Sweden is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world; with a total population less than the population of London; a birthplace to many successful global businesses. In fact, if we look at the Nordics as a whole, we will see Scandinavian workforce, such as graphic designers, software developers and entrepreneurs are amongst the most trusted professionals in the world of business.
Creeandum recently issued an interesting fact about Nordic countries and the rest of Europe. According to the report, since 2005, 9% of global Billion dollar exits have come from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland; whilst the rest of Europe accounts for 8% of the world's Billion dollar exits." This figure is interesting because only 3% of total European population live in Scandinavia; and they had such impact. There is certainly something to learn from this region.
The region has proved that innovation is the key factor to growth and sustainability; hence they invest in research and development. In fact Scandinavia has the highest number of researchers per million people; with Finland being the world leader followed by Denmark.
When it comes to attracting new investments, Sweden and Denmark are the two main countries in Scandinavia; whereas in terms innovation Sweden and Finland are leading the way. However, for some reason, Sweden is the country of choice, in Scandinavia, for international seminars and conferences. This might be due to the longer entrepreneurial history of Sweden, in particular Stockholm. For example, the person who previously founded Tradedoubler is one of the founders of Spotify.
As it is evident above, Swedes are keen in developing and creating the next new thing. King is another successful example; and expectedly most of conversations about the brand takes place on Facebook.Unlike anywhere else in Europe and even in some countries outside Europe, Swedes have a particular interest in Facebook; even recruiters look for candidates on Facebook or major events promoted on Facebook. This is while in countries like the UK, USA and mainland Europe; LinkedIn and Twitter are used for above purposes.
The penetration of Facebook in Sweden is 63% (with women leading the way in terms of social media consumption); and expected to grow even further within the next 3 years. Below are the fastest growing brand pages (on Facebook) in Sweden in March 2015:
There is something really interesting about Sweden when it comes to use of social media. Almost half of Swedes visit social media channels on a daily basis; and when attending seminars and conferences they tend to put their Smartphones away. This is while, people act differently in the UK, USA and even in Denmark. The primary social media channels used during events is Twitter and Instagram; attendees keep the conversation going in real time through live tweeting and Instagram updates.
However, Swedes share content on Facebook about the events they attend; but after the event and rarely while listening to keynote speakers. Perhaps they tend to show respect to the speaker and their fellow audience by keeping their devices away. However, journalists may behave differently due to the nature of their job; and some in fact use Twitter to broadcast stories.
According to a report from 2013, 91% of journalists in Sweden use social media; primarily Facebook. This is while Facebook has been running TV, print and outdoor advertising to generate interest and to recapture attention about the social network site in the UK due to continuous loss of active users.
Below is the social media penetration in Sweden by channel:
As you can see above, LinkedIn, Snapchat, G+, YouTube and Pinterest are not as popular in Sweden as they are in the rest of Europe; but Swedish businesses continue to grow and invest more in Facebook. One of the leading Swedish TV channels, TV4 is a prime example for investing more resources in brand development on Facebook.
This article is just an overview and is not comprehensive by any means.