Christa Rigozzi and Gilbert Gress show how fast you can be in the south
On Monday, the vacation region Ascona-Locarno presented its new campaign. It starts on March 21, shows among other things Gilbert Gress on the Töffli and was created by the Churer agency Skipp.
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The heart of the campaign is the TV commercial, which will be broadcast for the first time on Swiss television on March 21. It stars two old hands from the Swiss advertising and celebrity landscape: Gilbert Gress and Christa Rigozzi. The former sets off on his journey south on an old two-speed motorcycle and is overtaken on a bend by Rigozzi on an overpowered Ducati.
The short story not only communicates that the region is suitable as a vacation destination for many different people of all ages. It is also intended to remind people that, thanks to the new Gotthard Base Tunnel, it is faster than ever to reach Ticino: the journey from Zurich to Locarno currently only takes 2 hours and 15 minutes.
It quickly becomes clear: The vacation region on Lake Maggiore is focusing its strategy on the Swiss market and, with the two show horses Gress and Rigozzi, is relying on two figureheads who will generate publicity in both targeted markets, western and German-speaking Switzerland. "Our analyses led us to the conclusion that this time we only want to 'go for' the Swiss market," says Skipp founder FiFi Frei.
He sees a lot of potential not only in German-speaking Switzerland due to the Gotthard Base Tunnel upswing, but above all in French-speaking Switzerland. In the past, the interest of the French in Ticino was rather modest, but in recent years it has increased of its own accord and produced a loyal group of visitors, says Frei. The campaign is now intended to give additional impetus to this upward trend. The aim is not to appeal to a specific segment, but to reach as wide a section of the Swiss population as possible.
"The classic division into target groups has had its day with us," says Benjamin Frizzi, Marketing Director at Ascona-Locarno Tourism. The company is now relying on viral communication and using the interplay of TV, YouTube and social media. The large-scale TV campaign is at the center and is supported by Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.
Gilbert Gress, by the way, is not only on board to build the bridge to French-speaking Switzerland, but also because he is a self-confessed Ascona fan. When his favorite hotelier of many years in Juan-les-Pins (F) retired twelve years ago, he and his wife swerved to Ascona by chance - and have remained loyal to the place ever since. "If we like it somewhere, we always go back there," he says.
The campaign was presented on Monday in an SBB lounge car on the way from Zurich to Locarno. The invited media representatives were served not only culinary specialties from Ticino, but also acoustic ones: The duo Sinplus, which competed for Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, performed the campaign soundtrack live and unplugged. And explained afterwards that the engagement had developed from a commission to an affair of the heart in the course of the production. (hae)
Read more about the campaign and Skipp in the next print issue of Werbewoche.
