Being Danish as a brand advantage
The branding consultant Martin Roll says that Danish companies can use their “Danishness” to their advantage. In an interview with the Danish business newspaper Børsen, he advises Danish companies to stand up for their Danish values.
Denmark has many great values that can be relevant to people outside of Denmark. The challenge as I see it is communicating them in a way that the rest of the world can understand.
It’s not about imposing these values on others, but more about putting them in the context of what is important. Companies are experiencing that, yes, they can use Danish values - but they just shouldn’t call them “Danish values”. Instead, these Danish values need to be described specifically and in context using clear, concise language. This is the big challenge facing many Danish companies.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I’d be interested to know what the Danish values are. Does Martin Roll shed any light on that?
August 26th, 2008 at 10:51 am
I think the same thing applies here in Sweden. But it’s often an uphill slog persuading Nordic businesses who already operate in English to invest in professional English copy.
As those of us that work in the words industry know, the vast majority of business communications written by non-native speakers of English do not work as hard as they could (and should). Presentations, tender documents, creative briefs, product brochures, etc, can all be made far more effective by an experienced writer or editor.
The challenge is persuading customers that it’s not just a question of whether your grammar and spelling are right. That’s only part of the story. Even more important are structure and tone of voice: getting your thoughts into the right order and presenting your argument or information in words that you know your target audience will respond to.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Martin Roll mentioned specific values such as:
- A strong association with quality
- The cultural experience
- The tradition for design and architecture, involving simplicity and aesthetics
- The particular Danish personality, history and experiences
I’d like to find out what Danes define as Danish values. I’ve been out and asked my Danish network - and my inbox has been bombarded with answers. So, watch this space for an insight into the Danish psyche!
September 16th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Interesting that quality comes up so often. I was first introduced to Danish business through a liberal use of quality and subsequent trips to Denmark showed that quality is definitely close to the hearts of Danes.
However, since moving here and getting to know some of the largest Danish companies that have gone through restructuring, it is clear that many Danes provide ‘too much’ quality. That means that a lot of the time they over-deliver (resulting in a higher cost) because they focus too much on themselves. They tend to think, what can we do, rather than what do our customers want.