ONE CAN LITERALLY TRANSLATE THE SWEDISH WORD FOR BRAND, "VARUMÄRKE", to mean “what is noticed about a product”. In English (at least American English), brand is not as subtle. Brand is what cowboys did to identify and protect their cattle. They placed a hot iron stamp onto each cow´s hide to create a burned symbol, indicating ownership. The idea of brand is not just for products (or cows!) but for services and entire companies, too. In fact, one can say that all the things a company and its people do (or not do) add to (or subtract from) the company´s brand. This is because a brand often consists of feelings and associations and is synonymous with reputation.
SVERIGES INTERNATIONELLA TALANGER (SIT), KEEPING IN MIND "BRAND" and all that it means, was founded to bring an intangible product to the market- an idea. Our idea is that there are thousands of immigrants already here in Sweden who are educated and who have skills, experience, and knowledge- and that this resource should not go to waste. Through every interaction, both in person and online, SIT kept brand in mind to build and maintain our reputation as an organization of and for foreign academics.
WITH OUR SYMBOL OF A GREEN LEAF AND A VERY SPECIFIC TAGLINE to describe us and our members, Educated. Motivated. Talented., we did something simple: We launched a forum for the exchange of information and we created an online community to facilitate networking. Then we held a panel discussion to create a dialogue between our members and Swedish businesses. We published a report of our findings on how to ease labor market integration, and we grew the organization into a community of 400 people, now attracting the attention of companies and recruiters.
LIKE SIT, EACH FOREIGN ACADEMIC IS FOUNDING THEIR OWN ORGANIZATION and must keep brand in mind- personal brand. What do you offer the market? How can you best represent yourself? How should you communicate? These questions become harder when you must convince others of your value and when your reputation is not readily recognized here in Sweden. This is why SIT has arranged for a mentorship opportunity for ten of our members and is working to bring more opportunities in early 2015. We believe one of the most important things a foreign academic can do besides find information quickly and make contacts is to keep brand in mind, just as SIT has done. And sometimes, one needs help.
SVERIGES INTERNATIONELLA TALANGER (SIT), KEEPING IN MIND "BRAND" and all that it means, was founded to bring an intangible product to the market- an idea. Our idea is that there are thousands of immigrants already here in Sweden who are educated and who have skills, experience, and knowledge- and that this resource should not go to waste. Through every interaction, both in person and online, SIT kept brand in mind to build and maintain our reputation as an organization of and for foreign academics.
WITH OUR SYMBOL OF A GREEN LEAF AND A VERY SPECIFIC TAGLINE to describe us and our members, Educated. Motivated. Talented., we did something simple: We launched a forum for the exchange of information and we created an online community to facilitate networking. Then we held a panel discussion to create a dialogue between our members and Swedish businesses. We published a report of our findings on how to ease labor market integration, and we grew the organization into a community of 400 people, now attracting the attention of companies and recruiters.
LIKE SIT, EACH FOREIGN ACADEMIC IS FOUNDING THEIR OWN ORGANIZATION and must keep brand in mind- personal brand. What do you offer the market? How can you best represent yourself? How should you communicate? These questions become harder when you must convince others of your value and when your reputation is not readily recognized here in Sweden. This is why SIT has arranged for a mentorship opportunity for ten of our members and is working to bring more opportunities in early 2015. We believe one of the most important things a foreign academic can do besides find information quickly and make contacts is to keep brand in mind, just as SIT has done. And sometimes, one needs help.