Helsinki Exposed Campaign Makes its Move on International Talent with Paparazzi-Inspired Theme

May. 08, 2024

Helsinki Exposed reveals the unprecedented benefits of living and working in Helsinki in a mock tabloid fashion, as if paparazzi covered everyday people living in the city. The clever campaign turns Finland's key perks – such as work-life balance, proximity to nature, and family friendliness – around by portraying them through seemingly shocking mannerisms like leaving babies to sleep outside unattended, ice water swimming, and informal behaviour at workplaces. 

With its quirky tone and bold visuals, the Helsinki Exposed campaign draws inspiration from the raw authenticity of the paparazzi movement. Just as the paparazzi movement was originally born out of photojournalists' frustration over overly slick and stylized celebrity photos, this campaign embraces genuine experiences and untold stories of urban life in Helsinki. 

The campaign aims to attract international talent to pursue a career in Helsinki. The campaign is supported by AlphaSense, Next Games, Kone and Supermetrics among other cutting-edge, Helsinki-based companies looking to fill their open positions.

From gaming to forestry to space exploration, Helsinki is a hotbed for amazing career paths. The city has done multiple creative campaigns to make a name for itself, including branding Helsinki as a tech product to soft test (CaaS), shipping its core values in a box to prospective tech talent during the pandemic, and creating a 90-day-Finn program to test.

Helsinki Partners executed the campaign together with European brand agency Bou, based in London and Helsinki. Bou works with fast-growing tech and entertainment companies such as electric car company Polestar, London-based VC firm Cherry Ventures, and Netflix-owned Next Games, to name a few. Bou is one of Adweek’s Fastest Growing Agencies 2023 as well as cited on the FT1000 list of Europe’s fastest growing companies this year.