Exove Oy, which joined the PunaMusta Media Group in June, will merge with Gredi Oy on December 31st 2023. The new Exove, thus will become the growth brand for PunaMusta Media’s digital business. Gredi will retain as a brand name for several products such as Content HUB solution, content management, as well as its publishing automation. The merged company will employ a total of 112 developers, project managers, and designers.
The new Exove will stand out in the market as a pioneer in expert services, products, and maintenance, especially in the areas of green web services, accessibility, and the utilization of artificial intelligence. This digital service offering will also be complemented by the product information management solutions from RockOn Oy.
The collaboration between Exove and Gredi has deepened rapidly in recent months. Our shared values and work culture unite us. Especially from the perspective of digital growth for our customers, the offerings of both companies create an excellent combination. Gredi’s well-known brand and content management solutions, along with their extensive experience in e-commerce, and Exove’s deep expertise in web services, enable the development of versatile web solutions, says Lars Oehlandt, Head of Digital Business at PunaMusta Media.
In addition to the benefits for customers, the merger is expected to strengthen Exove’s position as a leader in guiding the future of the work. Both Gredi and Exove employees will benefit from this change, especially through new career opportunities and a more diverse daily life.
Remote work is here to stay, but we also want to offer a more enjoyable experience for those working in the offices. We have already merged our offices in the Helsinki metropolitan area, increasing social interaction among our experts, Oehlandt specifies.
Becoming the leading digital solutions supplier
In early July, PunaMusta Media Oyj revised its segment reporting to support future growth plans by separating visibility business and digital business into distinct segments. From the customer’s perspective, the services create a comprehensive solution that simplifies business planning and everyday operations.
The company’s vision is to provide its customers with distinctive, comprehensive solutions for theirmarketing needs and growth. The printing business offers the most diverse and responsible printing services in Finland, along with planning and marketing logistics services. In the visibility business, we help brands grow by creating innovative solutions for standing out – regardless of the form of visibility or media presence – from events to office spaces. In the digital business, we build a competitive edge for our customers by acting as their responsible partner in digital growth, says Arttu Sallinen, CEO of PunaMusta Media Oyj.
The company’s future plans include investing in artificial intelligence-driven design and ordering channels, to ensure a seamless and automated transition from strategic marketing planning to the execution of printing, visibility, and digital services for customer companies.
We are building solutions that combine strong content, technological expertise, and data utilization to accelerate our customers’ success and make their operations easier”, Sallinen concludes.
We are at your service all summer long as usual to help you with brand and asset management issues. Call us, mail us, we help with pleasure. Contact us!
Our wonderful customers give you useful and valuable tips. Have you read our newest customer interviews? Read now!
JCDecaux Finland has started a collaboration with Gredi and launched a digital brand and asset management service for print and digital assets in Finland.
JCDecaux Finland is part of JCDecaux, which operates in more than 80 countries. JCDecaux is the global market leader in outdoor advertising. The company’s prominent and spectacular advertising tools in its clients’ stunning campaigns can be found in billboards, airports and outdoor advertising. JCDecaux Finland has advertising media in 73 of Finland’s largest cities.
The service built by Gredi is called JCDecaux Content HUB. “This service puts in order the concept of content management for both digital and print all at once,” says Janne Tenkanen, Head of Technology at JCDecaux Finland.
What are the main objectives that JCDecaux Content HUB aims to achieve? “Our goal boils down to a user-friendly and secure service. Before we had a mixed and fragmented set of services, now we are unifying the whole set. We are looking for cost and lead time benefits. This service will be more efficient. It will harmonize what we do”, Janne concludes.
Superseding the legacy systems, the data portal is now implemented in a modern way that allows for many seamless integrations and serves different use cases. “We wanted to make sure that Gredi is a partner that enables broad API connectivity. We will take advantage of this in the future, for example with a service for media agencies,” Janne illustrates.
Janne explains that the first phase of the project is to complete the workflow for the delivery of print materials, which requires specialized expertise. “We saw that Gredi provides a good overall service with a versatile, highly secure and user-friendly platform.”
“Information security today is more and more about data protection,” Janne emphasizes. “We recognize that we are managing sensitive customer data in the service, such as campaign launch materials. In terms of data security, we value Gredi’s professional approach and the modernity of their tools,” says Janne.
The JCDecaux Content HUB will have its own user interfaces for internal and external user groups within the organization, such as printing houses, outdoor advertisers, and customers. “Our initial focus will be on service renewal for external users of classic print materials. And in the future, we will have a growing number of sales related use cases,” says Janne.
Naturally, quality management of the materials is already part of the service operating model, ensuring the best customer experience and satisfaction.
“We thank JCDecaux for their trust and for a cooperation that started well! Our goal is to implement the continuously evolving Gredi Content HUB brand and digital asset management service and integrations to make everyday work secure for the great team at JCDecaux and their extensive ecosystem,” says Risto Pasanen, Chief Operating Officer at Gredi.
Why did JCDecaux choose Gredi as a partner? “First of all, their impressive data security. Second, the customizability and integrability of the service. Thirdly, the idea that with Content HUB we get the best possible customer experience. The customer experience is at the forefront of everything we do, and all our selection criteria contribute to that,” Janne emphasizes.
Interested in JCDecaux’s outdoor advertising that looks good and reaches your target groups?
See: https://www.jcdecaux.fi/en
Want to hear about the benefits of the Gredi Content HUB for your organization’s visibility across multiple channels, nationally and globally?
Contact: https://www.gredi.fi/en/contact/
Alma Media Corporation has started cooperation with Gredi on the renewal of its internal and external archive user interface. Alma Media is a Finnish media group focusing on digital services and publishing, whose publications provide information on lifestyle, career, and business development in addition to news. The company operates in Finland, other Nordic and Baltic countries and Central Europe. Alma Media’s best-known publications in Finland are Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Iltalehti and Etuovi.com.
What was the most urgent need to redesign the interface for Alma Media’s internal and external archive? “The media archive of our old system contains articles, images and pages from our newspaper production. It is based on the last millennium technology. The technology and database solution was at the end of its life-cycle, there was no support, no necessary resources to operate it and no development capacity. The system worked, but with risk management in mind it clearly needed an overhaul,” says Juha Punnonen, Head of IT at Alma Media.
