At altitude and not on the mountain
Wirz illustrates the impact of Snickers in winter sports resorts
Wirz illustrates the effect of Snickers in winter sports resortsThey are young, dynamic and have pockets full of money (from their parents). Snowboarders are currently one of the winter sports holidaymakers preferred by advertisers. The energy bar Snickers has now also set its sights on them. With the help of Wirz, Zurich, the bar manufacturer is offering Snickers and skiers special mental and physical benefits - provided they bite into the right product first. Although it retains Snickers' previous positioning as an energy bar, the term, borrowed from computer games, brings the product closer to the core target group of 14 to 25-year-olds. At the same time, the bar moves off the pitch and onto the slopes, separating itself from football. This is where it was previously located due to various sponsorship commitments (European Championship 2000, National League A games on Sat 1).
We were not visible enough, says Marc Schmidlin. In addition, the target group was not quite right, says the Market Development Manager at Masterfoods: "In this environment, we reached a much more passive audience. That wasn't in line with the positioning." So Schmidlin changed the type of sport and advertised the performance-enhancing bar with posters in the Klosters/Davos ski region in the winter of 2001/02.
Feedback and sales figures from the Grisons region completely convinced the Zug-based manufacturer. It repeated the billboard campaign with a new look and expanded its activities to the Valais ski resort of Saas Fee.
Replacing the verbal joke with the illustrated one
While the previous year's campaign was a headline campaign - we remember the witty diminutives such as the line "And now for the black pistol" - this year, a campaign consisting of 20 illustrated motifs conveys the USP. "On the slopes, the viewer passes our advertising several times a day. It makes sense to use images because they leave more room for interpretation than a text solution," says Schmidlin.
As the budget did not allow for a photographic realization of the witty before-and-after situations, the Amsterdam-based Robert Vulkers was commissioned to illustrate the motifs after an evaluation. "His style captures the spirit of the times, because he characterizes people and objects in a simple way, but doesn't miss any crucial details," says Wirz-CD Matthias Freuler. And AD Marietta Albinus adds: "We wanted a type of illustration that has not yet been seen everywhere." Ernst Weber
We were not visible enough, says Marc Schmidlin. In addition, the target group was not quite right, says the Market Development Manager at Masterfoods: "In this environment, we reached a much more passive audience. That wasn't in line with the positioning." So Schmidlin changed the type of sport and advertised the performance-enhancing bar with posters in the Klosters/Davos ski region in the winter of 2001/02.
Feedback and sales figures from the Grisons region completely convinced the Zug-based manufacturer. It repeated the billboard campaign with a new look and expanded its activities to the Valais ski resort of Saas Fee.
Replacing the verbal joke with the illustrated one
While the previous year's campaign was a headline campaign - we remember the witty diminutives such as the line "And now for the black pistol" - this year, a campaign consisting of 20 illustrated motifs conveys the USP. "On the slopes, the viewer passes our advertising several times a day. It makes sense to use images because they leave more room for interpretation than a text solution," says Schmidlin.
As the budget did not allow for a photographic realization of the witty before-and-after situations, the Amsterdam-based Robert Vulkers was commissioned to illustrate the motifs after an evaluation. "His style captures the spirit of the times, because he characterizes people and objects in a simple way, but doesn't miss any crucial details," says Wirz-CD Matthias Freuler. And AD Marietta Albinus adds: "We wanted a type of illustration that has not yet been seen everywhere." Ernst Weber
