In a world of ratings and annual reports, a country’s identity is often lost in translation. And it is especially so for mid-sized European states. For the insider, the differences between Hungary and Romania or Norway and Sweden are evident. However, unique priorities, goals, visions and aspirations just don’t fit in a spreadsheet as a nicely as population size or GDP. Having previously relied on performance in different rankings, one country decided to bring emotions back to nation branding. That country is Lithuania.
The campaign launched by Invest Lithuania, the Baltic country’s Investment Promotion Agency, presents Lithuania as the Best Employee in the World. Just 24 hours after the launch the video has garnered over 75K views and 750 shares across various social platforms.
In the video, the bold claim of being the Best Employee in the World is backed not by complex graphs and pie charts but by a diverse cast of go-getters.
“In the video, you’ll see Lithuania represented by renowned CRISPR inventor Virginijus Šikšnys, laser physicists, as well as the people that brought a Lithuanian art installation to Burning Man and the team that constructed a replica of Tesla’s Gigafactory in Minecraft, among others. The whole point of featuring scientists, artists and entrepreneurs was not to boast about past achievements but to showcase the potential for disruption that has been pointed out by foreign investors time and time again,” Mantas Katinas explains.
“First and foremost, we sought a connection with the audience. Our main character is Lithuania itself, writing a cover letter to the world. We boldly emphasize our strengths and values with the help from the many people who make Lithuania a nation of disruptors and risk-takers”.
The narrative indeed revolves around a simple idea – “Give us a challenge, and we will deliver.” The campaign page (www.bestemployee.world) hosts a substantial list of past challenges accepted by various Lithuanian businesses and institutions. The long-term goal of the campaign is to forge a strategy revolving around various business challenges.
The concept of the campaign and the video were developed and created by a collaboration of two Lithuanian agencies – DDB Vilnius and Wide Wings. The soundtrack was composed by renowned Lithuanian electronics band Golden Parazyth.
The shooting took 20 days and resulted in 9 hours of raw footage. A total of 120 people – actors, camera operators, artists, drone pilots, video editors and other professionals – took part in the creative process.