“We have a certain IT architecture, how we want to build databases and user interface layers, and we follow our own standards of work in that,” says Juha Punnonen.
“A partner who has done work for the same industry benefits all companies in the industry. Gredi has been working for companies in our industry, such as Sanoma, for a long time. Gredi’s experts have a deep understanding of our industry, and it was therefore easier to get started together. Very rarely we can gain a real competitive advantage with technology only. It is the services on top of technology that we compete on. Gredi is a natural choice for us in this market,” says Juha Punnonen.
“A big thank you to Alma Media for the trust and the excellent start to the cooperation. The objective of Alma Media for the digital accessibility and usability of the archive renewal and the desired operating and working methods and process parameters for the two development projects were very clearly defined. Accordingly, we immediately got on the same page together and reached a common understanding of what to do, how to do it and of the final objectives. This made it easy to roll up our sleeves and start working together with determination. Gredi has the expertise and the greatest passion to deliver and solve the digital archive usability expectations of Alma Media’s own staff and their external stakeholders, now and in the future. I hope we will be able to meet these expectations quickly. I hope that we can continue to implement new responsible digital projects in line with Alma Media’s various needs. Improving the usability and accessibility of digital asset management is an important part of Alma Media’s broad digital ecosystem,” says Risto Pasanen, Chief Operating Officer of Gredi.
We are at your service all summer long as usual to help you with brand and asset management issues. Call us, mail us, we help with pleasure. Contact us!
Our wonderful customers give you useful and valuable tips. Have you read our newest customer interviews? Read now!
Haaga-Helia started a cooperation with Gredi and implemented the brand and digital asset management service Gredi Content HUB. It is a professional, secure cloud service, which can be used to collect all materials in a uniform way for all users to easily find and use.
“More and more players are entering the field, and to keep the act together, the focus needs to be clear: one cloud service that is uniformly available to everyone,” says Ari Nevalainen, Communications Manager at Haaga-Helia. “We have big materials like videos and folders. Over the years, we’ve managed and stored our material on hard drives and in diverse locations. During COVID, everyone worked remotely from their home offices. Now we are adapting to a new way of working with a hybrid model, working remotely and on-site,” says Ari.
Haaga-Helia has 11 000 students, including more than 1000 from abroad – 95 different nationalities from all over the world – 650 experts and 5 campuses in Helsinki, Porvoo and Vierumäki. Haaga-Helia trains business and service industry experts and researches and develops knowledge and activities in its fields of education. These are Business Administration, Computer Science, Hospitality and Tourism, Business Service Solutions and Languages, Journalism Education, Physical Education and Vocational Teacher Training.
They focus on entrepreneurship, innovation, internationalization, and cooperation. “We consulted our colleagues at universities, and we all have the same themes and the same goal for using Gredi’s service: to make our lives easier. What is essential is a good service for our professionals and students, and to connect with third parties such as advertising and media agencies and media suppliers. In the future, we won’t have to go and fetch big files from a hard drive in the office, but we can send links to the latest videos, for example, to our Indian students and agents around the world,” says Ari.
“We thank Haaga-Helia for their trust and for the great start of our collaboration. It’s great to continue the journey of our digital ecosystem together. Haaga-Helia’s Gredi Content HUB service is designed for broad and diverse internal and external use in a highly international ecosystem, and to facilitate remote, mobile and local work in a responsible way for all”, says Risto Pasanen, Chief Operating Officer of Gredi.
Haaga-Helia has a Guinness World Record: the most nationalities at the same time in the same sauna in Suomenlinna in Helsinki! Students gathered 101 nationalities in the sauna, the previous world record holder was China in 2019.
19+1 points to bear in mind when selecting a brand and digital asset management service. Now available important buyer’s guide with 19+1 check list. All the key points listed.
When considering purchasing a specific solution for the brand and digital asset management, review the check list before selecting or changing your service provider, to make your service to meet the changing needs of users.
Make sure your organization really gets all the essential benefits and product features.
Is your service now scalable, adaptable and data secure? Does your service provider give a 100% Money Back satisfaction guarantee?
We are at your service all summer long as usual to help you with brand and asset management issues. Call us, mail us, we help with pleasure. Contact us!
Our wonderful customers give you useful and valuable tips. Have you read our newest customer interviews? Read now!
According to Gredi’s customer satisfaction surveys, it is important that Gredi Content HUB is a responsible, domestic and secure digital asset and brand management solution. Tens of millions of digital assets from Gredi’s customers are securely safe in the data centers of Valtti, the Gredi’s partner.
Valtti has now been awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 environmental certificate. “I am really proud that we have reached this point as a result of hard work,” says Amanda Shonubi, Environment and Project Manager at Valtti. “However, this is not yet the end to Valtti’s environmental work, but only one milestone. Now we are setting new goals and the next steps towards sustainable development,” says Amanda.
Valtti has previously had an international security management system certificate in accordance with the requirements of the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard and an ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 IT service management system certificate.
All certificates granted to Valtti cover the entire data center business as well as all core and support processes
“Gredi and Valtti have a great collaboration based on long-term and close work, without forgetting the importance of direct communication. Seamless cooperation is important for both Gredi and their customers, as the whole service is required to work as well as possible,” says Patrick Ekman, Service Manager at Valtti.
Valtti is growing at a good pace and has also made significant acquisitions. Currently Valtti employs 230 passionate technology experts whose mission is to bring customers to the best solutions. Valtti has recently renewed its brand. Valtti’s new value proposition states that Valtti is the least complex option on the market. Valtti understands the everyday growth pains of customers and can scale up the solutions as the customer companies grow. Valtti’s services cover ongoing IT services to support day-to-day business, as well as the development and consulting of digital work and business solutions.
Sitowise is a Nordic expert in the built environment with a strong focus on digitality. Sitowise plans smart cities and living spaces where everyday life is built on a sustainable ground. It operates in three business areas: real estate and buildings, infrastructure and digital solutions. Every day more than 1,900 experts in various fields join forces to ensure that transport, infrastructure and buildings provide the best setting for a safe and carefree everyday life. Sitowise wants to raise the bar for intelligence and responsibility, and therefore the vision is to be the most responsible partner in developing a prosperous environment. Sitowise has grown rapidly and profitably in recent years, and the Group’s current turnover is approximately EUR 160 million. Sitowise’s head office is located in Espoo and the Group’s President and CEO is Pekka Eloholma.
