What do you think about Finland? Image of Finland 1/2

Current hot-topic in news is Finland's image. Apparently our country has a image deficit. In short that means, Finland is a better country than people see it. News note that Finland is not recognized, and little is known about it.

Often times, even Finns them selves disregard the beauty of their own mother land. Personally I have to admit it to be true. But why? I've heard someone saying playfully: what good is left of Finland if the perfect social system is removed? Normal answer goes something like: Good things that remain are summer and the nature. Fair enough. I like both of those too.

Unfortunately, however, summer is awfully short. It lasts for four months from beginning of June to end of August. Sounds long but by definition summer is reached when the daily average temperature is +10, which in turn means that the daily average can be +11 degrees and that's our summer. Not to even mention that it might also rain like there's no tomorrow.

What about nature then? Loads of beautifully scattered lakes, plenty of clean forests, hills, ocean, even some wildlife and occasionally auroras (if those can be included in nature). Yes, Finland's nature is very precious. Take a walk in it and it will relax and refreshen you. In contrast, a city like Roma, the capital of Italy, has no green areas except one tiny park, all the rest is parched by hot sun or sealed with stone structures. Actually Rome and Italy doesn't really compete in the same class with Finland. It has other things to offer. For instance, from our forests you hardy find historical monuments. But let's go back to what Finland's nature has to offer: blue lakes and vast forests. Both are beautiful. But think about it this way, once you've seen one of them you've seen all of them. Majority of the forests are very much alike. Pine trees, spruce trees, and birch trees. Eye gets accustomed to that quickly. Take a walk or drive across the country and you will believe me.

Numerous negative comments about Finland's image can be found from related forums. Those comments are written by Finns them selves. One way to explain this type of poor valuation comes from our qualities of our culture. I'm not an antropologists but I know for a fact that we Finns tend to be modest and self-depreciative from our true nature. In a situation where others praise them selves Finns like to play it down. That's a bit like Japanese but not as profound. One could hear:

"No it's not really because of my talents or dedication it was mere luck..."

This cultural quality is likely an ingredient of those negative comments made by many Finns. What happens is that easily, when one states a negative comment of this country, in one way or another, it will block all positive sides from one's mind.

Now a commission for developing Finland's image has been established. Brand Commission's driving idea is that the brand is build by Finnish citizen. Therefore they aim to engage people of Finland to help building a positive brand of their home country. Commission is gathered from handful of formidable persons, led by Jorma Ollila, the former CEO of Nokia, current boad director's chairman in Shell, Nokia and probably one of the most influential men in Finland. The brand building task is too much for one person, but if every Finn from top politicians to retired farmers pursue positive message of Finland it will work - there is no doubt about it. Finland is a good country, first, its goodness only needs to be realized by its downward-looking citizen. More about the commission in: Finnish, English and Japanese (poor Google translations).

Commission aims far ahead. In 20 years time the results, what ever they may be, could show up - if they do at all. It will be interesting to see how will it turn out. Common goal, huh? What individuals can do? On the next part: a day-in-life-story and how it possibly raised Finland's image.

Till then, thanks for reading.