Just don’t mention Denmark

The Danish business community has been embroiled in debate about Danish values and their place in the global market. How should we communicate Danish values internationally? Can we use Danishness as a competitive advantage?

The answers are probably ‘with great care’ and ‘no’. But you can still get real value from remembering your Danish roots when you communicate internationally. Just don’t mention ‘Denmark’.

What are Danish values anyway?
According to Ingeniøren, pharmaceutical international Novo Nordisk is actively using what it calls Danish values as a foundation for globalization. CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen describes these values as equality, trust, flat structure, inclusion, flexibility, respect for the environment, a Protestant work ethic and aesthetics. To this list, we would also add values associated with innovation, knowledge, quality and design.

Many people around the world may have positive associations with most of these values (but it’s worth finding out what your target audience really thinks of them). And it may be a good idea to build a coherent brand based on them.

So what are Danish values according to foreigners?
To get our own impression of what the world thinks of Denmark, we randomly asked non-Danish business connections what they associated with “Denmark” and “Danish”. The most common answers in order of frequency were:

• Bacon
• Danish pastry
• The Little Mermaid 
• Hans Christian Andersen
• LEGO or LEGOLAND
• Cheese
• The Danish flag
• Carlsberg
• "Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen"
• Beautiful design

Surprisingly, no one mentioned the business values – such as knowledge, innovation, and work ethic – that have been behind the success of many great Danish companies. This shows another challenge facing companies who choose to use ‘Denmark’ as a competitive advantage. It can simply put the wrong image in the mind of the target audience.

What’s even more alarming is that the people we asked are well educated and internationally aware. On a global scale, we have to assume that most people are likely to have an even lower level of awareness than these answers show.

But one comment to us demonstrated an even bigger problem facing Danish companies who want to market themselves on being Danish:

“I have almost no impression of Denmark. I imagine that's not completely atypical.”

This, unfortunately, is a comment that most of us at Eye for Image recognize. When we travel to our home countries and meet up with old friends who eagerly want to hear about our lives, we are often met with blank looks and empty questions when we talk about Denmark. We know about the great qualities Denmark has to offer, but so many people around the world just can’t relate to it.

So when faced with these awareness barriers, what can marketers do?

Building on customer-focused values
For values to help a brand, they need to clearly describe the brand’s uniqueness and value in a way that speaks directly to employees, shareholders and customers.

And if a brand is going to become truly global, it needs to be measured against other world leaders. Look at global brands such as Coca Cola, Nike, GE, Apple and Microsoft. They talk to us in a way that helps us understand them. Their communication is focused on building a relationship and connecting with us on our terms.

And this is what Danish brands need to do to audiences all around the world. Perhaps it does mean making the most of positive Danish values – but only if these values can be communicated clearly, concisely and on the audiences’ terms. So ask yourself, is our Danish heritage important for our audience? Does it help build a relationship with them? If the answer is no, then take the Danish out.

For example, it’s not enough to use vague statements such as “based on traditional Danish values of good design and open management”. If one of your company’s brand values is, for example, ‘open decision-making’, then try putting words to it. It could be something like this:

“We trust the professional experience and knowledge of everyone who works at our company. We want everyone to have a say. We will never make a major company decision without giving everyone the opportunity to voice his or her opinion."

Sell your own messages – and Denmark will benefit
Choose the values that are right for your company and work hard to talk about them in a way that your global audience can understand. Don’t talk in vague concepts – but be specific with lively, personal and straightforward words.

In other words: think internationally. Maybe you will take the best of what Denmark has to offer your brand – but leave ‘Denmark’ out of it. Tell people about your values in terms they can understand and it won’t only be your company that wins.

 

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