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Turning a complex place into a simple choice.

Positioning Eskilstuna as an easy, accessible and genuinely enjoyable place to spend time, by treating place branding with the same strategic rigor as product and public communication.
Working with Destination Eskilstuna meant addressing a familiar challenge: how do you make people actively choose a place that isn’t an obvious destination? Unlike a product, a city cannot be reduced to a single feature, it’s a combination of travel, environment, service, culture and everyday interactions. At the same time, place branding demands the same clarity and consistency as selling a product or communicating a public message. The task was to define a position that could hold together across all touchpoints, and in reality.
From features to feeling

Place branding often leans on listing what exists: restaurants, nature, activities, events.
But Eskilstuna’s strength wasn’t in individual highlights, it was in how everything worked together. The strategy shifted from showcasing features to defining a feeling: a place where it’s simply easy to have a good time.

Branding a place, not promoting a list

This was approached as building a brand, not promoting an inventory.
Just like with a product, the role of branding was to reduce complexity, create recognition and build preference over time. And just like public communication, it needed to be clear, trustworthy and grounded in reality. The goal was alignment between message, tone and actual experience.

Reducing complexity

A visit is never just the destination, it’s the full journey. Getting there, moving around, finding places to eat, things to do, and how everything connects.
Instead of communicating each part, the work focused on simplifying the whole into a clear perception: accessible, welcoming and frictionless.

A tone grounded in reality

Rather than overpromising or polishing the city into something it’s not, the communication stayed close to how Eskilstuna actually feels.
Honest, calm and confident, building credibility through recognition rather than exaggeration.

Output across touchpoints

The concept was activated across multiple formats:

  • Social media films capturing everyday moments and seasonal experiences
  • Web films supporting the destination narrative
  • Digital and print advertising
  • Content adapted for different audiences and entry points

Each piece reinforced the same idea: not a list of things to do, but a place where everything works.

A complex place brand, made simple. By focusing on how it feels to be there.

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