Manifesto scooped a double win at the Finnish Comms Awards, with both shortlisted entries at the award ceremony on 11 November. Manifesto’s long-term communications partnership with insurance provider mySafety topped the table in the Strategic Communications Consultancy category, while the #mitäkuuluu campaign for MIELI Mental Health Finland’s third Suicide Prevention Day came first in the Pro Bono category. The Finnish Comms Awards, organized by Marketing Finland, recognizes and celebrates outstanding achievements in the Finnish communications sector.
“Absolutely fantastic! I’m running out of positive things to say! Getting two of our projects shortlisted was an achievement in itself, but a win for both is huge,” commented Jonna Varhama, a partner at Manifesto, following the award ceremony.
Varhama says Manifesto’s award success not only reflects the agency’s genuine communications expertise but is also testament to the excellent relationships it enjoys with its clients, characterized by a genuine spirit of collaboration and trust.
“The mark of an excellent communications agency and of a real communications professional is being able to really listen to your client, developing a genuine understanding for their business and the challenges they face. You need to aim high but stay rooted in the real world. When the client and the agency are committed to working together on a basis of trust and everyone is pulling in the same direction, that’s when the magic really happens,” she says.
Varhama herself is a seasoned professional, having advised businesses and other organizations on their communications for the past 17 years.
Strategic Communications Consultancy: ‘From a nobody to a thought leader – mySafety’s success story’
Manifesto’s long-standing and successful partnership with insurance provider mySafety earned it a win in the Strategic Communications Consultancy category.
MySafety specializes in insurance services to prevent online crime and minimize its consequences. When mySafety and Manifesto first crossed paths in spring 2019, mySafety had a clear vision for the future. The company wanted to establish itself as an expert and thought leader cyber-crime prevention, particularly identity theft and online hate. What they lacked was a clear communication plan.
Manifesto immediately set about to change that, organizing a series of communication strategy workshops. These were followed by a series of practical actions and interventions designed to consolidate mySafety’s position and achieve thought leader status.
“Needless to say, the strategic effort put in by Manifesto was invaluable for mySafety. Without Manifesto, we wouldn’t be where we are today. We’ve got a head start on the competition. Manifesto’s team of top experts has managed to integrate communications into our business strategy, and we now see that as one of the key factors in our success,” says Johanna Abgottspon, mySafety’s country manager in Finland.
Pro Bono: #mitäkuuluu – we need to talk about suicide
World Suicide Prevention Day is observed every year on 10 September. The #mitäkuuluu campaign, designed and implemented by Bob the Robot and Manifesto for MIELI Mental Health Finland, addresses the taboos surrounding suicide and encourages people to talk. For the third year in a row, Manifesto was involved in the campaign on a pro bono basis, handling media and influencer relations. The campaign ran in September 2021 and was targeted at adolescents and young adults, whose mental health has been most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign went on to win the Finnish Comms Awards Pro Bono category.
“Suicide prevention is not an easy to topic, but it is an important one. That’s why we’re so thrilled that our message was successful in reaching almost everyone in Finland. What’s been particularly rewarding to see is how eagerly social media influencers have stepped up to support young people, who have faced a particularly challenging time during the Covid-19 pandemic, and I’m heartened to see the impact our campaign has had on young people’s minds,” said Katri Korpinen, fundraising manager at MIELI Mental Health Finland.
The Finnish Comms Awards received a record 132 entries this year. A total of 49 projects were shortlisted, including two entries from Manifesto entries. Both of Manifesto’s shortlisted projects went on to win in their respective categories.
Photo: Ville-Veikko Niemelä