HELSINKI: Rovaniemi has won the 2016 Finnish Championship of Municipality Marketing for the broad-based cooperation in the creation and production of the Santa Claus brand and its outstanding long-term marketing.
The prize was awarded in the Municipal Marketing District event in Mikkeli on May 18. Forty-two municipalities contested the championship organised for the 11th time this year. The jury praised the development and production of the Santa Claus brand through broad cooperation and various practical measures at local enterprise and community levels.
Rovaniemi is now internationally recognised as the official home of Santa Claus, whose marketing has generated substantial revenue and a global image for the area.
The second place in the competition went to Helsinki for its internationally well targeted congress market, while Somero won the third place for active and broad cooperation in event production and marketing. The jury also conferred three honourable mentions on the joint municipal federations of Kouvola and South and North Karelia.
“The competition is reaching higher standards with different types of marketing each passing year. The significance of long-term marketing grows as the role of municipalities strengthens in promoting the vitality of the area and well-being of the residents,” the chair of the jury, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities Communications Director Jari Seppälä told Finnish language newspaper Lapin Kansa.
The other members of the jury were SEKES Executive Director Yrjö Westling, Onvisio Consulting Managing Director Hannu Komu, Defence Forces marketing specialist Ari Lohenoja, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences Senior Lecturer Teemu Moilanen, MARK Suomen Markkinointiliitto ry CEO Lauri Sipiläsekä, and Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities Marketing Director Maritta Mäkelä.
The Finnish Championship of Municipality Marketing is part of developing marketing expertise in the municipal sector in the district network founded by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, regional development cooperation SEKES ry, and the Association of Tourism Organisations in Finland-SUOMA.