Sitowise selected Gredi Content HUB for its brand and digital asset management solution. Minttu Vilander, Sitowise’s Director of Communications and Sustainability, explains that Sitowise has made a major brand announcement which will be implemented throughout 2021. The new slogan is: Sitowise – The Smart City Company. “Our data bank is a major reform. The challenge for us was that the material is on people’s computers and on network drives, and some of the material was always hidden somewhere. We have a very diverse range of services and thousands of different projects, which means that there is an abundant need for different marketing and communication material. Often findability suffers and there is no visibility to the materials produced by others,” says Minttu Vilander. “Now we have got the brand managed visibility.”
“In today’s world, everyone has a tough workload. When the materials are not easy to find they will not be used. The data bank must operate seamlessly, easily and quickly, and not as an additional workload. You should not spend time looking for pictures and other materials,” says Minttu Vilander.
Sitowise’s digital asset management solution – made by Gredi – includes a quick search function, a Brand Book with all the brand guidelines, official brand elements such as logos, icons and brand images. There are marketing images, company presentations and other important materials that make it easy for all Sitowise experts to create brand presentations in many formats and on different channels. The personnel can now manage Sitowise’s brand superbly both in internal and external communications.
“Things are now done intelligently, transparently and responsibly”
“All material is now available to all Sitowise people without restrictions,” Minttu Vilander outlines. “It has a big impact on doing things effectively, and we can learn from each other. The material is readily available and there is no need to ask others if it should be used and if you could supply it. We are now more accessible.”
“When our people go to service for the first time, we want them to think WOW!”
“Our digital asset management solution is very straightforward. Efforts have been made to make the brand inspiring and interesting. Users are given positive encouragement on how to use the materials instead of restrictions. The goal is to easily provide a lot of material to present the brand and enable you to create good-looking things without having to be a graphic designer,” says Minttu Vilander.
“Thank you Sitowise, our new, great customer! The collaboration started impressively right away. The HUB we provide to Sitowise is intended for the utilization of an extensive production ecosystem,” says Gredi’s CEO Risto Pasanen.
Communications has a respected role at Sitowise, and Minttu Vilander has influence on future decisions in Sitowise Management Team. “With all of Sitowise’s future work in mind, we have created more than 200 user groups in our digital asset management solution, and we also plan to manage project work with the solution. Our digital asset management solution is an ongoing process, it will be never finished.”
Why did Sitowise choose Gredi?
“The domestic and reliable solution was a key factor. We evaluated several options. We believe in Gredi and the service development work we are doing together with them,” Minttu Vilander sums up.
Lappset products are prominent in playgrounds and sports parks in Finland and around the world, and now the company has started cooperation with Gredi. Lappset has introduced the digital brand and asset management solution based on Gredi solution. Founded in 1970, Lappset is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of playground equipment with sales of EUR 73 million in 2019.
“We needed a flexible and modern service platform that would look like us. We needed an easy way to distribute materials to various stakeholders, including the media, resellers and advertising agencies around the world. The service created by Gredi is in line with our brand and responds flexibly to the needs of different user groups,” says Sara Wagner-Prenner of Lappset Marketing. Sara has been responsible for starting and managing the project at Lappset.
The family owned Lappset, based in Rovaniemi, has more than 400 employees and 15 subsidiaries in 9 countries: Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, China, France, Sweden, Germany, Estonia and the United States. Lappset’s 60 dealers operate around the world, in 60 different countries.
“Our service is provided in English, as it is to be used across more than 60 countries, from Finland to Australia and the USA. It needs to work for the general public and for a wide variety of users. Gredi’s service met our requirements very well. For us, this is by no means a mere data warehouse! This is an important communication channel. With the modern outlook, the service communicates our innovativeness,” says Sara.
“Warm thanks to Lappset for the trust and the nice start of the collaboration! The service we provide is designed to increase their sales, extensive and diverse brand and digital asset management, for both their internal and external users, throughout the Lappset Group digital ecosystem. Gredi’s service, which represents 100% Finnish expertise, is seamlessly integrated with other business systems. It withstands heavy use and grows in accordance with Lappset’s needs and goals in our close cooperation,” says Risto Pasanen, CEO of Gredi.
Lappset’s products are known for four things in particular:
Creative design that takes into account users of all ages, such as children and seniors
Digitally wise Ecosystem audiobook is now available, free of charge!
We will guide you step-by-step to build a working ecosystem and automate your marketing with a digital platform. You will learn, why ecosystem is fantastic instrument of innovation and growth, and how to get competitive edge from your existing and future networks. We will also tell you what elements are included in a superior marketing ecosystem, who benefits from it and how.
Our audiobook is full of proven facts, ready-to-use tips and useful check lists!
Metsähallitus is a state-owned enterprise under the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry managing 12.5 million hectares of state-owned land and water areas. That is a third of Finland’s surface area! Metsähallitus is responsible for all of Finland’s 40 magnificent national parks. It manages nature reserves and hiking areas and promotes their recreational use for the benefit of all Finns.
Metsähallitus selected Gredi Content HUB for its brand and Digital Asset Management solution. Heikki Hepoaho, head of Metsähallitus’ science center tells us why: “There was a need to improve our brand management. We had several different image banks in use. We have a wide range of needs for how we use our digital assets and images. Our requirements for the new solution were strict. We surveyed all the alternative solutions. We put it out to tender. We required a solution that really works and serves our needs.”
According to its new strategy, Metsähallitus cooperation forms are responsible, customer-oriented and digitalized. “The name of our strategy is We are fostering the tomorrow! The big theme is the development of natural values and sustainability over generations. In order to send the same brand message inside and outside the organization we needed common tools with a common look and feel as well as the unified image concept. For us, brand management is a really important unified process with which we produce a strong brand image for Metsähallitus”, Heikki Hepoaho explains.
