Telia Finland Donates Advertising Space to Give Small Businesses a Place to Shine 

To help small businesses survive the coronavirus outbreak, Telia Finland, an ICT and media corporation, gives away their national advertising space in Finland. The goal is to help at least 100 companies during the first week of the campaign. Discussions with other corporations to join the cause are already taking place. 

“TBWA\Helsinki presented the concept only a few days after the Finnish government set new restrictions regarding the Covid-19 outbreak.We decided that it is both our responsibility and at the core of our company values to help these entrepreneurs get back on their feet. We want to do our part in ensuring that businesses and people in Finland are able to get through these hard times.” explains Jari Rapo, vice president and the head of enterprise business at Telia Finland. 

Small businesses are at the centre of attention. The campaign is built solely on content that is self-produced by entrepreneurs using remote tools. 

“We wanted to keep things authentic and turn the focus on business owners. The campaign went live only five days after the initial idea came about, and due to coronavirus restrictions it was executed without any face-to-face contact with the team or client. Production is still on-going and we work tirelessly to help as many companies as possible” says Markus Nieminen, creative director at TBWA\ Helsinki.

The first phase of the campaign began on March 23rd, and each week will be dedicated to selected small businesses that have the opportunity to gain visibility on national television, national and local newspapers, social media and Telia’s own website. The campaign will go on for approximately one month.

“This campaign is a great example of a client-agency relationship that is built on mutual respect, trust and shared views on what can be achieved with creativity. These type of co-operations are those that are able to quickly and positively react to changing situations; even in times of crisis.” continues Jyrki Poutanen, chief creative officer at TBWA\ Helsinki.