Industry
VC & startup ecosystem
Service
Strategic Communications
Niche
Wood innovation
675 media mentions in Forbes, The Next Web and Dagens Industri
675 media hits in 3 years for a forestry innovator
The challenge
San Francisco, together with Metsä Spring, created a comprehensive communications strategy that defined the company’s key marketing messages, mission and vision statements, as well as its main target groups and personas. In addition, San Francisco conducted a communications channel audit to understand where and how the desired audience could best be reached. We also refined the company’s tone of voice to better resonate with the intended target audience.
From spring 2023, San Francisco Agency collaborated with Metsä Spring on an annually defined communications strategy, overseeing the company’s media relations and social media channels in line with the long-term strategic framework. The work followed an annual communications calendar and was guided by clear numerical targets.
What we did
San Francisco Agency served as Metsä Spring’s communications partner across global English-language media, the Nordics, and the German-speaking regions of Europe. Each year, the strategy was refined to both support Metsä Spring’s mission and build a positive perception of Metsä Group in different markets.
Every month, Metsä Spring ran a major PR campaign designed to reach target audiences ranging from the technology sector to forestry media.
In addition, Metsä Spring’s social media channels shared both company news and thought-provoking, educational content from the industry on a daily basis, helping to shape the image of the forestry sector and dispel common misconceptions about it.
What we achieved
During the collaboration, Metsä Spring received 675 media mentions in outlets such as Forbes, Yahoo News, The Next Web (owned by Financial Times), Dagens Industri, and Helsingin Sanomat. In addition, the company’s number of LinkedIn followers nearly tripled through entirely organic growth, without spending a single cent on paid advertising. The company also saw a significant increase in inbound contacts from startups in the industry, clear proof of successful communication with its target audience.
An annual third-party reputation survey among the general public also showed that Metsä Group’s image in terms of innovativeness improved significantly. The company performed several times better than its peers in perceived innovativeness, with results improving notably after the collaboration between San Francisco and Metsä Spring began. This demonstrates that communications efforts successfully influenced public perception of Metsä Group as an innovative company within the traditional forest industry.
We had never worked with San Francisco Agency before, but in the spirit of an innovation-driven company, we wanted to test a smaller agency with a proven track record of working successfully with innovative companies. We have been extremely satisfied with the agency’s systematic approach to achieving ambitious goals and their high level of transparency. We have been able to reshape the public perception of both the forestry industry and Metsä Group, and the Group’s innovation activities have also inspired our own employees since we began active external communications. We have been very pleased with San Francisco’s work and have seen tangible results in many different ways.
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