Metsähallitus rebranding
For the first time Metsähallitus carried out a major rebranding, defining the parent brand and the brand family. “We wanted to involve our staff in the strategy and branding process as we were reconsidering the purpose of our whole existence. It was worth the effort, as the rebranding has been so well received by our customers and staff! We are now in the implementation phase, and Gredi’s solution is a great tool for implementing the brand, the visuals and the whole strategy”, says Heikki Hepoaho.
“The relationship of Finns to forest is quite unique and it is so straightforward and practical. A good brand is carried forward by people together – for a long time in the future”, Heikki Hepoaho concludes.
The forerunners of sustainability, Gredi and Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company have started co-operation in brand and Digital Asset Management. Varma has decided to go for the Gredi Content HUB.
Varma is a Finnish pension insurance company, a solvent investor of the funds it manages and a leader in work ability management and sustainability. Varma has 900,000 insured pensioners and 550 employees. The value of Varma’s investments is EUR 43.6 billion.
Looking for more information about Varma? See Varma’s key figures, strategy, values, reports, news and further information about Varma’s responsibility acts here: https://www.varma.fi/
Want to hear more about the benefits of Gredi Content HUB for your business and the impact on your organization? Call our expert and ask more: https://www.gredi.fi/en/contact/
We are at your service all summer long as usual to help you with brand and asset management issues. Call us, mail us, we help with pleasure. Contact us!
Our wonderful customers give you useful and valuable tips. Have you read our newest customer interviews? Read now!
Gredi and Kivra, the leaders in the digitalized era, have started cooperation on digital brand and asset management. Kivra chose Gredi Content HUB for its Digital Asset Management system.
“Kivra’s whole ideology is based on doing good things together. Doing good needs to be easy for our customers – businesses and consumers. When I compared service providers Gredi offered the easiest customer path! That’s where it started. I knew Gredi’s service from the time I worked at Varma,” says Maija Leivo, Kivra’s Marketing Director.
Annually more than 500 million paper documents are still sent in Finland. Each one of them is a burden for our climate. The Kivra digital mailbox service wants to build a more climate-responsible and safer society together with Finnish companies and people by offering smoother digital transactions from companies to people. Kivra came to Finland from Sweden in early 2020. The service already has almost 4 million users in Sweden and 27,000 companies send digital mail to their customers using Kivra. Kivra’s mission is to make everyday business smooth and climate friendly.
“Gredi service fits our ideology because we ourselves are a hub for everyday business. With Gredi, we can provide a hub within our organization and externally for all marketing and communication materials, as well as customer relationship management – be it B2B or B2C customers,” says Maija.
Gredi and Terveystalo have started cooperation. Terveystalo is a public limited company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, and the largest health care company in Finland in terms of network and turnover. In 2019, Terveystalo has about 300 locations across Finland. The company also has digitalized services for customers.
Why did Terveystalo switch to Gredi Content HUB?
“We aimed for centralizing the materials and an easy-to-use service that works with a web browser,”Satu Laurila, communications expert at Terveystalo, begins. “It was also important to us that no one in Terveystalo needs to login with separate user IDs but can access the service directly with a single sign on (SSO).”
In 2019 there were 1.2 million individual customer transactions at Terveystalo, and 3.7 million doctor visits were made. Terveystalo employs more than 13,000 health care professionals, about half of whom are self-employed. Terveystalo services have the Key Flag Symbol and the company is a member of the Association for Finnish Work.
Let’s stay healthy and take care of ourselves and each other!
Gredi’s brand and digital asset management service enables efficient and smooth work, both in offices and in remote and team work. Easily on your browser and mobile. Ask us more: https://www.gredi.fi/en/contact/
Gredi and the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL) have started co-operation. The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare has been taking care of children since 1920 and will celebrate its magnificent 100 years this year. During the anniversary year MLL is undergoing a brand facelift and it has chosen Gredi Content HUB, a brand and asset management system, as its core system.
With the start of the cooperation, all the materials related to MLL’s activities will be conveniently available from one place, Content HUB. Other forms of cooperation include that during the year Gredi and MLL will be seen together at various events.
Are you interested in MLL’s work for child welfare? Read more
Interested in Gredi Content HUB? Watch a short video
For more information, please contact:
Maria Gnosspelius, Communications Manager, MLL, tel. +358 50 325 6126
Risto Pasanen, President and CEO, Gredi, tel. +358 40 849 2620
Visual brand analysis ensures that a company’s visual communication is aligned with the company brand strategy, marketing and core competencies. The analysis has special focus on the “emotional images” communicated by the catalogs, fonts and graphic solutions used by the company. In practice this means the analysing of the visual brand elements and their perceived meanings in the company’s key communication channels, such as websites, advertising, and customer letters.
“At Gredi, we wanted to expand our own understanding and expertise in matters related to brand image, and we decided to make this journey accompanied with the help and expertise of Professor Janne Seppänen,” starts Risto Pasanen, CEO of Gredi.
“Janne has deep understanding of this topic. We wanted to find out how presenting and analyzing the brand image helps companies in brand management. On the basis of the emotional image analysis of the Gredi brand, several essential and concrete details related to the direction of our operations were revealed. They allow us to make sure that the emotional image we create is exactly the one we are aiming for! The analysis provided concrete insights of the current situation and the direction for our development work,” Risto Pasanen sums up.
Visual and graphic solutions of brands evoke a lot of emotional images
Brand analysis summed up that Gredi’s strengths are the humorous approachability, dynamic image and relaxed tone. They also differentiate Gredi from its competitors.
The analysis raised questions as to whether the current emotional image of the Gredi brand should support the company’s core competencies and the overall story even more strongly. The core of the more than twenty years old company’s story is built on creativity, reliability, understanding, good references, responsibility for customers and a strong position in the market.
“In the age of visual culture, the visual and graphic solutions of brands evoke a lot of emotional images and speak strongly to customers. However, doing an accurate and reliable analysis of these things is anything but simple. For example, brand awareness can be measured relatively accurately. But the emotional images it evokes are more difficult to measure and turn into numbers,” says Seppänen.
The visual emotions of the brand are also a challenge for market research. Understanding their impact requires knowledge of the target group. And also the ability to analyze the wider visual culture and society. The perspective of traditional marketing research is often inadequate.
