“The country’s biggest challenge is overall visibility,” says Kadri Gröön, head of marketing and communications at Enterprise Estonia (EIS). This year, EIS won the Client of the Year title for the second year in a row at the Kuldmuna (Golden Egg) awards. We sat down with Kadri Gröön to talk about the year behind them, Estonia’s international image, and why visibility matters more than ever.

A lot has changed at EIS over the past year. Does that give the Client of the Year title a particular significance?

The Client of the Year title is extremely meaningful to us, especially in a year that has brought so much change to EIS. It shows that our partners still see us as a reliable, focused, and purposeful client.

The changes have created a fast-paced period in which processes, roles, and priorities had to be rethought quickly. Our new strategy is centered on attracting investment, growing exports, and advancing research and development. That means our international marketing choices also need to align with those changes.

What are the biggest challenges in marketing Estonia in 2026? I assume the geopolitical situation is one of them, but what else?

In 2026, the biggest challenges in Estonia’s international marketing have been related to both external environment uncertainty and the fragmentation of global attention. The geopolitical situation affects Estonia’s image, investors’ perceptions of risk, and travelers’ confidence, but there are several other major issues as well.

First, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in international competition. Countries are competing ever more aggressively for talent, investment, and visitors, and the marketing scene is highly fragmented. That means the message has to be exceptionally clear, distinctive, and relevant to the target audience.

Second, trust has become a key issue. As a small country, we need to consistently explain our strengths, our safety, and the stability of our business environment. This applies both to perceptions of security and, more broadly, to Estonia’s image as a trustworthy partner.

Third, one of the biggest challenges is speaking to different audiences based on their interests while maintaining a sufficiently unified narrative. Investors, entrepreneurs, tourists, and talent all expect different value propositions from Estonia, but the national brand must remain coherent.

Is Estonia still seen internationally as a digitally advanced country with a clean nature?

If we look at international surveys like the Global Soft Power Index, Estonia’s strengths are its strong business environment, political stability, and transparent, effective governance. Sustainability, safety, and strong education are all keywords that those who know Estonia tend to associate with it. But the country’s biggest challenge remains general awareness.

At the same time, Estonia is doing well, and part of our job is to make Estonia’s success story visible to the world. Nation branding, sharing the success stories of Estonian companies, introducing Estonia at international events, hosting foreign journalists here, and taking part in visits abroad are all essential tools in making Estonia more visible and more significant internationally.

One of the earliest reputation studies, conducted by Nielsen in 1999, found that Estonia was generally not associated with much of anything. Since then, our global image has made a major leap forward. That image is shaped, on the one hand, by Estonia’s own smart decisions and development, but our regional location also matters because we benefit from being close to the Nordic countries, which rank highly in international reputation indexes.

Influencer IShowSpeed’s visit earned EIS a Silver Egg award. There was a lot of debate around it, and many questioned whether the money was well spent. To me, it seemed reasonable from the start, and if I remember correctly, the €30,000 was never actually paid. By now, do you have any results beyond social media metrics? Did Speed’s visit bring more tourists? Is there any indication that this summer could bring more visitors? More broadly, what is the most important metric for EIS in a campaign like this?

I would say many people in marketing saw this initiative more as an opportunity than a risk. When someone with such a large international audience wants to talk about Estonia and come here, it is important that we support that opportunity. We are not talking about an isolated activity, but about the broader visibility that moments like this create. From that perspective, it made sense to offer support and be present.

Speed’s audience is global, which makes it very difficult at this stage to say which markets his visit affected the most. In addition to the broad national attention it generated, Estonia also gained visibility in Latvia and Lithuania, both of which are important tourism markets for us.

Naturally, when planning the activities, one of the main considerations was that 70% of IShowSpeed’s followers are based in the United States, and U.S. tourists are the highest spenders per trip when they visit Estonia. Of course, this cannot be attributed to a single initiative alone, because Estonia has invested in destination marketing in the U.S. for years. Still, for example, the number of U.S. tourists grew by 19% between 2024 and 2025. In the two days following Speed’s visit, Google searches for Estonia in the U.S. market increased by 28%, and Visit Estonia’s website got 13% more traffic from the United States.

Destination marketing is a long-term, consistent effort. We need to keep Estonia visible all the time so that a young social media follower today might, seven years from now, when they are independent, choose Estonia as a holiday destination, come here to study, launch a startup here, or invest.

At the same time, studies show that Generation Alpha, meaning children born after 2010, influence nearly 85% of family travel decisions. They participate in choosing destinations, exploring options, and shaping their parents’ preferences and priorities. So, initiatives like this always operate on both short- and long-term horizons. 45% of Speed’s followers are aged 25-34, an ideal travel demographic.

