Uses NOK 750,000 to tempt people to Finnmark – NRK Troms and Finnmark

Was it a belated April fool?

Many were surprised by the news on 11 April about the application that had been sent to the European Commission. The Eastern Finnmark Council would extend the day to 26 hours in the region.

Since then, there have been media reports around the world about the proposal, including from the American media house Politico and the British Daily Mail.

In an article from Aftenposten, it appears that the PR agency Geelmuyden Kiese AS in Oslo is behind the MERtid project, which includes the stunt with the new time calculation. The sum they are paid is not small either: NOK 750,000.

One person who reacts is agency manager for Storm Communications, Marius Parmann.

– I am disappointed on behalf of the PR industry when I read about the stunt by the Eastern Finnmark Council, he says.

– I understand that this is part of a larger project, but the measure that has been developed by colleagues in the PR industry and financed by tax money, I don’t think anything of that.

Must create trust

– This idea of ​​a separate time zone must have been realized by all involved is totally unrealistic.

Parmann believes the PR agency has missed the most basic point.

The mission of the industry is not about getting attention, but rather about strengthening the trust between the sender and the target group, he says.

– The aim should be to create actual change, not just to create attention. I think the PR subject should be too good for this.

– Do they eat meat on purpose?

Parmann’s criticism is a gentle breeze against what comes from Nordlys editor Maja Sojtaric.

She believes the campaign is an embarrassing copy of the one created for Sommarøy in Troms five years ago.

It looked like a grassroots initiative when the local community wanted to get rid of the clock and have a time-free zone. The truth was that it was concocted by PR people.

Sojtaric believes the Eastern Finnmark Council should refuse to pay the invoice from Geelmuyden Kiese.

“Not only have they sold them someone else’s idea. They have implemented it by sending out a 66-year-old mayor to front a youth campaign,” she writes in the comments section of Nordlys.

“There is so little professional substance in this that one wonders if the agency is colluding with the Eastern Finnmark Council on purpose.”

Wasting precious time in the EU

Marius Parmann believes that when applications are first submitted to the European Commission, there must be an actual proposal on how to implement a 26-hour day.

– Both as a taxpayer and as part of the PR profession, I react to how PR stunts are misused as a method in this context, says Parmann.

– This also means that EU bureaucrats have to waste precious time on this application. For done, like all other applications, they must be treated seriously.

Some have wondered if the letter was actually sent, or if it was just a robbery story. But it was “to a great extent sent”, says Wenche Pedersen. She is mayor of Vadsø and leader of the Eastern Finnmark Council.

– Let me put it this way. Wasting EU bureaucrats’ time… I don’t consider that to be a big concern for me. I really have to say that.

Pedersen says the stunt has achieved exactly what they wanted: to get attention around the action zone.

– I was interviewed by a podcast in Dubai the other day. It’s not like I think that many sailors come from Dubai, etcone we at least get attention!

– What about taxpayers’ money, then? The 750,000 kroner that goes into this PR project?

– We have not spent five flat ears on marketing measures for many years. This is a project that the Eastern Finnmark Council has submitted an application to the county council for, and it has been agreed that some money will be spent on it, says Pedersen.

– It’s expensive to advertise, and it’s expensive to buy professional help. And I think it’s money well spent just by looking at the attention we’re getting now.

But even she is not sure how much the stunt will mean for the population.

– You can’t be foolproof in such contexts. Here you can try several things. Then we get to evaluate when some time has passed, says Pedersen.

No more applications to the EU

The Vadsø mayor keeps his cards close to his chest when it comes to what other projects the 750,000 kroner will go to. But one thing is certain:

– There will be no more applications to the EU. I can promise you that.