Der Motz vom Butz: The grounding of Swiss advertising
Airlines are among the most talked-about and popular companies. Most of their advertising, however, is uninspired and uninteresting—even Swiss’s, according to Theophil Butz.
As a Swiss advertiser, graphic designer and citizen, it is my duty to comment on the unimaginative advertising campaign of our German Swiss airline. This is about a long-standing advertising tradition that the current owner neither feels nor strives for. The fact that Swissair has become Swiss for legal reasons is not taken into account here. It seems interesting to me, however, that the advertising for this exemplary airline has degenerated from what was once the best and most awarded advertising into an unimaginative, bland, superficial and certainly not fresh and creative appearance. The success of our airline has a lot to do with the CI, the service and not least the unusual communication. The failure back then was once again due to the megalomania of incompetent managers. This is now history. However, the new bosses in charge should not forget what made this Swiss cross so successful. Unusual, original, entertaining and surprising advertising messages.
My theory is that successful companies that are swallowed up by larger companies usually focus on math, profits, cash flow, substance and business synergies. The soul of the companies and their products are forgotten. A big mistake. Because those who consume the product, i.e. the customers, are only interested in the psychological preference, i.e. the soul of the product. For example: Bally has now disappeared from the luxury market because the new owners did not feel the soul of Bally for precisely this reason, and even ignored it.
Back to my Swiss-Motz example and back to the advertising history of Swissair. From the very beginning, there was advertising that was creative and of a high artistic standard. The advertising that GGK created for Swissair over decades also made advertising creative award history. My personal contribution to the Swissair campaigns was the omission of typography to create a Swiss cross. Or do you remember the Publicis campaign by Denecke, where the Swiss airmen proudly displayed their flight tickets? An ADC gold award-winning advertising campaign. And what do we have to put up with today! Photographs on posters and advertisements that look like a hospital ambience without any idea. Communication that is unfit for air travel. And this is supposed to be our airline? The Germans probably have euros rather than crosses in front of their eyes. A bitter pity. In addition, the redesign of the Swiss logo is a disaster, including its implementation. In Miami, I was still greeted with Tyler Brûlé's squares on the screen. My golf bag cover also looks the same.
My teary-eyed constellation is that Turkish Airlines is running super good commercials. Where have we ended up?
Theophil Butz, graphic designer, advertising agency owner, inspirer and, for over a year and a half, also a mocker for Werbewoche readers. Please send any relevant information to [email protected].
