Long live the diversity of the Reissumies

Time to freshen up the male image

Even though boxes and assumptions should be history by the 21st century, we still often base our ideas about other people on certain stereotypes in society. The male image is no exception.

Finland is one of the most equal countries in the world, but we can do better.

Fazer Bakery wanted to create a campaign that draws strongly on its values, to raise the discussion about the Finnish male image and its diversity. The diversity of the female image has been talked about for a long time, but diversity among men has not been discussed much. As Reissumies is one of Finland’s best-known men, it was natural to talk about the topic through him.

Power through research and strong key messages

Drum was responsible for the communication of the campaign together with Fazer’s communications team. We designed strong key messages based on Fazer’s values and communication measures. First, we conducted a survey together with Nordstat and Fazer’s research organisation to find out what Finnish men think about being a man and the male image. The survey, conducted in October 2021, was answered by more than 800 men aged 15–75 from all over Finland. The questionnaire was consulted by Henri Hyvönen, a researcher on male image at the university.

According to the survey, the Finnish male image is narrow. Almost half of the respondents agreed. At the same time, the male image was seen to be undergoing a change. We also asked whether brands and companies should take a stand on value-based issues such as the male image. Slightly more than half of all respondents said yes, and even more than 70% of young adults felt this way.

The campaign started in early November 2021. On the same day that the bread packages carrying the faces of the campaign found their way to stores and extensive, multi-channel advertising began, we organised a media and influencer event streamed from Fazerila. The event shared the results of the research and featured all three campaign ambassadors talking about finding their own path and why it was important for them to get involved in the campaign. Media visibility was also built through a press release and story tips. 

In addition to media communications, we planned how Reissumies took over Fazer’s Twitter account for the first days of the campaign. We designed a tweet script around the campaign themes and a Q&A to ensure that the tone of voice on the social media remained consistent, regardless of who was participating in the conversation from the social media team.

Reissumies took over the social media, headlines and hearts

From the very beginning of the campaign, Reissumies took over the headlines for several days. There were more than 80 media coverage on TV, radio, print as well as online media. The campaign was discussed in Yle’s Jälkiviisaat, YleX, SuomiPop and RadioRock, among others. Through the media, the topic reached an estimated 2.9 million people.

Reissumies generated a huge amount of reactions and debate for and against on social media. It rose to the trending list on Finland’s Twitter and stayed there for the duration of its time there. Several well-known influencers and public figures took part in the discussion. The number of impressions of tweets on the @fazersuomi account increased more than 3.6-fold compared to the previous five days and tenfold compared to the same time last year. Reissumies also attracted a huge number of comments on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

We expected the campaign to generate debate for and against. We also knew that we could not force the debate only into Fazer’s own channels. It was widely discussed in the comments sections of the social media posts, on discussion forums and other channels.

The campaign was generally well received. Up to 94% of the media coverage was positive in tone. In addition, Reissumies received praise from men’s organisations, gender equality organisations and immigrant organisations.

The reactions and discussions during the campaign showed that it pays for a company and a brand to make its values visible and engage with social issues. While there were also social media boycotts of Reissumies, for the most part it found its way into hearts. The new sandwich packs were an instant hit, which was also reflected in increased sales.