Launched by the city and some of Finland’s top tech companies, the campaign reframed the value that Helsinki offers to its ‘users’ (current citizens) and potential ‘demo users’ (tech professionals looking to relocate) using familiar vocabulary and tone of voice for international tech professionals.

And the campaign has obviously struck a chord as close to 7,000 tech professionals interested in relocating to Helsinki have applied – applications from its target group of professionals in tech from software engineers, developers, AI researchers etc.

Helsinki is now bringing these potential tech professionals to visit the city. Tech talent from Tel Aviv to New York will experience their potential new hometown Helsinki and its work-life balance during one of the world’s largest start-up events, Slush, from today (19 November) until 22 November. The visit is hosted by City of Helsinki along with Supercell, Smartly, Slush, Relex and MaaS Global (Whim).

The campaign turned the city into a digital product of this decade and pitched Helsinki as a Service, highlighting its multiple perks: Helsinki’s 640,000 daily active users (residents), key features such as free world-class education and healthcare. Helsinki’s bugs – darkness, snow and the flat skyline – were mentioned as carefully considered features. The city’s Mayor Jan Vapaavuori was recruited to act as the CEO of CaaS, encouraging potential demo users to apply for a free demo trip to Helsinki during Europe’s leading start-up event Slush.

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