The power of brands is created through customer experiences and emotional images
“It’s different to see a visual solution work than to understand why it works or doesn’t work,” Seppänen concludes. Understanding how a visual brand works is strategically important. Especially when thinking about brand renewal, personalization, or modification in general. According to Seppänen, it is naturally important that the brand is connected to both the products and the expectations as well as wishes of the customers. However, almost as essential is that the community easily identifies itself with the company brand.
“The power of brands is created through customer experiences and emotional images. This is also affected by how much the emotional images related to the brand rise from the company’s own core competencies and operations,” says Seppänen. Especially when building new brands, this connection is easily forgotten and the key strengths behind the brand image are missed.
“For example, a brand ambassador status cannot rely solely on memorized brand features, but on identification and familiarity with the brand. Then the brand is closely attached to the substance of the company. Its communication is intensified, and the brand gains more credibility,” Seppänen summarizes.
Professor Janne Seppänen is one of Finland’s leading researchers in visual culture and media society. He trains journalists at the University of Tampere and writes the popular Mediayhteiskunta blog. In addition to his main job, he consults companies and public administration organizations on issues related to brand building. Seppänen is currently building a visual brand analysis tool based on, among other things, his own research.
Plenty of incidents and a car with almost every part broken and repaired. Petri Kiikka, the founder of the Sontek Group, the parent company of Gredi, returned to Finland wiser and with great experiences. Petri participated in the world’s toughest vintage and classic endurance rally, The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, in a Volvo driven by his father Martti Kiikka.
The seventh Peking to Paris Motor Challenge added 14,000 kilometres to Volvo´s odometer. Daily stages reached up to 650 kilometres. Martti and Petri Kiikka were the only driving team from Finland.
The cars started on June 2, 2019 from Beijing, China, and finished in Paris, France on July 7, 2019. Kiikka’s 1962 model Volvo PV544 finished fourth in the classic car category. It is a great achievement in a race where not everyone even gets to the finish. The first cars dropped out already in China. Not even Kiikka’s Volvo could make it undamaged. Among other things, the exhaust pipe broke down four times.
“120 cars started from Beijing. 90 cars were left when the rally arrived from Russia to Finland. Crossing the finish line in Paris remained just a dream for many”, Petri Kiikka begins. Rally visited Hyvinkää, Finland for the first time ever on 28-29th June. In addition to the rally enthusiasts and cheerleaders, Martti and Petri Kiikka were welcomed by Matti Vanhanen, Speaker of the Parliament and Simo Lampinen, a rally legend. From Hyvinkää the rally continued across Europe to Paris. But what happened before that?
In the East, everything is different – or is it?
Before arriving in Hyvinkää, Finland, there were tough experiences in China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Russia. “80% of survival depends on good preparations, whether related to the car, fuel or food supplies. You can’t drive in China without a Chinese driver’s license, so everyone got a new driver’s license right away!”, Petri says.
“In many cities, and even in remote areas, there were cameras, crowds of spectators and cheering children”, Petri smiles. Sometimes they navigated with a paper map, sometimes with the cell phone GPS, and sometimes just by guess, because Martti and Petri do not master Chinese or Russian. Thus, they made several extra legs when driving in Beijing and St. Petersburg. In the mornings, the organizer gave newest changes to the route map, if the route had been changed, for example due to floods.
“Mongolia was a tough place for a car. The constant pounding in speeds over one hundred kilometres per hour takes a toll on you. The chassis must be flexible and durable at the same time. The body frame was deformed badly, and the road clearance fell lower. The roof should have had roll bars in case of crashes. We were lucky not to have an engine failure”, Martti reveals.
The weather was a surprise. “The weather was really good, and there were no sandstorms this time. In one special stage the car was so muddy, that driving was worse than during the winter in Finland. In the mountains there were minus degrees with occasional sleeting. Luckily the thunderstorms only hit during the evening, not while driving”, says Petri.
Fierce racing eats up both men and cars
Rally days stretched up to even 12 hours. Some were special stages, some demanded both speed and precision with penalties if you finished too late. Or too early. “You had to turn the wheel even when tired. Fortunately, the adrenaline kept us alert”, says Martti. “We always had a full breakfast in the camp. When driving we only had ice tea, water and boiled eggs. There was usually no time for a meal break”, Petri says.
“It was a nice surprise that my body endured well, and I feel great even after this trip”, Martti sums up. “We didn’t have any big arguments. Despite the age difference we share the same values of life, and everything went well”, Petri sums up.
Exceptional characters and crafts
The number one favourite of the rally was Gerry Crown, 87, who won the classic car category. Gerry has a long history of winning, and now he was driving a Leyland with the strongest engine in the rally. The cars that finished in the top, like Gerry’s car, were mainly built by driving team members. Many also checked their cars in the camp. The car was lifted up, tires off, inspection of all nuts and bolts. And the same routine every night. “The Steam Ghost was the favourite of the press, and with extra care that too managed to finish the race”, says Martti.
Although the speed was high and major damages hit many of the cars, the only dead bodies were those of millions of mosquitoes that hit windshields. “The worst accident was when a Belgian driver rolled his Porsche and was taken to a hospital. But he then continued the rally with another car”, says Petri.
“The competitors felt very tense in the beginning and hence stayed strictly focused in the rally. Upon arrival in Europe our common experiences turned into good new relationships. Of course, we talked a lot about the cars, but also about the challenges of the economy, the environment and the humankind as a whole in a changing world we all live in”, Martti ponders.
“In all countries we were treated very well. The huge size of the crowds was amazing! The more remote the place, the better the treatment. Families living in clay houses looked happy, even though their economy is probably tight and life expectancy low”, says Martti and Petri. “Car repairmen in remote villages were eager to offer help free of charge. It was painful, when people living in tough conditions, were not accepting any payment for their help”, Petri says.
What was the best lesson learned? “No matter how busy you are, sit down and think for a minute before you take action. One hundred kilometres in the wrong direction is not the best solution”, Petri jokes seriously.
Sharing good
Charity is the rule and not an exception in this rally. Many competitors used the rally to raise funds for their own charity projects and wrote about the projects on their blogs. The Kiikkas supported charities that promote young people and world peace.
