Sweden wanted to attract tourists to its countryside.

But how do you promote a destination where there’s nothing to see?

In a category defined by sight-seeing and Instagram moments, Sweden dared to do what no other destination brand would – uncovering the darkest sides of a country, using sound instead of images.

By tapping into the zeitgeist and using the entertainment industry’s toolbox, Sweden’s nature broke outside traditional travel context and earned a space in culture.

The concept went beyond marketing, spurring new travel experience ideas and became a business development platform for the tourism industry.

Situation:

Despite the growing trend of nature-related tourism, Sweden’s tourism board struggled to attract international tourists to the countryside. With more than 70% of the country consisting of nature, this is a huge challenge for economic growth within the tourism industry.

Visit Sweden’s mission is to create global awareness about, and interest in Sweden as a destination – with an extremely limited budget. To realize their mission, they asked for an influential idea that could travel on its own across markets and media.

Brief:

Make Sweden’s nature interesting and famous among international travelers (focus US & UK).

Brand objectives:

- Increase destination awareness

- Increase positive perception

- Increase intention to travel

Campaign objectives:

- Earn global attention

- Create engagement

Travel is a visually driven category, defined by sight-seeing and Instagram moments.

So how do you promote a destination where there's nothing to see?

In comparison to Norwegian fjords, Icelandic volcanoes and other epic nature destinations, Sweden’s nature is…quite boring. We needed to flip the script and out-drama competition on completely new terms.

Travelers today seek mind-blowing destinations and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. For devoted nature enthusiasts, this means spectacular and challenging adventures on a level that Sweden could never deliver on. We needed to reach a larger audience and capture their interest in exploring nature beyond its beauty, by learning from experience-driven categories and connecting it with what Sweden’s nature has to offer.

In short, the task was to break into culture beyond travel and redefine what it means to experience a place.

There’s not much to see in Sweden’s nature. But sometimes the most intriguing experiences aren't based on what you see – but what you don’t.

While Sweden’s nature might not look exciting, it echoes with spine-chilling stories of supernatural experiences and mythical creatures – stories with a cultural moment.

Fantasy and horror dominate entertainment. Astrology, tarot and crystals are taking over internet communities. Sweden’s mythology-steeped nature had the potential to attract.

We decided to ride on the dark wave and unveil Sweden’s hidden drama, using the power of sound to bring the unseen to life.

This broke every rule of destination marketing:

-Audio instead of images

-Unknown instead of the known

-Attraction by fear instead of beautiful scenery

We redefined the travel experience from sight-seeing to feeling, from TripAdvisor to trippy, from nature to supernatural – reminding people of travel’s true magic: exploring the unknown.

Spellbound is the world’s first travel experience that attracts tourists by scaring them off, using audio to unlock a new dimension of a place. While most destinations showcase beautiful views, Sweden tuned into a zeitgeist of mysticism and brought its mythology-steeped nature to life in a haunting audio-experience. Co-created with iconic horror-writer John Ajvide Lindqvist, it leverages the power of sound to trigger imagination and delve visitors deeper into the local myths that make Sweden special. By geo-locking it to the Swedish forests, visitors were lured onto an eerie journey, deep into the unknown to explore it with all their senses, even the sixth.

In a time of visual overload, Spellbound leverages the booming audio media’s storytelling powers to offer an intimate and immersive experience of a place – even its darker sides. Showing there’s more to experiencing a place than meets the eye.

Spellbound turned category norms upside down and put stories old as time at the center of the zeitgeist. By earning a space in culture, Sweden’s nature showed up in more contexts than destinations usually do – breaking into lifestyle, entertainment, news media and beyond.

In a time of visual overload, Spellbound introduced a new, more emotional way to experience a place – including its dark sides. This breaks completely new ground in the visually driven category, redefining the idea of travel. Merging culture with nature became a powerful idea that earned global attention, but also boosted Sweden’s long-term nature tourism strategy.

The concept went beyond marketing, spurring new travel experience ideas, and became a business development platform for the tourism industry.

Brand:

-Destination awareness +16%

-Culturally rich destination: +14%

-Travel intent: +5%

Campaign:

-Earned reach: 1.3BN across 34 countries

-Audio completion rate: 98%

-Engagement rate on site: +144% above benchmark

Supernatural Sweden

Sweden’s forests may not look exciting, but there’s hidden drama and cultural significance. The idea that nature is alive is deeply rooted in Swedish culture. 1/3 believe in paranormal activity, 70% chose nature over church in crisis, 3000 speak “Elfdahlian”. Swedish forests echo with stories of mythical creatures like elves and trolls – stories with a cultural moment.

Spine-chilling zeitgeist

Fantasy and horror dominate entertainment. Spiritual beliefs and practices like astrology, tarot and crystals are taking over internet communities. Niche trend “dark tourism” – visiting haunted places – also reflects the spine-chilling wave.

Visual backlash

Non-visual senses like sound profoundly impact our experience of a place but destination brands overlook their potential to engage and showcase local culture. Audio is booming (36% of daily media consumption, Statista, 2020) for its power to bring stories to life in intimate, immersive ways, providing visual relief that 66% are craving (Spotify,2022).