Finland's leading event agency LIWLIG Finland has renewed its organisational structure to be more customer-centric and streamlined. The renewal supports the company's strategy to provide its clients an exceptionally strong customer experience and build a sustainable competitive advantage through creativity, sustainability and production.
"The event industry is changing rapidly, and we want to be the trailblazers. Our customers expect agility, creativity, and strategic partnerships from us now more than ever. This led us to renew our organisation so that client and project management, creative design, and production work seamlessly together," says Mikael Castrén, CEO of LIWLIG Finland.
New roles strengthen customer relationships, creativity and production In connection with the organizational reform, LIWLIG Finland has made several significant appointments:
Hannu Huttunen, Antti Kihlström and Salla Komulainen have been appointed to the Business Director roles, tasked with strengthening customer management and strategic customer work, and supporting the company's growth through the development of existing customer relationships and new customer acquisition. Tiina Palojärvi has been appointed as the Head of Project Management role, tasked with customer-oriented production management and the development of project management in cooperation with COO Joonas Patama. Jarkko Rautio and Mia Suortti have been appointed to the Production Operations Manager roles, tasked with the management of production teams and the development of teams and individuals, ensuring the execution of top-quality events. Karoliina Patama has been appointed to the Head of Creative Operations role, tasked with leading the design operations and developing the creative process together with Executive Creative Director Lauri Gran, bringing strategic value and competitive advantage to customers through events.
"Hannu, Antti and Salla bring with them a huge amount of industry experience from different roles and a deep understanding of customers, thus strengthening the ability of our customer teams to act as strategic partners. Under the leadership of Lauri and Karoliina, creativity generates more and more value for our customers and becomes a competitive advantage. The expertise of Joonas, Tiina, Mia and Jarkko ensures the high quality of production," Castrén continues.
Why was the change made? LIWLIG Finland's rapid growth in recent years and changing customer expectations created the need to renew the organization. Customer needs are increasingly diverse, with some emphasizing strategic partnerships and comprehensive planning, while others emphasize uncompromising quality in event implementation. What everyone has in common is the expectation of bold creativity, the use of events as a storytelling tool, and rapid response. In addition, measuring impact and utilizing data have become key requirements.
"Our clients want events that support their brand strategy and deliver measurable value – leveraging experiential and emotional storytelling. Our mission is to exceed these expectations with courage and creativity," Castrén emphasizes.
The new organization will enable customers to be shown more clearly dedicated teams whose expertise meets the customer's needs and in which an increasingly stronger understanding of the customer's brand, business and goals is realized. Customers will see the reform as an even better service in the future.
To implement the change, LIWLIG Finland went through change negotiations, as a result of which 10 roles ended. At the same time, several new positions were created that support the customer-centric operating model and strengthen the company's strategic priorities.
Exceptional customer experience as a competitive advantage Customer experience is one of LIWLIG Group's four strategic priorities. The company's NPS (Net Promoter Score) is currently 85, which is among the best in the industry and demonstrates a strong customer recommendation drive.
"We believe that exceptional customer experience is our key differentiator and makes us a strategic partner - not just an event producer. As a competitive advantage, this is one of the reasons why we invest in organizational development," Castrén emphasizes.
Growth and internationalization – a Finnish success story LIWLIG Finland has grown rapidly in recent years – the turnover in 2024 was approximately 36 million euros, and the company now employs 110 event professionals. LIWLIG serves the largest companies and leading brands in Finland and the Nordic countries.
The company is part of the Liwlig Group, which operates in all Nordic countries and employs a total of over 350 professionals. The group implements over 1,000 events annually and has become a trendsetter in the industry in the Nordic countries – an exceptional Finnish success story that has expanded through acquisitions and brand renewal.
LIWLIG Finland in brief Turnover: €36 million (2024) Employee: 110 in Finland, part of a Nordic team of over 350 people Management team: Mikael Castrén (CEO), Joonas Patama (COO), Lauri Gran (Executive Creative Director), Reeta Asikainen (Head of People and Culture), Henrik Maunula (Head of Finance)