Would you go again?
“Right now? Of course! It would be a great tradition in the family if after 10 years I went with my daughter to drive the same rally”, Petri says. Martti admits that he has talked with Petri about many new rallies. After all, it would take only about 1,000 hours and three years to prepare the car ready to rally.
All in one place, 100% and globally
In the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, not all cars on the starting line survived to the finish. Some cars got lost, some broke down, and some lost power under heavy use.
In heavy use, the usual problems of losing power or breaking down will not occur when the organization and its ecosystem are tuned to Gredi Content HUB. Gredi Content HUB brings together all the content and materials in one place. From there, marketing, communications, sales and partners, as well as media, can easily find, use, and responsibly distribute them to anyone in need. Whether it is pictures, videos or other materials.
The hero of all adventures, Indiana Jones would smile happily if he saw Petri Kiikka, founder of the Sontek Group, taking part in the world’s toughest vintage and classic endurance rally in a Volvo, that will be driven by his father Martti Kiikka. The Peking to Paris 2019 Motor Challenge crosses 11 countries, lasts 36 days and runs 12,000 kilometers. Indiana Jones can’t see this race, but you can.
Extreme conditions on the roof of the world
The first Peking to Paris Motor Challenge was run in 1907. For the Finns, the rally route is historic, as Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, the Marshal of Finland, rode the same route on a horse just a year earlier.
Now, the seventh Peking to Paris 2019 Motor Challenge adds 12 000 to 13 000 kilometers to the odometer, depending on the route choices and whether the drivers get lost. Martti and Petri Kiikka are the only Finnish driving team in this legendary rally that includes 120 cars. At Martti’s suggestion, the rally arrives to Hyvinkää, Finland on 28-29 June, for the first time in the history of the rally.
“There are all kinds of drivers in these rallies,” says Martti Kiikka. “In the last year’s rally, one guy was missing a passport and couldn’t start the race. He turned out to be a king of a country and could not be out of the country for more than 30 days, otherwise he may have been dethroned. Participants also include former Formula engineers and team managers. Everybody stands on the same starting line. Part of the charm of the race is that you are part of a community. There are no titles.”
120 cars will start the race on June 2nd from Beijing
Kiikka’s 1962 model Volvo PV544 carries the number 59 on it. “It is estimated that 10% of the cars cannot make it to the end, for one reason or another. We expect to cross the finish line in Paris, France on July 7th. There are thousands of kilometers with no road at all. No roads except camel trails. The Volvo is able to wade in rivers if there are no bridges. Pushing cars out of mud is part of the race”, says Petri Kiikka. Sounds like a movie?
The driving conditions range from calm weathers to sandstorms. Mongolia with its more than four kilometers high mountain peaks is such a vast country to drive through. The terrain varies from swamp to jungle. And includes the world’s largest desert, the Gobi Desert.
It has been agreed that Petri drives the asphalt stages and Martti takes care of the rest.
There will be many stamps in the passports. “And where there are no border lines, we will make one,” says Martti Kiikka. He is grateful to the race organizers whose experience is world class.
How did it all start?
“Our car hobby started quite unintentionally. Me and my sister bought an MGB convertible as a gift to our father for his 50th birthday. Father then decided to drive rally with it”, says Petri Kiikka. “And Petri joined the race with his own Volvo Amazon. Petri was under 20 years of age and had just got a driving license”, says Martti Kiikka and smiles. They both like big vintage cars. In addition, Petri has a huge Matchbox collection as a gift from Martti.
“The vintage cars are fascinating, just like old times in general. Life used to be simpler and easier, and cars were made to last”, says Martti Kiikka. “Those old-time toys have soul and character. They are just like the Beatles of their time, lasting over times”, adds Petri Kiikka.
Peking to Paris 2019 – How to survive?
Martti has license plates from 15 long races on his wall. For Martti “long” means over 10,000 kilometers. What about Petri? “This is my first endurance race. But there has been lots of training.”
The tough race demands guts. “One Lancia codriver lost his nerves during the first day and the driver had to manage the rest of the race on his own. In spite of some incidents he managed to make it to the finish line. This is my first long race with my son. It may be that all goes great. Or we might end up arguing. When you are tired you may act foolishly. Fortunately, this is not my first race. We have been driving the previous races with my wife, and we are still happily married”, says Martti Kiikka. Now his wife will come by a fan bus from Ulaanbaatar to Novosibirsk to cheer for them.
“The daily stages in this race are up to 900 kilometers. If we get stuck in the mud or sink into the sand, we push or pull the car out and just try to catch the others”, says Petri Kiikka. The race includes special stages where you race against time. Both endurance and speed are crucial.
Is the famous duct tape the most important car repair tool? “When our engine fell down in the Gobi Desert we lost 17 minutes of racing when fixing the engine back. The car must be as simple as possible! Our car has been built so that there is space for important spare parts under the rear seat. Simple equipment, wrench, screwdriver and tape must be included. Suspension and electricity will certainly break down. The fuel is guaranteed to be poor quality. That’s why your imagination is the most important tool. You need MacGyver’s character”, laughs Martti Kiikka.
What are the features required from the codriver? “When things go well, it is enough to separate the left from right and just follow the odometer. When things turn bad, one must know how to improvise”, says Petri Kiikka.
The Kiikkas drive for young people and for the world peace
It is important for both Martti and Petri Kiikka to drive this race, as they want to support certain charities and to promote the important activities created to support Finnish youth. This time there are two charities in particular: www.koulutuselamaan.fi and www.reservinmentorit.fi. During the race, the sticker “The wheels rotate for world peace” shines on the side of Volvo. “Everyone can influence with their own actions, even to world peace,” says Martti Kiikka.
All in one place, 100%
This legendary race brings all the cars together in one place, just like the brilliant digital asset and brand management service Gredi Content HUB gathers all the materials in one place.
You should come and see when these 120 (minus 10%) endurance cars that survived the adventure are on display in Hyvinkää Sveitsi and in Vauhtipuisto 28-29.6.2019. On Saturday, June 29th, the race qualifying will take place in Hyvinkää as well! In addition to the Kiikka’s Volvo, many other world classics participating the Peking to Paris 2019 rally, are on display, for example, Alfa Romeo, Buick, Bentley, Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, MGB, Morris, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Porsche, Rolls Royce and Rover.
