Grand One 2026
Somekampanja
Visit Finland: Finn Dining
How we got international travellers to fancy
a destination they never knew they were hungry for.
Finland is not a traditional foodie destination; while Nordic cuisine trends globally, Finnish food remains under the radar. This is a missed opportunity for Visit Finland, as local food culture is a major draw for modern travellers.
In 2025, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, we launched a campaign to target food lovers in the USA, France, and Germany.
The brief was ambitious: we needed to create a social media video series, strategically supported by international press releases and deep-dive website articles.
Our goal: to make international travellers crave Finland.
The Challenge:
To put Finland on the foodie map
The Strategy:
Re-defining fine food
Modern luxury is all about sustainability, authenticity and local experiences — and that’s food travel in Finland!
We treated our social media series like a foodie travel TV-program and ditched polished ads for phone-shot footage. This 'native' approach was a strategic departure for a government agency, trading official broadcasts for the relatability of a recommendation from a friend.
We planned the content under four seasonal themes: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. This allowed us to encourage year-round travel and show how the seasons shape our food culture.
The Creative
Idea: Finn Dining
We created the concept of Finn Dining — the Finnish idea of good food.
While the world often associates culinary excellence with white tablecloths and stiff service, Finn Dining is about tasty moments and the wild side of food. It’s an invitation to discover an alternative culinary destination.
The wordplay elevates Finnish food while staying humble. It gave us the creative license to highlight everything from world-class, Michelin-level Nordic cooking to simple market treats.
The Execution:
A Seasonal Odyssey
We collaborated with American-born content creator Jade Ventoniemi and sent her to eat her way through Finland. Jade’s point of view ensured the content remained authentic to our international target group.
Each season acted as a new chapter of "Finn Dining," focusing on different regions and local traditions:
We built a coherent ecosystem. In our press releases, we featured the same local chefs and personalities Jade met on her journey, creating a seamless link between social buzz and earned media.
Meanwhile, on VisitFinland.com, we produced SEO-friendly articles to fill practical "content gaps": from the best cafe guides to deep-dives into Finnish food traditions. This ensured that whether a traveller was looking for inspiration or information, they found it on Visit Finland.
A data-driven, organic-first approach guided our paid boosts. We amplified high-performing organic videos and continuously optimised across markets and channels. By turning organic insights into targeted paid investments, we made the most of our budget and ensured the content truly resonated.
The Results:
6M
Total Reach
28,2M
Total Impressions
Winning attention without Michelin stars
Our “Finn Dining” approach proved that you don’t need a Michelin star to capture the internet’s imagination. By creating episodic, story-driven food content, we achieved a total reach of 6 million and generated 28.2 million impressions in our target markets (USA, France, Germany). The campaign’s 32 core videos, strategically adapted for multiple channels, drove 2.3 million views with a high-quality 15-second retention rate.
Strong performance in a highly competitive market
The campaign’s impact was particularly notable in the competitive US market. On TikTok, view rates reached 8–13 %, significantly outperforming the industry benchmark of 3–5 %. Beyond mere visibility, Finn Dining sparked genuine curiosity and measurable interest.
Across all platforms, the content consistently triggered meaningful interactions: likes, comments, shares, and saves. This emotional resonance resulted in a solid average engagement rate of ~2.7 %, confirming that the audience wasn’t just scrolling past, but actively connecting with the stories.
From food content to cultural exploration
Finn Dining extended far beyond social media. On VisitFinland.com, the campaign’s long-form stories reached thousands of readers, with an article on Finnish desserts rising to become one of the year’s top-performing pieces.
We didn’t just make people hungry, we made them hungry for Finland.
2,7 %
Overall Engagement Rate
(Travel Industry avg: 2,1 %.
Source: Hootsuite)
2,3M
Video Views (15s)
