January 20
Today was the first company visit day. We went to Skapa which is a well known company for content marketing. Founded in 1996 and only a company of 9 employees, they work with their customers like CAT, Volvo, Skanska, and Hammer to build brand awareness for the companies by using advanced marketing techniques like social media, sales material, blogs, email marketing and more. We met with the CEO, Eric Elkholm who presented us what his company is about, how he runs his business, and some tips on being a part of the business world. It was a very informative meeting that I really got a lot out of as I am going into marketing. Below are some pictures of there office space.
I especially loved how close everyone is there, he referred to his team as “family”. As you can tell, they work pretty close together but get along extremely well. His wife is even part of the mix being the director of marketing. The picture shows and overview of their office space that is a very modern design and is very clean and organized.
I loved this area of their office as it’s as full size kitchen, dining room, TV and a Wii. He likes his employees to feel at home. I asked him if he thinks his employees work better and get along so well because of the open space he has created and he says yes as they all enjoy socializing, spreading out, and relaxing more in Europe than in the US. That way they aren’t always so stressed and actually can put 100% into their work as they have relaxing time. I think that is a very effective way of gaining employee’s respect and attention while looking for a job.
He provided some tips on content marketing which were as follows:
- Build confidence over night
- Employer branding benefits content marketing
- Create compelling content relevant for the audience
- Be top of the mind thinking when a purchasing decision is made
- Authentic, customer focused, and engaged are key
He additionally showed us some statistics in social media and its impact all over the world. Facebook and LinkedIn are the biggest professional apps in Europe while LinkedIn is the biggest in the United States. He additionally mentioned that the US has the most social media users and China is climbing. The top three apps in the world are Facebook, Youtube, and What’sApp which I all use. Trends in social media are videos and apps tracking what we do which I find to be very true as I know a lot of apps track locations.
After Skapa, we headed over to Gothenburg University for lunch and to talk with professors and students. The lunch at the university was amazing, I had cod, potatoes, fruit and a cinnamon roll. We then sat in a lecture hall listening Professor Claes G Alustam speak on the topics of the history of Gothenburg and the University, the School of Business there, and Hockey in Sweden. The School of Business opened in 1923 with 3,900 students, 500 staff, 51% female and 49% male. They have 163 partner universities, 22 partner companies, and about 29,600 alumni. The Swedish education system is a little different as they have compulsory 9 years primary and secondary school, an additional 3 years in high school, higher education is free of charge for Swedish and EU countries. A bachelor takes 3 years, master takes 2 years and a doctorate takes 4 years. Additionally, online school is not offered here.
He additionally spoke on the topic of the Swedish economy and business. A few key facts were
- There are about 10.3 million people
- Sweden is 173,000 sq miles
- GDP is 4.9 billion
- Not a member of the Euro zone
- Currency and prices are low
Characteristic of Swedish economy include a lot of natural resources such as iron, gold, silver, and wood. They had high economic growth in the 20th century. They have massive immigration (about 1 million since 2000), so many people want to move to Sweden (myself included.) The biggest companies are Volvo, Stena and SKF which we will all be visiting soon! We then talked to some students that go to the university about Sweden life. They told us some good areas and restaurants to be sure to go too but mentioned to never come to Sweden in the summer because it is packed with tourists. I can’t imagine this place busier!
After the busy day, we had an open dinner. A few of my friends and I decided to take the tram to Nordstan and shop for a little bit. We ended up not getting much, but it’s so fun to just walk around and explore on our own. I love how the buildings look at night, everything is so clean and well lit.
I’ve noticed that there are a lot of flower stores that are outside which is weird to me because it is winter but nether-less, they are so pretty to look at! If you know me, you know I love flowers! (Especially pink tulips)
Daily Reflections
- Spotfiy is a Swedish company
- The way the transportation system here works makes no sense
- There are Tesla taxis
- I hate paying for public bathrooms
Ashley's Trip to Sweden 
Thanks again! I’m really enjoying your blog! I also hated paying for the bathroom when we were in Germany in ’70!! Had to make sure I always had the correct coin!! Oh well, have fun!!
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