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Jon Heidar, Editor of Stuck in Iceland Travel Magazine
I have always been a fan of the campaigns by the super-creative folks at Inspired by Iceland. If I had to pick a favorite so far, I would say the Icelandverse. That campaign poked much-needed fun at the rather uninspiring messaging around Mark Zuckerberg’s announcements for the Metaverse. I say so far since Iceland by Inspired has now solved a significant pain point: replying to emails and messages from work during our precious vacations. The solution is simple and genius. Go to Outhorseyouremail.com and choose an Icelandic horse to write your out-of-office reply while on your vacation in Iceland. Brilliant! My choice for the author of my out-of-office reply is the mare Hekla from the farm of Þorkellshóll. Hekla is trained in corporate buzzwords so I am good hands (or hooves).
Video: This is how you can outhorse your automatic out of office email reply
Sing the hardest karaoke song in the world
There are more clever campaigns, such as the one where comedian Steindi Jr. challenges people worldwide to sing the hardest karaoke song in the world.
Video: the hardest karaoke song in the world
The song is a fun way to learn some Icelandic phrases and is quite catchy. In any case, the, Inspired by Iceland Youtube account is a regular smorgasbord of fun and helpful videos.
Sveinn Birkir Björnsson is the Director of Marketing Communications at Business Iceland and is one of the key people behind those fun and creative Icelandic campaigns.
Hey Sveinn Birkir, thank you for taking the time for the interview. How did you guys at Inspired by Iceland get the idea for OutHorseyouremail.com campaign?
I am happy to oblige! The idea comes from the partnership with our creative partners at SS+K and Peel. The idea originated with them, and they should get all the credit. We took the concept through some stages of development, and the campaign spiraled out into something else.
From doom-scrolling to Iceland inspired joy-scrolling
Since we first started working with these two agencies at the start of the Pandemic, we’ve developed an approach that builds around empathy as a crucial element. I’ll give you examples. For the Looks Like You Need To Let it Out campaign, we identified pent-up frustrations that people were collectively experiencing during self-isolation and quarantine as a challenge.
Video: Looks like you need to let it out campaign
So we offered them a way to release that frustration by letting out a primal scream in Icelandic nature. At later stages, we identified the habit of Doomscrolling as a potential threat, and we developed the countermeasure, which was the Joyscroll campaign. How can we offer some relief in the current situation?
Meeting the challenge of traveling again
For OutHorse, we were working through what would be an actual challenge post-pandemic that people would have to face as travel resumed. We kept coming back to the fact that the lines between work and personal life had blurred during the Pandemic. People, bosses, in particular, expected you to be always available. This is something we thought we could address. The first iteration of this campaign was called Workhorse, and it just grew from there and got even sillier.
Inspired by Iceland has run so many fun and successful campaigns. Do you have a favorite one?
I would answer that it is the Looks Like You Need to Let it Out campaign because it faced such skepticism at the outset. So many people did not believe in that campaign, but it turned out to be a massive hit. It’s always a bonus when you get the chance to prove the doubters wrong.
What are your favorite places or activities in Iceland, and why?
It would be a little difficult to pass on Seyðisfjörður for me. Both because I have a lot of ties to that area, and it is such a beautiful little town. I’ve spent more time hiking mountains in the last few years. It just connects you to nature, unlike anything else.
What advice do you give to those visiting Iceland for the first time?
Don’t rush. There is a lot to see and do, and you should not try and fit it all in on one trip. It’s impossible anyway, seeing that Iceland is two completely different destinations, depending on whether you visit during summer or winter. Just take your time and explore smaller areas in more detail.
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