promoting interactivity and dissemination of the campaign message. We decorated a balcony and a hot dog stand in Stockholm. The installations were key visuals throughout the campaign, receiving enormous attention and spread via Instagram and other social media.

It was crucial that the campaign would spread through earned media as the campaign budget was extremely limited. Bloggers got wind of the contest and the installations created massive interest. As entries in the competition came in from various parts of the country we informed local media.

We appointed a jury of leading lighting experts. Interviews and DIY-tips were packaged in a press kit as PR work. In the advertising pictures of the installations were combined with the message of affordability. We run ads, lit up bus shelters, used banners on Facebook and even napkins in the hot dog stands.

The competition received a total of 129 quality contributions and 10,203 votes (see www.fortum.se/julbelysning). At the same time we increased presence in social media with messages of affordability. Fortum tripled its followers on Facebook and got associated with terms such as light and LED with a heavy dominance compared with competitors in the same period (94% and 92.5% of total the twitter stream) gaining tweets and blog posts commenting on Fortum's campaign and message.

The campaign gave more than 60 articles with a reach of 3.21 million and an advertising value of 1.3m SEK with a spread across the country, as well as stories on local TV and Radio. After the campaign 8 out of 10 were positive to Fortum’s cooperation with the City of Stockholm and the sponsorship of the Christmas lights. The awareness of Fortum's CSR work rose by 200% compared with a benchmark measurement. (source: NOVUS Opinion.)