“Just to mention a few. And also, the replica of Contal Mototri that participated the very first race in 1907. In 1907, Contal Mototri was stuck in the Gobi Desert, and the drivers barely made it to Beijing. Now the car has another chance. Two Dutchmen are going to try their luck this time,” says Petri Kiikka.
Since life is an adventure, what is the best tip for the trip? “Don’t use your elbows. You may yourself get in to trouble with the same person you have just passed using elbow tactics”, says Martti Kiikka wisely.
The Green League (the Greens) Campaign Manager Kirsi Syväri says that as the elections are approaching, the Greens want to make it easier for their candidates to execute their election campaigns in a brand managed way. Gredi Content HUB was a clear choice for the Greens as their campaign asset and brand management solution.
“We used to have an image editor for social media use, but that was completely inadequate for print campaigns. Candidates have asked us for a proper tool so that they didn’t need to use expensive and difficult graphics software to produce campaign ads and other promotional materials. So the need was obvious,” says Kirsi Syväri.
All candidates have the freedom to produce images and texts themselves
“Interesting people gather the most votes, we Finns love them. We are not going to control the candidates’ campaign pictures and texts. We give all our 200 candidates the freedom to produce their own marketing material in our Content HUB. With the HUB we manage our brand and the Greens’ colour scheme, logos and text types are always the same. The candidates can customize the images and the texts.”
Founded in 1988, the Greens’ important themes include equality, the environment and the Nordic welfare state. Today, the Greens is made up of about 200 associations operating at local, regional or nationwide level. The Greens have about 9,000 members. Political policies are decided by the party delegation. Practical activities are led by the board of the party. The party convention has highest decision-making power.
Interested?Watch a video of less than a minute to see what you can do with Gredi Content Hub!
Gredi’s customers have a great opportunity to get good quality translations and language versions quickly, because Gredi works with Transfluent. Each Gredi Content Hub customer can order “Order translation” button and feature from Gredi’s Matti Tammisalo or Risto Pasanen. After that, ordering translations from Content Hub is quick by just pressing the “Order translation” button. Then you just select the desired languages and the service will automatically show the price and delivery time for the translation.
Benefits: easy to use, fast, reliable and great quality
Transfluent Sales Director Janne Viinikainen says that Transfluent’s biggest competitive advantages are ease of use and a very fast, high-quality translation work.
“In traditional translation agencies, the project manager first accepts the work. In Gredi’s service, Transfluent’s translators take the job directly. Transfluent has translators around the world, in different time zones. So in the best case, if the translation request is made at 10 p.m., the ready-made translation is available for the marketing director at 8 a.m. the following morning,” says Janne Viinikainen.
“We have NDAs, or non-disclosure agreements with all our translators. Confidential information will remain with our translators. Especially large multinationals are very careful that their business-critical information is translated by NDA-based translators,” says Janne Viinikainen.
Brand management and terminology management with the same service
“We have people doing translation work. Each of our translators is a carefully selected and tested professional. We handle translation work for over 100 language pairs. The language pair is for example Finnish-Chinese or English-German. The range of languages is comprehensive even for the most demanding customers,” says Janne Viinikainen.
“We have a customer-specific translation memory and terminology bank, which ensures that the company’s special terminology is as it should be, and that it remains in control and unified,” says Janne Viinikainen.
Large brand owners as customers
“Transfluent’s customers are Finland’s most important brand owners. The clientele includes gaming companies, airlines, law firms, telephone manufacturers, telecom operators, biotechnology companies, industrial companies and educational institutions, among others,” says Janne Viinikainen. “Common for our customers are international operations and wide range of translation needs.”
You can handle all translation work with Gredi’s service
The Gredi Content Hub “Order translation” service is easy and convenient to use. “The cooperation between Gredi and Transfluent works particularly well, because we both act quickly in the digital world, with 100% good processes and a streamlined concept,” says Janne Viinikainen. “It gives benefits and competitiveness to both Gredi’s and our customers.”
Standard interfaces
Gredi provides you with standard interfaces to exchange information between your Digital Asset Management solution and other business systems. Get ready-made integrations to many popular product, customer, and business information management systems. You also get integration to other translation systems. Gredi will also take care of the publication of the material for you on social media, e-commerce or other business systems.
Transfluent is an international translation agency that operates locally. Our professional translators will carefully translate your files and texts to their own mother tongue.
Holiday Club Resorts offers thousands of different accommodation options on its website, and all of them are presented in a comprehensive way with stylish images and other content, produced by Holiday Club’s marketing department. It is easier to manage the huge number of images in a modern digital asset management solution than in website content management system.
Holiday Club Resorts marketing utilizes Gredi’s dynamic templates, allowing various digital content to be customized into branded marketing content. Whether it is printed or digital marketing material, the final content can now always be produced locally at the resort and by local staff, according to brand guidelines.
Sinebrychoff centralizes digital asset management to Gredi
Sinebrychoff desires more efficiency in marketing and communication as well as controlled brand management in communication between its own organization and customers. Sinebrychoff’s dynamic asset management solution for its restaurant customers is complemented by Gredi Content Hub where Sinebrychoff centralizes all of its digital asset management.
“We have had a traditional media bank for ages. We wanted to get more power out of digital asset management and we also needed to cut down overlapping solutions. We were searching for a modern solution that is capable of meeting the requirements of today’s digital communication and content management,” says Sinebrychoff’s Brand Activation Manager Tuuli Kajaani.
During Sinebrychoff’s history, there have been tons of different images created. Gredi Content Hub also acts as a digital archive for Sinebrychoff, and this way the company’s long tradition is conveyed digitally and securely to future generations.
“We chose Gredi because they had good references about well-functioning implementations. My own previous experience of Gredi’s service, their way of working and response to our needs was also convincing,” continues Tuuli Kajaani.
“We thank Sinebrychoff for trust and we are looking forward to working hard for our expanding co-operation. At the same time, we welcome Sinebrychoff’s team members and their entire digital media to Gredi. We will take good care of it and do our best to meet their needs in the future,” says Gredi’s CEO Risto Pasanen.
