Country brand working group sets tasks for Finland

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By Miska Rantanen and Juha-Pekka Raeste
     
      Functionality, nature, and education are Finland’s trump cards, according to a report by a working group that was set up to better establish a national brand for Finland.
      Finland is a country where things work, and people trust each other, and that is why we find solutions to problems, says Jorma Ollila, the chairman of the working group. Ollila praised the report of the 20-member working group, which was two years in the making, and which was submitted to Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb (Nat. Coalition Party) last week. The aim is the development of national self-esteem and placing an emphasis on the strengths of the nation.
      The brand report sets some practical tasks for Finland. For instance, half of Finnish agriculture should be organic, and professional kitchens should serve portions that are the right size. Helsingin Sanomat asked some experts to ponder how some of the tasks might be carried out.
     
     
     
Water from the tap, not a bottle
      Nothing beats crystal clear tap water, according to a task put forward on page 146 in the country brand report. The advice is directed at public administration.
      This is why it is important to exchange bottled water for tap water.
      One of the most important venues for conferences in Finland is located on the shores of Töölönlahti Bay in Helsinki. What is the drinking water policy of Finlandia Hall? Mika Liinamo, director of Royal Restaurants, which is responsible for catering at Finlandia Hall answers.
      “Our customers can choose either bottled or tap water. We always offer tap water with food without surcharge.”
     
The water served at Finlandia Hall drew attention during the Baltic Sea Summit in February this year when President Tarja Halonen insisted on “Helsinki water” during lunch - that is, tap water instead of bottled.
      “Our clients decide what is on offer. Sometimes they want tap water alone, and sometimes they want bottled water and nothing else.”
     
Bringing tap water to the table sometimes awkward situations with guests from countries where the tap water is avoided. “In a situation like that, our cousins from Italy will look into the pitcher of ice water, wondering what it is. They often end up feeling thirsty.”
      With situations like this in mind, the report makes a suggestion for an attractive sign in different languages that testifies to the purity and excellent taste of Finnish tap water.”
     
     
Roach (the fish) gourmet
      Page 142 of the brand working group calls on restaurants and the food industry to develop gourmet dishes out of roach and other similar fish, which are currently undervalued as food.
      The report notes that hundreds of tonnes of the fish are caught in Finnish lakes each year as part of efforts to improve water quality, and only a few companies exist to process the fish that are caught into food. Roach need to find their way into gourmet restaurants.
     
At the popular new restaurant Muru on Fredrikinkatu in Helsinki, cook Henri Alén says that he would welcome the idea of roach delicacies.
      Alén first became acquainted with roach at the restaurant Palace in 1999. At that time, chef Markus Maulavirta created a starter involving roach wrapped in thin dough. “It was a work of art.”
      Alén, who is also known as a TV cook, says that he would be happy to buy more Finnish roach and bream, if the price is right and the fish is fresh, but the availability has been quite poor.
     
At the request of Helsingin Sanomat, Alén prepared a roach tartare dish, and offers the recipe to others:
     
      Roach tartare for four:
     
      400 grams of cleaned roach
     
      1 red onion
     
      2 teaspoons of caper
     
      1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
     
      Chives or dill to taste
     
      Chop the ingredients as small as is possible with a knife, and place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. For a fancier version, add a dash of cognac. Eat with toasted rye bread. “Magnificent”, says the modest cook, praising his own achievement.
     
     
Getting celebrities to talk to kids
      When a message about school bullying and defending those who are in a weaker position needs to be communicated to young people, who is more likely to be believed - a teacher, or a youth idol?
      According to the country brand report, the latter is worth trying.
      The mission on page 200 is directed at celebrities and top athletes. It calls on them to visit a school and teach children once a year.
     
Under the proposal, they would be free to say what they like, but the lectures would be organised under conditions set by the pupils. They would vote on who to invite, and the lectures would be held somewhere other than a classroom. A hidden function would be to increase kids’ appreciation for their schools.
      Does the concept make sense, musician Jare Henrik Tiihonen, alias rap artist Cheek?
      “Absolutely. If I were to speak about school bullying, the starting point of my lectures would be my own experiences - good and bad things that I have done. I would tell them what kind of a feeling I have had as an adult when I have pondered the same kinds of things.”
     
Tiihonen says that it is important for the lecturer to have experience on the matter. It gives “resonance and credibility” to the whole process.
      The rapper is familiar with charity campaigns. He says that the majority of celebrities want to help.
      “If asked, I will join in. It is my contribution.”
     
     
Fixing and upgrading
      Page 74 of the country brand report is dedicated to vocational training. The proposal on the page is that vocational schools should train people to upgrade and repair objects and develop new uses for existing goods.
      “There is ridiculously little fixing of small objects in the curriculum today”, admits Antti Virtanen, the director of Heltech, the Helsinki City College of Technology.
      The reason for this is obvious.
     
“Small household appliances are not repaired any more. New ones are cheap, and fixing old ones is expensive, and spare parts are hard to come by. For instance, nobody sends their flat-screen televisions to be repaired.”
      Virtanen takes a positive view of teaching how to repair small devices, as long as there is genuine demand for the skill. He does not want to teach young people to become unemployed.
      “We should not go into a use-once, throw-away culture.”
      According to the report, Finland has more used goods that need fixing than ever before.
     
There is demand for skilled repair of old furniture. During the recession, demand for the upgrading and re-upholstering of furniture has grown.
     
     
Adult supply package
      The chairwoman of the Martha Organisation, Merja Siltanen, was thrilled to be asked to compile an “adult package”. The idea of an adult package (modelled after the baby package of baby clothes and child care items that is distributed to families when a child is born) was originally hers, which she mentioned in an interview with the newspaper Aamulehti in 2004.
      According to the brand working group, such a package would be needed, because so many young people lack important everyday skills at the age of 18.
     
Merja Siltanen feels that the package would have other benefits as well: better knowledge of running a home helps people control their everyday lives and improve their life management skills.
      It would also encourage people to prepare food from scratch.
      The package would include foodstuffs, cleaning and kitchen equipment, guidebooks on home economics, monetary issues, and sorting waste, as well as a cook book, a package of condoms, and adhesive bandages.
      Unlike the child package, Siltanen says that the adult package, worth over EUR 200, should not be distributed for free, as the age groups involved are so large, and the state has other expenses.
      “I guess we should make it a hit product”, she laughs.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 26.11.2010
     

More on this subject:
 Other missions from the country brand working group

See also:
  Brand builders avoid confronting problems (30.11.2010)

MISKA RANTANEN AND JUHA-PEKKA RAESTE / Helsingin Sanomat
miska.rantanen@hs.fi, juha-pekka.raeste@hs.fi