‘Kidventure’ Campaign by Reima and Visit Finland Inspires More Active Kids Around the World Finland and Reima kids activewear, inspire over a million hours of activity through their four-month challenge to families

(Shanghai, Janurary 31, 2018)Reima and Visit Finland launched a four-month activity challenge in August and inspired families around the world to log a million extra hours of daily activity. The message was broadcast through PR events and influencer marketing as well as numerous advertising avenues. The campaign hit its million-hour mark on December 11 and reached a whopping total of 1,118,000 hours by the end of the year.

Reima, a producer of active kidswear, and national tourism authority Visit Finland combined their efforts for a cross-industry campaign. The goal was to increase awareness about the benefits of active life by challenging families to move more – while also promoting Finland as a destination for families with kids. The campaign exceeded its goals.

Finns the most active nation

Reima’s campaign was visible in Europe, Asia and North America. Families around the world could take part in the challenge and participants in 15 countries were also eligible to win a trip to Ruka, Finland. The campaign’s website clocked more than 120,000 visitors and Reima estimates that nearly 100,000 kids took part in the challenge.

While Russia had the most participants, Finland logged the most active time – 356,761 hours. Finland also had the most families equipped with ReimaGO activity sensors. The sensors alone registered nearly 400,000 hours of physical activity worldwide.

“Our most important market, Russia, picked up their pace midway through the campaign, coming up to nearly half of Finland’s tally. The USA logged thousands of hours while China and Germany  reached tens of thousands, even though Reima is still relatively unknown in these countries”, Reima’s CEO Elina Björklund rejoices.

“We drew a lot of interest through influencer marketing: blogs informed around 39 million users of the campaign. Online news media also reached an additional 2.3 million consumers. The best metric is still the fact that we reached our foolhardy goal of getting kids to be active for more than a million hours. I am happy to state that all participants, especially the kids, are the winners in this challenge!”

Reima to donate sporting goods worth €15,000

Active communities, such as schools, clubs and kindergartens, were also invited to take part in the challenge and report their hours on the campaign’s website. Reima will choose one community from each of the 15 campaign countries to receive sports equipment worth €1000 to boost their activities.

Finland’s status as a hot destination bolstered

Reima’s campaign also gave Finland an abundance of positive attention as a family-friendly destination. The campaign combined several of Visit Finland’s themes: the diversity and purity of Finnish nature, active holidays, Lapland, reindeer and Santa Claus.

Lapland is as close as reality gets to those who dream of a winter wonderland. The thrill of witnessing the Aurora Borealis is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Finland is one of the best places on Earth to spot the Northern Lights – they appear on more than 200 nights a year in Finnish Lapland.

There are around 75 ski resorts in Finland, most of them small local hills next to cities and villages. The “Big Four” of Lapland’s ski resorts – Levi, Ylläs, Pyhä-Luosto and Ruka – rise from roughly 500 to more than 700 metres above sea level and boast slope lengths up to three kilometres. Lapland’s versatile ski resorts offer downhill enthusiasts everything from kids’ runs to black slopes, and snow parks to backcountry exploring. The season starts in late October, and high season spans from February until the snow melts in early May. Kids will fall in love with a number of fun ourdoor activities such as skiing, downhill racing, rendeer or husky safaris, ice-fishing and sledging.

Santa Claus’ original home lies in the mysterious Korvatunturi (“Ear Fell”) in Finnish Lapland. Since the exact location is a secret only known to a chosen few, he decided to establish an office in Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, in 1985. Rovaniemi received the status of the Official Hometown of Santa Claus in 2010. Families can spend a day with the one and only Santa who greets visitors all year round.

Families can also visit the magical Moominvalley or start an adventure in the Angry Birds world.  Moomins were made by artist and writer Tove Jansson in 1945. Moomins sleep through the winter, so families can interact with the characters, enjoy the shows at Moomin World at Naantali in the summer. In other seasons, families can visit Moomin Museum in Tampere to discover stories behind the Moomins. Angry Birds Activity Park is located in Lappeenranta, open all year round. This indoor place offers loads of fun things to do such as the laser labyrinths, softball cannon shooting, playing structures and other innovative activities.

“The campaign also gave Visit Finland an organic connection with a growing target group: families with children. Our goal was to leave both kids and adults with an image of exotic Finland, a place where there are always things to do and see”, says Visit Finland’s Marketing Director Heli Jimenez from Business Finland.

Finland’s snowy nature to provide icing on the cake

The entire campaign culminates in March, when 15 lucky families from the participating countries will spend an unforgettable week of adventures at Ruka. Reima, Visit Finland and Ruka will also invite a journalist or a blogger from each country to join the fun with their child. The Kidventure week will be an international celebration of families where kids from around the world can get familiar with snow, ice and Finland’s winter activities. The families will get to experience all of winter’s wonders, from meeting Santa to sled rides under the northern lights.

The Northern Lights from Lapland, Finland

Kids Skiing

Girl and Reindeer

Boy and Santa Claus at Rovaniemi

Kids having fun at Moomin World in Summer