Sinebrychoff is Finland’s leading brewery, which produces beers, ciders and soft drinks and energy drinks. It also offers a comprehensive range of international beers and through partners a wide range of other alcoholic beverages.
Sinebrychoff started brewing in 1819. Today it is the oldest brewery in the Nordic countries and the oldest food company in Finland. Sinebrychoff manufactures Coca-Cola drinks in Finland. Sinebrychoff is part of the international Carlsberg Group.
Gredi archives the Crown Jewels of Sanomat by implementing Sanoma’s new Digital News Archive, which is integrated into their editorial systems.
Gredi implemented Digital News Archive for Sanomat
“Digital News Archive is a critical content service that must work in all circumstances. The platform is stable, and the benefits of accelerating the usage are already apparent. That’s why I recommend the Gredi’s operating model,” says Sami Majaniemi from Sanomat.
Gredi congratulates its client Finnish Ski Association for an excellent agreement. Traditional Finlandia Ski Marathon will be held in China for the following five years 2020–2024. The venue is the city of Harbin, home to 10 million people.
Co-operation was agreed upon during a state visit by President Sauli Niinistö in the opening ceremony of the China-Finland Winter Sport theme Year 2019. The Finnish Ski Association signed a licensing and consulting agreement on the matter.
Gredi’s sports sector
Gredi’s brisk and prominent sports sector customers include the Finnish Ski Association and the Finnish Floorball Federation.
Gredi has customers both in the private and the public sectors – over 135 brand owners, including Aktia, Alko, Alma Media, Edupoli, Finavia, Fonecta, Hartwall, Kalevala Koru, Kemira, KONE, Lumon, Management Events, Olvi, Gustav Paulig, Ponsse, Sako, Sanoma, Senate, Sinebrychoff, Suunto, Tamro, YIT, as well as political parties, schools and non-governmental organisations.
Read our customer success story featuring SAKO. Learn how the challenges were tackled and the benefits gained and how this affected SAKO’s marketing and communication as well as their partners.
Management Events received a digital asset management solution that enables dynamic production of sales and marketing material. Material that is related to the company’s events, intelligent archiving and real-time sharing. Previously, files were stored on hard drives and distributed as attachments. The process was tough, and the possibility of errors was always present. With Gredi’s DigiSmart solution, Management Events sales and marketing experts around the world have access to up-to-date information and materials that are always in line with brand guidelines.
Case Tamro: Gredi implemented Tamro’s Aino Data Portfolio system in accordance with their requirements to manage the challenges of digital asset management. The solution offers intelligent tools for marketing and communications of the entire company. It also offers technologies to enhance operational efficiency and to enable modern digital marketing. The need was to have a domestics modular digital asset management solution that will serve not only its own experts but also customer target groups and key marketing communications partners. Read the full story here.
Our customer story Kone Corporation: The challenge of marketing and communications in a global marketplace is to deliver consistent customer and brand experience regardless of market and channel. Marketing and communication content and related digital material must be easily found, locally edited, and distributed to different channels in accordance with brand guidelines. Gredi implemented a digital, tailored asset management solution for KONE Corporation according to their needs. Take a closer look at this solution and the valuable benefits it offers.
Gredi implemented Ponsse’s digital and dynamic material bank solution, which collected all digital material for Ponsse’s marketing communications. The goal was to make marketing activities and brand management more efficient as well as to efficiently share marketing material and other information in different channels, in all markets and to selected users.
Read more about the challenges Ponsse had, the solution Gredi provided and the benefits Ponsse has experienced.
Finlandia Vodka is exported to over 100 countries. In order to consider the needs of both production and the global distribution network in terms of product, label and packaging material information, Brown-Forman Finland must have a system and process to implement everything with a consistent brand management. The company implemented Gredi’s modular material bank solution and integrated it into the Altia Rajamäki plant’s production control system.
Challenges
When products are exported to more than 100 countries, there are a lot of product labels, packaging and transport materials. While the legislation on alcoholic products varies widely between countries, it is essential to manage the whole as effectively as possible. To ensure data security and prevent improper use, all materials must be in one secure location that only authorized users can access.
Solution
Gredi provided Brown-Forman Finland with an intelligent Digital Asset Management solution that enables the management of company’s all label and packaging materials through one service globally on a 24/7 basis. The Gredi solution is also integrated with Altia’s Rajamäki plant’s production control system, which ensures that the production line controls in real time that there is the right product in production. Thus, the label and packaging material available from the service will accept and ensure the start of production.
Benefits
Gredi’s solution has brought many benefits to Brown-Forman Finland’s marketing and production:
Product Information Management has become more effective when all digital product information and packaging materials are available in one system for a global distribution network. Searching, finding, managing, and sharing the right information is easy.
Information security has increased as service access rights can be managed easily and safely. Due to a user-friendly interface, all users have quickly deployed the service.
Gredi’s solution enables integration directly into the production control system. Manual work has been reduced. The possibility of errors in production decreases when all the checks can be done in real time directly on the production line.
Gredi’s service has been developed in close co-operation with the customer. Gredi has actively responded to the changing needs with a strong industry expertise.
“The continuous development of the service, the know-how of Gredi’s production team and close cooperation are the main reasons why our partnership has been going on for 16 years. Ideas are always shared, and if we have any questions, Gredi will always solve the challenge,” says Asta Seppälä-Puputti, Portfolio and packaging artwork manager at Brown-Forman Finland.
“After the latest update version of the service, we have also planned the introduction of new modules. For example, the image commentary and approval model of the materials convinced us and streamlining of these processes is in consideration,” continues Asta Seppälä-Puputti.
Finlandia Vodka
Finlandia Vodka Worldwide Ltd was founded in 2000 as a joint venture between Altia and the American Brown-Forman Corporation. The company employs approximately 4,600 people worldwide. Its brands include: Jack Daniels and Finlandia Vodka.
Finlandia Vodka Worldwide Ltd, now Brown-Forman Finland, is a 100% owned subsidiary of the American Brown-Forman Corporation. The company is domiciled in Helsinki and employs 19 people. In accordance with the existing manufacturing agreement, Altia will continue as exclusive manufacturer of Finlandia Vodka.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.