Company history as an experience

Sigvaris' anniversary events were held at five different locations in 2014, with a spectacular show.For 150 years, Sigvaris, headquartered in Winterthur, has been successfully manufacturing compression textiles to help people achieve better health. Reason enough for the textile company to celebrate its anniversary in a fitting manner. Sigvaris therefore developed a global anniversary campaign for 2014. The aim was to communicate the brand and its values, as well as the Sigvaris vision, effectively and sustainably via a uniform campaign, thereby strengthening the awareness and significance of the brand in the individual markets. In this context, a strong and emotional attachment to the Sigvaris brand was to be triggered among the various target groups worldwide."Everyday a step further"To achieve these goals, Sigvaris worked with the Brandsoul agency, which has specialized in "experiential communication" since 1996. The Zurich-based agency was commissioned to develop an all-encompassing strategy and story for the company's anniversary that would convey the 192-page Sigvaris anniversary book as well as the company's vision, mission and values in a simple and tangible analogy (story) and support the future brand strategy.Sigvaris compression textiles enable ordinary people, professionals who have to sit or stand for long periods of time, and professional athletes to go one step further by being highly effective when worn. This pushes boundaries and improves personal performance. This is where Brandsoul comes in with its story concept. "We let these people tell personal stories to radiate the open spirit and joie de vivre," explains Andrej Isler, agency owner and creative director at Brandsoul. "This reminds stakeholders and employees that they are also part of this inspiring story." To match this message, the Sigvaris anniversary claim "Everyday a step further" was developed. In addition, a logo was created to symbolize this "forward movement."Anniversary events as touchpointsAs the most important touchpoints for experiencing the anniversary story, several anniversary events were held throughout the year in 2014 at Sigvaris' international locations in Montreux, Huningue (FR), Montreal (CA), Atlanta (US) and St.Gallen. In the process, a special, individual element was created, which was the highlight of the program at all events: an interactive anniversary exhibition combined with a show in the company's "look & feel", which conveyed the Sigvaris story ("Past-Present-Future") to the event guests in a unique way. The individually designed and manufactured components of the exhibition were brought to each event and shipped overseas accordingly. "The biggest challenge in this project was to convey a story or message consistently across all countries," Isler explains. "The individual regions are used to operating relatively autonomously, so special care had to be taken to strengthen the identity for the one, common company with a past and a future. "The different cultures of the individual countries were taken into account in the conception of the events. We deliberately worked together with local partners (technology, catering, etc.) in order to be able to react optimally to the respective local conditions and to secure the necessary local know-how. However, the elementary parts of the campaign (show & exhibition) remained unchanged and were realized in the same way everywhere.Man as protagonistThe example shows what is possible with successful "storytelling". "Storytelling doesn't just start with one event, but is relevant for entire campaigns and strategies and must be carried through in the communication of the company or brand," says Isler. "The idea is to tell a constant story and always evolve it. In doing so, the ONE message of the story always remains the same and can be distributed across all channels." Depending on the target audience and the tool, parts of the story can be adapted without changing the core message. "It is also important for the application and design of storytelling that the person always appears as the protagonist and not the brand or the company."Author: Simon Wolanin