City of Lahti employer brand

What Lasts: The phrase that turns delay into endurance

The name of the campaign What Lasts (Mikä kestää in Finnish) plays with a double meaning. In everyday Finnish the phrase mikä kestää? is often used to complain that something is taking too long, a familiar jab at city work. Here that saying is turned on its head and transformed into a strength. The question what lasts? also asks what truly endures over time, what remains meaningful, and what stands the test of time.

Lahti wanted to change the outdated idea of what working for a city means. The old image of bureaucracy and boredom did not fit the truth. City work is not slow or distant. It is real, human and lasting.

We started by listening. Through workshops and interviews we heard how proud Lahti’s people already were of their work. They just needed a story that matched that pride.

The creative concept What Lasts took that idea to its most literal form. We raised Lahti’s employees onto pedestals and turned them into statues, combining classical sculpture with modern realism. A celebration of people who usually stay behind the scenes.

It is bold, unexpected and deeply human. A tribute to the workers who build, teach, clean, care and plan. The people who make the city last.
More about the project here (in Finnish).

Work done as part of the creative team at Sherpa.