"Hopp Schwiiz" with Polo National

 
Soccer Wirz, Mars and Polo Hofer want to join forces to boost the power of our national soccer team fans. 
In a one-off campaign lasting from now until the end of the European Championships, Mars is renaming its energy bar "Hopp". The campaign was devised by Wirz Werbung, which has been in charge of the Mars budget for two years. Up to now, this has mainly involved adaptation work. Now, for the first time, the agency has been able to launch a major "local campaign", as CD Thomas Kurzmeyer explains, and this is the first time that the best-selling Mars bar has been offered under a new name in Switzerland. In England, the bar was sold once before in the summer of 2006 with the imprint "Believe" - because at the time, Mars wanted to "encourage" England fans to believe that their team would become world champions. In Switzerland, Mars wants to use this campaign and a slightly different tactic to "reflect the enthusiasm for the European Championships in our own country", as Group Account Director Petra Dreyfus explains. The energy bar is intended to give the fans the power they need to sing the national team to victory with a new fan anthem "Hopp Schwiiz 08".
This anthem was re-recorded by Polo Hofer on behalf of Mars. Polo National has added new lyrics to a song from 1984. In it, he sings the praises of the combative Swiss national team and the fans who help the team to victory. The song "Hopp Schwiiz" has already been adapted with new words for a World Ski Championship, as Polo Hofer explained at the kick-off of the campaign.
This kick-off took place on Thursday, March 27 in front of Zurich's Stadelhofen train station on an improvised stage. This was driven up on a truck, on which Polo and the band presented the new anthem in a spontaneous concert. "The fan anthem has the potential to become the unofficial European Championship song", agreed the equally "spontaneous" and large number of media people at Stadelhofen station. The single can now be found on every Mars- Hopp 5-pack and other large packs, which are available in special displays at the POS. The fan anthem can also be downloaded free of charge from www.marshoppschwiiz.ch.
Wirz has also organized a tour for Mars to get as many fans as possible excited about the national team. Polo Hofer will be touring Switzerland in a bright red "Hopp Schwiiz 08" bus. The VW from 1974 is equipped with a karaoke system and will be raffled off among the fans after the tour.
The idea is being promoted with a TV commercial by Markenfilm Schweiz, various measures "below the line" and, of course, a lot of media work.
Andreas Panzeri