Manifest opens Swedish office

Manifest has today opened a new Swedish operation, Manifest Stockholm, as the agency expands internationally, with further office openings in South Africa and Australia planned before 2020.

Joining Manifest London and Manifest New York to become the third location for Manifest Group, Manifest Stockholm opens with four permanent members, and will be led by group CEO Alex Myers and two Swedish directors Anna Karlsson and Josefine Hedlund.

Manifest had already delivered campaigns in Sweden for some of its UK clients, including craft brewery BrewDog, Durex and the MTV Staying Alive Foundation.

Thanks to the sucess of this work, the agency has built a strategic partnership with purpose-driven business consultancy and network Coest, which introduced Manifest Stockholm to its first client, sustainable sportswear brand Houdini.

Other launch clients include Älska cider from The Swedish Cider Company; Military Work, a recruitment and staffing agency focused on helping ex-veterans find civilian work; Scottish craft beer Innis & Gunn, Slättö, which develops, owns and manages new residential properties and Swedish organic peanut butter Green Choice.

Myers said: “All of the Swedish businesses we’ve met have a real understanding of how brand purpose needs to be at the centre of what they do – far more than elsewhere in Europe – but there seems to be a lack of agencies providing creative strategies and campaigns to match.

“That’s where Manifest Stockholm comes in. Our offices in London and New York also allow us to help Scandinavian brands expand beyond their domestic market and go global.”

Karlsson commented: “It’s the right time to be bringing a new kind of comms agency to the Swedish market. The PR industry here can often be traditional in structure; but we hear that many of the most exciting brands in the country are looking to usher in a new era of creativity, integration and innovation. Manifest Stockholm is leading that charge, and it’s very exciting to be a part of it.”

Hedlund added: “Our client portfolio in Stockholm already includes some of the most innovative brands in Scandinavia – brands genuinely looking to change things, like Houdini for instance – and the real power of what we do is not simply to help those companies to compete in their industry, but to redefine it forever.

“Our mission at Manifest is to help brands change the world for the better, and it’s a privilege to be bringing that to Scandinavia as a co-founder at Manifest Stockholm.”

Earlier this year, Myers took full control of Manifest London, as well as Manifest New York, following a deal that saw minority shareholders Nev Ridley and Shaun Beaumont sell their stake in the business for an undisclosed sum.

Its then sister agency, Manifest Communications, owned equally by Ridley and Beaumont, was renamed ilk.