Tacheles for print advertising

Note: You can find the subjects in the Online article to the campaign.

The bureaucracy needs to be dismantled instead of built up," says Sigi W. "Everyone is just staring at their cell phones," says Paul S. "Be open and laugh more! From now on, we'll be talking turkey in Switzerland.

Since October 7, the fiery red subjects with the hashtag have appeared in German, French and Italian in many Swiss newspapers and magazines. And this is how they are created: anyone living in Switzerland can share what moves, annoys, embarrasses or delights them on the specially created microsite www.sagesderschweiz.ch or under the hashtag #Sagesderschweiz on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. In this way, you can become a testimonial for the new poster campaign of the Association of Swiss Media as early as tomorrow. Any kind of statement is permitted that does not violate the boundaries of good taste, i.e. is racist, defamatory or slanderous. A small editorial team selects the statements that will ultimately become advertisements.

Reach everyone efficiently

The entire campaign, devised by Leo Burnett, will run until 2017. In the first phase of the campaign, the association plans to run 480 advertisements - the largest print campaign ever seen in Switzerland. #Sagesderschweiz replaces the "Only an ad can do that" (DKNEI) creative youth campaign, which ran for ten years.

The core target group of #Sagesderschweiz is the advertising market. As with DKNEI, the Swiss Media Association wants to use the new subjects to draw attention to the fact that print advertising still has a high impact and achieves high reach. The association and the agency are accompanying the campaign with mailings to representatives of the advertising market, in which study results underpin how much print moves people, markets and brands. The first proof that print works is provided by the campaign with the help of the general public. With Sigi W., Paul S., and Larissa B., for example. And the effect that suddenly everyone is interested in their opinions.

The fact that the print subjects are fed with statements collected online and in social media is intended to show how strongly the media have already grown together. For successful advertising, all channels must be used - and print is a very important part of the overall media mix. That's why Isabelle Meier, consulting group manager at Leo Burnett, doesn't find the hashtag irritating as a central element of a print campaign: "It was important to us that the inhibition threshold to participate in this campaign is as low as possible. That is given with the hashtag. "The website and hashtag are also just a collection point for the statements, which are then placed in print again - which in turn shows how the media can complement each other in their effect.

Celebrities also join in

Apparently, Leo Burnett's plan has worked. So far, hundreds of people have made statements, including celebrities such as Adolf Ogi, Matthias Sempach and Christa Rigozzi, who were, however, specifically contacted. In addition, exponents who are of particular importance to the advertising market, such as Nadine Borter, Alexander Jaggi or Manfred Strobl, have been approached. Advertisements with statements by these people appear in the trade press. All age groups are also represented, from teenagers to grandmothers. The first statements needed for the launch of the campaign were determined in advance by the agency via street surveys throughout Switzerland. Leo Burnett employees asked random people on the street the question, "What would you say if you were allowed to say something to all of Switzerland?" Most of the people who were asked gave spontaneous answers.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich

On the subject:

Interview with Verena Vonarburg, President of the Swiss Media Association, on the campaign.