Tampere to host public debate on bold, experimental sports messaging

The City of Tampere is asking whether Tampere is the first city in Finland to adopt bold, experimental sports messaging. It will put that question to the public at a free discussion on Monday 25 May from 12:00 to 16:00 at Monitoimitalo 13 (Pellavatehtaankatu 4), with a livestream for remote attendees.

The event brings together veteran communicator Maria Rantala; communications specialist Anna Suutari; and communications manager Annamaija Manninen of Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences and Likes. They have toured the country arguing for refreshed approaches to sports communication.

Rantala's doctoral research examined Finnish exercise campaigns from 1941 to 2010, tracking how messaging has been used to get people moving.

Nelli Hankonen, a social psychologist at Tampere University, will explain why message framing matters from a motivation-science perspective. She will draw on her work on behaviour change and wellbeing and on projects such as Let's Move It, produced with support from the Suomi liikkeelle programme and the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM).

The session will close with a panel on designing briefs and tailoring messages to target audiences. Attendance is free and open to all; registration is recommended to help organisers plan.