How often do Swedes think about death and how difficult is it really to talk about the end of life? On behalf of Fonus, Novus conducted an extensive investigation that resulted in the report Swedes on death. At a breakfast seminar, nearly 100 people joined in to hear more about how the survey spread across the country.

For almost three months, the report Swedes on death has continued to receive attention in the news media. The impact led to a sharp increase in people who registered with the White Archive, a service on Fonu’s website where you can fill in thoughts and wishes that you want your loved ones to share after death.

– Death is a subject that, purely communicatively, must be handled in a careful way in order to be able to listen and take it in. This survey shows that. We want to talk about death and that we think about death, but it’s quite difficult, says Fonu’s marketing director Lisa Vejlo Degerman.

– It’s awesome when PR leads to direct consequences and makes people both think and act. Here, we have created lots of opportunities for Fonus to come out and talk and to reach out with its message and show warmth and concern connected to a difficult subject, says Sara Wikberg, at the responsible PR agency Wikberg&Frisk.

Geographical spread is key

Mats Elzén, adviser in society and PR at Novus, says that by combining a well-designed survey with relevant questions and a large geographical spread, we were able to show what the Swedes think in the regions, which is the explanation behind the publicity.

– The geographical part was the essential thing in this, it means that you can make specific news at the county level, he says.

The breakfast seminar was also attended by the journalist Casper Danielsson, press manager at Södra and former news manager at Expressen. He appreciates that the investigation tackled the subject in a positive way, without gloom and doom.

– The survey makes it easy for the media to concretize and make a story about the questions, it provided a good basis for news coverage.

The report Swedes on death now lives on at Fonus in social media, at seminars and in the local offices. Fonus is already planning a follow-up in collaboration with Novus with the goal of investigating new questions and delving into other parts in order to continue releasing the report.