Steen Agency wins Gold at Guldvargen 2026

Hammarö, Sweden — May 22, 2026 — Steen Agency has won Gold at this year’s Guldvargen Awards for the story Hibo’s Coded Dreams, created together with Kodcentrum and Microsoft. The production was also specially selected by the jury as a nominee for the overall award Årets Guldvarg, chosen among 42 nominated entries across all categories.

The film highlights how digital skills and AI literacy are becoming critical societal issues — not just technology topics — through the perspective of a young girl discovering programming and creative problem-solving.

The jury motivation:

“It turns out that real social change can be told without grand gestures. Refreshingly free from campaign elements and classic marketing tactics, we encounter a quiet yet powerful story that combines human warmth with global perspectives and editorial depth.

With carefully crafted execution and a perspective rooted in the people it actually wants to reach, we believe this is an approach that creates real impact. This is not an attention-seeking outdoor campaign. It is an initiative that engages. And the result is a story with heart, even though it’s about ones and zeros.”

A storytelling philosophy shaped by frustration with generic content

Steen Agency was founded by Lars-Petter Steen after fifteen years in Stockholm’s communications industry, where he worked with larger agencies and global brands before returning to Värmland. After seeing how emotionally driven storytelling was increasingly replaced by generic and over-optimized branded content, he decided to build a different kind of agency from Hammarö.

Today, Steen Agency works with brands including Microsoft, Sandvik Coromant, TD SYNNEX and Newsec.

“Much of today’s content is optimized to communicate as many messages as possible, but in the process it often loses what makes film powerful in the first place — emotion, inspiration and human connection,” says Lars-Petter Steen, Founder and Business Director at Steen Agency.

“In the AI era, channels are becoming flooded with generic content. That’s creating a growing demand for storytelling that actually makes people feel something.”

A small Värmland agency competing against established industry players

This year marked Steen Agency’s debut at Guldvargen — the most prestigious communications awards in Värmland, featuring entries from many of the region’s most established agencies and in-house creative teams.

Turning statistics into human understanding

Hibo’s Coded Dreams was designed to transform abstract discussions around AI, digital inclusion and education into something emotionally tangible through one child’s perspective.

The project intentionally avoided traditional campaign aesthetics in favor of a documentary-style narrative focused on authenticity, emotional presence and real societal impact.

The production has since been used in educational and societal contexts to communicate the importance of early technology education and digital inclusion.

About Steen Agency

Steen Agency is a Swedish B2B storytelling and communications agency based in Hammarö, Värmland. The agency specializes in emotionally driven campaigns and human-centered storytelling for global technology and industrial brands.

Its work combines cinematic storytelling with strategic communication and has been recognized both in Sweden and internationally.