The PR man of Sweden

TEXT: CHRISTINE DEMSTEADER
PHOTO: : CLAES THORSON

Olle Wästberg holidays in Gotland; he owns an Ericsson mobile and drives a Saab. He advocates all things Swedish, except Dala horses and midsummer poles that is.

     Promoting his homeland Sweden is all in a day’s work for Wästberg who sits at the helm of the Swedish Institute in Stockholm. He took up the position of director general in March this year after returning from a fi ve-year stint as Sweden’s consul general in New York.
      Wästberg’s unconventional yet successful approach in stirring interest in Sweden began at his Park Avenue residence which welcomed over 15,000 guests during his stay. He and his wife Inger transformed their home into a Swedish interior showcase housing furnishings made by students from the Stockholm school of Art and Design.
      “It’s the only apartment building on Park Avenue that is occupied by a single family, and so it became a real conversation piece showing that Sweden really is at the forefront of new design,” he says. It was this kind of creative thinking and innovative ideas which made Wästberg the perfect candidate to head the Swedish Institute and its four-fold mission in promoting Sweden abroad.
      The organisation, which celebrates its 60th year in 2005, has a brief to disseminate information, to coordinate cultural exchanges, to protect the language whilst promoting Swedish literature, and to award educational and research scholarships.
      Combining his journalistic credentials as former editor-in-chief at Swedish daily Expressen with his political know-how as a former MP, Wästberg’s mission is to make the Swedish Institute into a leaner and meaner information machine.
      “I want us to be more professional in the information business and work more along the lines of a PR company,” he says.
      “We have to be thinking all the time, not only about the immediate impact but the secondary impact of those who are writing about Sweden in other countries.”
      According to Wästberg, Sweden’s well known neutrality stretches to its trademark image abroad. “Maybe in the long run it’s a disadvantage that we don’t really stick out or make a big impact in any special field,” he says.
      “I think that when people hear the word ‘Sweden’ they answer a lot of different things.”
      Such as cold climate and high taxes perhaps? Indeed the stereotypes of old still come back to haunt Sweden time and time again says Wästberg.
      “In New York we got a lot of good publicity from very knowledgeable journalists but then came the murder of our Foreign Minster Anna Lindh. Most of the newspapers wrote background boxes about Sweden and then all the prejudices popped up; that we are all blond and blue-eyed, live in a free sex society, that there is welfare from cradle to grave, that it’s dark all day and we all commit suicide.”
      Wästberg believes Sweden “could do better” when it comes to marketing itself, especially in the tourism sector. He also has great visions of how the country can be better promoted to a global audience.
      “Even if it’s nice and traditional to talk about Dala horses and midsummer poles, they are probably more appealing to people who know about Sweden. So we have to fi nd new symbols and stress that Sweden is a contemporary society.”
      “I think Sweden should limit itself to some sort of modern elite,” he says. “We are a bit remote and we are a bit special so I think we are more attractive to the more adventurous. Our niches are among design, culture, fi lm and music perhaps but especially the beauty of the Swedish landscape. And nowadays I would also say food.”
      Wästberg has a culinary penchant and, along with his wife Inger, is a published author in the gastronomic world. “En Smak av Sverige” (A Taste of Sweden) is a bite-size collection of his favourite time-honoured dishes aiming to promote Swedish cuisine in the best possible taste.
      “The idea with the cookbook is about how to underline your message with food,” he says. “Although pea soup with pork is a traditional dish it maybe not the smartest option with which to market Swedish food. You want to have food that is memorable and makes conversation.”
      A selection of his favourite recipes can be found on his website www.wastberg.nu. The site is a highly professional set up with 21,000 subscribers signed up to his monthly newsletter. It’s a worldwide opportunity to learn more about the man who is the driving force of Sweden’s PR superhighway.


"Even if it’s nice and traditional to talk about Dala horses and midsummer poles, they are probably more appealing to people who know about Sweden. So we have to fi nd new symbols and stress that Sweden is a contemporary society.