11. They had been
invited by Facit
and its CEO
Gunnar Ericsson.
Facit was a
Swedish
manufacturer of
mechanical
calculators,
typewriters and
office furniture.
65. Think of it, each and every one of all those articles
about Pelé, Lill, Amarildo and the others…
66. … Turned the attention to Facit and its products.
67.
68. It was a
fantastic
global
marketing
campaign
which
captured the
attention of
the world
press.
69. The mechanical
calculators were
technologically
mature in those
days, and
therefore, this
kind of marketing
was exactly the
right way to
obtain a
competitive
advantage.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75. Gunnar Ericsson received flowers and a big
thank you from the Brazilian stars. And of
course, the press wrote about it.
88. From 1966 and on, Facit’s mechanical
calculators became increasingly obsolete with
the rise of electronic calculators.
89. Only six years later, the town of Åtvidaberg
and Facit would be turned upside down with
the dramatic shift to electronics.
90. In those years, Mr. Ericsson went from having
been an admired industrial leader into being
accused of, well, a lot of things.
91.
92. That week in Åtvidaberg in June 1966, two great men
from different parts of the world, both at the top of
their careers, met and enjoyed the Swedish summer.
96. Photos taken at:
Åtvidabergs Bruks och Facit Museum, Sweden
http://brukskultur.atvidaberg.se/index2.html
Åssa Industri och Bil Museum, Sweden
http://www.assamuseet.se/
Thank You!
97. Most of those images come from the fantastic Facit
archives in Åtidaberg. Many thanks to
’Brukskultur’ and to Åtvidabergs Kommun for
taking care of this great source.
98. Christian Sandström is a
PhD student at Chalmers
University of Technology in
Gothenburg, Sweden. He
writes and speaks about
disruptive innovation and
technological change.
www.christiansandstrom.org
christian.sandstrom at chalmers.se