Every second year, Swedac conducts a stakeholder survey which forms the basis for the work and development of the Swedish public authority. The latest survey was distributed in 2021.

One of the major findings was that the awareness about Swedac’s role in the Swedish society was high among first-hand contacts and clients, such as accredited bodies and certified enterprises. However, among municipalities, regions and the public, awareness was low. Since Swedac’s overarching message to the public is “Trust in everyday life”, it was decided to provide approachable information to the general target groups about what Swedac does.

Therefore, a campaign with the objective to strengthen Swedac’s brand was created. The purpose was to provide information about the public authority’s role and mission. The targeted audience was broad. In addition to the target groups mentioned above, you also find Swedish companies and politicians among those who was identified as important to reach.

To convey the message, one of the world’s most known “assessors” was used. James J. Kilroy was a ship inspector at the Fore River shipyard in Massachusetts, U.S., during World War II. He oversaw the number of rivets that were hammered into the ship hulls every day. To keep a clear head and the numbers in order, he marked the hulls with the inscription Kilroy was here. Eventually, the writing was considered as a quality mark and a sign that a ship had been checked. And it has since long been spread to Sweden in the form of graffiti that for many decades was seen in Swedish cities, schools etc. Even though most Swedes don’t know about the story of who James J. Kilroy, they’ve grown up with his name.

So the messaging for the campaign ended up being Swedac was here. The campaign was launched on social media and Swedac’s own website. Some examples of the messaging:

Example 1

Film clip: A parent in a car picks up his or her kids from school. Sign: Swedac was here

Web material: Text about vehicle inspections in Sweden – this is how it works. Who controls that it is properly done? Information about how safe cars create security and trust in our every-day-life. Swedac plays a big part when building that trust.

Example 2

Film clip: A woman weighs her tomatoes on the scales in the supermarket. Sign: Swedac was here

Web material: This is why the scales show the right number. An article that describes how the scales in the supermarkets are controlled, which in turn leads to justice between consumers and vendors, and between companies that are having their scales controlled. In the end, it leads to competition on equal terms.

Results

The campaign was launched in December 2022. The information was initially spread on the website, and organically on social media. A sponsored campaign on social media started on the 15^th of December 2022 and ended on the 4^th of January 2023.

The results showed that the films had an engagement rate of 5 % (which is high compared to the average of 2.22 % for 2022). In total, the campaign received 50,132 exposures and 17,845 views for the films that were watched at least 2 seconds.