My day started off on a better foot than yesterday purely because there was toilet paper in more than 1 of the 4 bathroom stalls. Breakfast consisted of the fresh bread with peanut butter, parfait, and fruit. The new addition was a ginger, honey, and lemon shot to help the day by boosting the immune system. Today we kicked off our company visits with Skapa and the Gothenburg University. JJ has a different student navigate the team to each business every day, and the first student-led navigation was a disaster. Our guide was unprepared and made little to no effort to find directions. Eventually, someone else took over, but we still arrived at Skapa late. Better late than never I suppose.
Skapa is a successful small marketing firm started in 1996 by Erik Ekholm and his wife. The company now consists of nine total employees that work with a variety of business to business and business to consumer business clients to optimize their content marketing. The office was very modern with a bright and clean feel. They even had a Wii in the break room.
The presentation was on digital content marketing. It was fascinating to learn about the marketing field from a professional who’s life revolves around it. Erik mentioned that they market SKapa mainly on social media platforms, but Erik will also personally visit trade shows to talk with potential customers. They mainly work with European companies, but one of their largest U.S. customers is Caterpillar. Erik talked about how creating an emotional connection with customers is equally important in the business to business world as it is in the business to consumer market. I thought this was very interesting as no one ever talks about that in therms of B2B, but I will definitely take this information to use in the future.
Erik also talked about how his company sets up client websites using WordPress. He also talked about their blog writing service. Skapa will ghost write blog posts for their clients to post on their websites. This helps to develop the brand, keep updating information, and creates a better connection with consumers by showing their knowledge. Erik ended the presentation with 10 tips for successful content marketing. He figured the most important one is to create company related content, which makes sense because that helps to differentiate a business from its competitors and showcase tis competitive advantages.
Next, we went to the Gothenburg University school of business and had a nice chili and rice meal in the cafeteria. Two of the professors, Dr. Claes Alvstam and Professor Martin Öberg, took the time to speak with us. We learned about general Sweden knowledge and about the economic situation, specifically related to the potential issues with Brexit. It was very informative and helped me better understand the country. Lastly, we had “Ask a Swede”, where three students sat with us and talked about what its like to live in Sweden. This was entertaining, but not sure how much quality insider information about Sweden because they were all exchange students. Eric, my group’s Swede, was hilarious and loved funnel cake.
After we talked with the students for a while, we headed out to go find someplace new to eat for dinner. We wandered in a different part of town until we happened upon a little Italian restaurant that had decent lasagna. After that, it was blog time, then off to bed.
Daily Reflections:
- Arriving 15 minutes early is on time.
- 93% of all purchasing decisions are deciding using social media.
- IKEA was formerly a Dutch company.
- Blocking someone on LinkedIn is the fina straw.
- If you walk long enough, you’ll find a restarant you’re willing to try.
Adventures in Sweden 