University of Gävle – international commendation

”Paris and Stockholm got gold, New York the silver and Gävle won the bronze. Fantastic, we can now be really proud,” says Maria Åstrand Swenneke, communications officer responsible.

The University of Gävle’s campaign "Maximise your potential" was given the bronze in the prestigious international communications competition, Epica Awards 2016.

Maximise your potential – the idea of using Einstein

Over the last four years the "Maximise your potential" campaign has used Einstein as spokesperson.
The idea of using Einstein is to demonstrate that whoever you are, you can go one step further. The University of Gävle can help you to develop as an individual and we really believe that education, as such, can help you make your dreams come true.

”Maria Åstrand Swenneke does a phenomenal job there at the university and I would also like to mention the previous head of communications Johan Ahlgren, who started the project. You have some very competent people in your communications department,” says Nils Vahlund, responsible for the campaign at the advertising agency Lundberg & Co.

The higher education institute that expands the most

“We have declared that the University of Gävle should communicate with its target audience, using the language of that target group. It is also a very positive campaign where we talk to the young people on their own terms.”

With regard to first hand applications to programmes, these are on the increase at the University of Gävle, and amongst all the institutes of higher education it is the one where these are increasing the most.

“I definitely think that the communication has affected this to some extent. The impact of the campaign has been great and almost half of those who have seen the films on Facebook have chosen to interact in some way, by sharing, commenting and clicking on likes,” says Maria Åstrand Swenneke.

Bronze in the Epica Awards

TheEpica Awards, that are based in Paris, France, were determined last Thursday the 17th November. The Epica Awards were founded back in 1987 and are an established competition within the fields of communication and marketing.

The competition attracts participants from about seventy countries. The jury consists of successful journalists and prizes are awarded in a number of categories. The University if Gävle won a prize in the category "Professional Products & Services".

”This is great; we competed against brands and agencies from all over the world! Fantastic that both the University of Gävle and Gävle’s largest advertising agency have been recognised in such an arena,” says Nils Vahlund.

”There are very few institutes of higher education that dare to communicate with their students on their own terms and via their own technical devices. I think that is why we received this amazing prize.”

Epica Awards 2016 resultat

Here are the four award-winning films from the University of Gävle’s campaign that took part in the Epic Awards 2016:

For further information, please contact:
Maria Åstrand Swenneke, Communications Officer at the Department for Communications and Strategic Partnerships at the University of Gävle
Tel: 026-64 85 35
Email: maria.astrand_swenneke@hig.se

Nils Vahlund, project leader at Lundberg&Co
Tel: 026-10 33 22, 072-521 95 42
Email: nils@lundberg-co.com