The collaboration with Speed gave us the opportunity to introduce small, relatively little-known Estonia to a massive audience at almost no cost. The actual expense remained around €5,000, allowing us to present Estonia as a digital, developed, and exciting country.

It seems to me that Speed’s visit also caused a stir because many people still do not fully grasp the real impact of social media or the fact that influencers there are, in fact, celebrities. Content creators are often looked down on a little, as if they are just doing something frivolous. What is your take on that?

Yes, absolutely. On one hand, people may not fully appreciate the role of influencer marketing. On the other hand, the fact that the project involved a state-owned foundation with a rather conservative image undoubtedly amplified the reaction.

But social media is extremely powerful and has a very real influence on people’s behaviour, from purchasing decisions to travel choices.

Social media visibility and engagement are an effective way to strengthen Estonia’s position among new target groups who may never encounter the country through traditional marketing channels. So, this is not simply an expense aimed at short-term impact. It is a strategic investment in Estonia’s visibility, attractiveness, and future consumer base as a desired destination. In another sense, this kind of awareness-building can also be described as creating security through soft power. The more visible we are, the safer we are.

In terms of traditional marketing, our share is relatively small internationally. We do use content marketing solutions in some cases, but for the most part our work is focused on digital marketing, whether through social media or online media outlets in target markets.

PR work, however, remains extremely important to us, because earned media coverage is highly valuable. Press trips, media pitches, and events aimed at foreign media channels and journalists are all important parts of our work to improve Estonia’s international reputation.

As a public agency, how strongly do you feel that every decision you make is being watched by thousands? At a difficult economic moment, public spending is under intense media attention. We have seen that with various event-related scandals, and Speed’s visit showed the same thing. How to work in an environment where almost any campaign risks becoming a scandal? Does that inhibit public institutions or hold them back? And how do you make it clear to public that this is not simply about spending money?

Marketing is often easy to dismiss as a supporting or secondary activity, but from our perspective, Estonia’s international visibility is a very clear economic necessity. As a small country, we do not stay on the map by default. Without visibility, major international events, business travelers, companies, and investors will not come here.

Without international interest, our domestic market would simply be too small. Many service providers, hotels, and restaurants could not survive on domestic demand alone, and even flight connections depend on people coming to Estonia. If visibility declines, movement towards Estonia inevitably declines as well, and with it the opportunities our economy needs.

Even the largest countries with the strongest reputations put in tremendous effort every day, hire large teams, and invest significant sums in building their national brands. Compared to that, our means and activities are relatively modest. Even so, we often manage to compete through smart thinking and inventive solutions.

Exporting products and services is essential for economic growth. In addition to a good product, brand matters. Our story matters. Estonians tend to be technical and modest, but in global markets, we compete with countries that build their brands much more aggressively.

EIS’s large-scale marketing and communications procurements have attracted considerable attention and criticism in Estonia. At the same time, in conversations with both entrepreneurs and public-sector representatives, there is broad acknowledgment that Estonia’s brand and its marketing are very much the responsibility of the state. In the context of international competition, our large-scale procurements are only a drop in the ocean, and we always aim to use public money wisely, to generate international media coverage, increase awareness of Estonia, build interest in the country, and, in doing so, support Estonian companies in reaching foreign markets.

What was your personal favorite EIS project from last year, and why?

Our work is incredibly varied, ranging from broad nation-branding initiatives to highly targeted sector campaigns in different markets, so it is difficult to single out just one project.

The Estonia brand video Normal was certainly one of the standout pieces of work from last year. It brought together a clear, powerful idea with thoughtful technical execution, and it feels very organic both in its content and visually. It is heartfelt, contemporary, fresh, and authentic all at once. You watch it and find yourself nodding along, thinking yes, that really is what life in Estonia is like, normal. It works equally well on the new estonia.ee website and at larger events and conferences.

The campaign for Estonia’s food and beverage sector in the Indian market also sparked strong emotions. The campaign draws on the Indian song Vande Mataram, loosely translated as “I praise you, Motherland”. It was declared India’s national song in 1950. Originally a poem, it played an important role in India’s independence movement.

Beyond its emotional dimension, the campaign was also strong because of its strategic depth: a thorough understanding of the target market, the target audiences, and the competitive context. It highlighted the strengths of Estonia’s food sector in a way that resonated with Indian values, and the entire customer journey was built logically and smoothly, helping interested audiences take the next step.

Author: Siim Kera, TULI

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