I grew up in a smaller town an hour drive north of Stockholm. And growing up, I always knew that I would one day live and work in the big city. In my youth it was a mirage on the horizon but now for the last 12 years it has been home.

Someone once described Stockholm as the Venice of the North. There is some truth to it, even though Stockholm is both bigger, better and more beautiful. But still, both cities are built on islands; living in Stockholm you are always close to water. Even in the most urbanised areas you are only a block or two away from breathing in the fresh sea air and catching a glimpse of the commuter boats going between the city and the islands in the archipelago.

The city centre is a melting pot of history and modern architecture, and the openness of Swedish society is manifested in many ways. There are not many cities in the world that can say they have a buzzing nightclub next door to the Swedish equivalent of the White House. Have a cocktail on the stone steps of restaurant F12/Terassen in early summer and you might catch a glimpse of the Prime Minister leaving his office.

The world’s friendliest chatbot

During the autumn of 2018 an online rumour spread like wildfire that kids were chatting online with a figure named “Momo”. According to the rumours, “Momo” made kids hurt themselves and others in what came to be known as the “Momo Challenge”. This made schools and Swedish media send out warnings, telling parents to get their kids off Internet. In the end it turned out there was no truth to the story. There was no “Momo”. But the damage to the internet was already done. Once again it was said to be an unsafe place for kids. Telia, Sweden’s largest Telco, wanted to demonstrate the positive sides of the internet, that it can be a place where people come together, meet new friends and are nice to each other. So, we created the complete opposite to the “Momo Challenge” and launched the “Mormor Challenge”. “Mormor” means grandmother in Swedish. “Mormor Challenge” became the friendliest chatbot online and kids that interacted with her were encouraged to be nice to one another online. The “Mormor Challenge" was launched on World Kindness Day and was shared online and written about in the very same media outlets that had helped spread the rumours about Momo.

IKEA Pee Ad

Together with ad agency Åkestam Holst, Swedish IKEA is doing great work with the concept “Where life happens”. How about an ad for baby cribs that you can pee on to see if your pregnant? If positive you get a discount on that very same crib.

Smooth Dogg with Klarna Payments

Former Swedish start-up now digital payment giant Klarna has made payments sexy with their global Smooth Payments-concept. In their latest campaign to help them grow in the U.S, they teamed up with Snoop Dogg who became Smooth Dogg.