Passage of the wind couriers
Lang Gysi Knoll is promoting Swiss-Kurier's USP to the market
Lang Gysi Knoll blows the USP of Swiss-Courier into the marketBy Ernst WeberIn a follow-up appearance, Lang Gysi Knoll (LGK), Berne, continues to grab the image of Swiss-Courier out of the air: in a witty way, a lot of wind is blowing around the fast service of Swiss Post Ltd.
Swiss Post's courier service, Swiss-Kurier, is currently the leading Swiss courier with 64 locations, almost 400 employees and an average market share of around 50 percent. According to its own surveys, its share in the local distance segment is around 20 percent, which is still the market leader, while on national routes it is over 60 percent.
However, in 1998/99, the Express Post service unit learned that size does not protect against existential hardship: In order to survive in the atomized competitive situation characterized by strong regional and local providers, the services were reduced to a "market-driven level" as part of a substantial redesign. "As we can't be a low-cost provider, we face a major challenge, particularly in the local area," says Adrian Hunzinger, Head of Express Post.
According to the company, the streamlining had an impact last year, when the Bern-based Expresspost, whose services also include the classic express service, was in the black overall.
LGK has been responsible for Swiss-Kurier's advertising since the time of the upheaval. At the beginning of the collaboration, the positioning was still a bit awkward, as on one occasion the courier service was advertised and on another occasion the classic express service of the former monopolist was the subject of the advertising activities, says Nicole Huber, co-owner of LGK. Expresspost has only been managing Swiss-Courier in its communications in terms of brand management for around two years.
A strong campaign made even stronger
The new campaign from the Bern agency continues this continuity. It sticks to the windy positioning idea on the basis of which a TV commercial series was realized last year that was awarded silver by the Art Directors Club Switzerland. However, while that series merely made wind about Swiss-Kurier, the current campaign now has pneumatic features, so to speak: namely in the form of a witty joke.
"We knew that the performance had to be a little cheekier once the audience had gotten used to the tone of the first series of commercials," says Nicole Huber.
The commercials end with the off-screen slogan "Swiss Post has a courier. And it's fast. Very fast, in fact" - reinforce the positioning that the Swiss courier, which focuses primarily on domestic business, sweeps into every corner of Switzerland like the wind. They observe the "damage" caused by the wind as the courier vehicles speed through the area.
For example, the ball of a black streetball player, who, more bored than cool, attempts a few tricks, suddenly no longer bounces back from the ground into the player's hands, but flies, caught by a gust of wind as if Michael Jordan had thrown it, into an open garbage can standing to the side behind the streetball player.
Even worse happens to a dog that has just chosen a Cupido fountain to do its business. As soon as the dog starts to pee, he is hit by the jet of water from the fountain, deflected by the wind from the courier vehicle chasing past. Startled, he runs away, only to return immediately to the bewitched place barking.
Incidentally, the animal, which suffers from a quasi-imperative urge to urinate, once lifted its leg for Guye Benker (then still Guye&Partner). In a TV commercial for Winner.ch, it wet a pair of shoes of an unloved neighbor standing in a stairwell on its master's command.
Swiss Post's courier service, Swiss-Kurier, is currently the leading Swiss courier with 64 locations, almost 400 employees and an average market share of around 50 percent. According to its own surveys, its share in the local distance segment is around 20 percent, which is still the market leader, while on national routes it is over 60 percent.
However, in 1998/99, the Express Post service unit learned that size does not protect against existential hardship: In order to survive in the atomized competitive situation characterized by strong regional and local providers, the services were reduced to a "market-driven level" as part of a substantial redesign. "As we can't be a low-cost provider, we face a major challenge, particularly in the local area," says Adrian Hunzinger, Head of Express Post.
According to the company, the streamlining had an impact last year, when the Bern-based Expresspost, whose services also include the classic express service, was in the black overall.
LGK has been responsible for Swiss-Kurier's advertising since the time of the upheaval. At the beginning of the collaboration, the positioning was still a bit awkward, as on one occasion the courier service was advertised and on another occasion the classic express service of the former monopolist was the subject of the advertising activities, says Nicole Huber, co-owner of LGK. Expresspost has only been managing Swiss-Courier in its communications in terms of brand management for around two years.
A strong campaign made even stronger
The new campaign from the Bern agency continues this continuity. It sticks to the windy positioning idea on the basis of which a TV commercial series was realized last year that was awarded silver by the Art Directors Club Switzerland. However, while that series merely made wind about Swiss-Kurier, the current campaign now has pneumatic features, so to speak: namely in the form of a witty joke.
"We knew that the performance had to be a little cheekier once the audience had gotten used to the tone of the first series of commercials," says Nicole Huber.
The commercials end with the off-screen slogan "Swiss Post has a courier. And it's fast. Very fast, in fact" - reinforce the positioning that the Swiss courier, which focuses primarily on domestic business, sweeps into every corner of Switzerland like the wind. They observe the "damage" caused by the wind as the courier vehicles speed through the area.
For example, the ball of a black streetball player, who, more bored than cool, attempts a few tricks, suddenly no longer bounces back from the ground into the player's hands, but flies, caught by a gust of wind as if Michael Jordan had thrown it, into an open garbage can standing to the side behind the streetball player.
Even worse happens to a dog that has just chosen a Cupido fountain to do its business. As soon as the dog starts to pee, he is hit by the jet of water from the fountain, deflected by the wind from the courier vehicle chasing past. Startled, he runs away, only to return immediately to the bewitched place barking.
Incidentally, the animal, which suffers from a quasi-imperative urge to urinate, once lifted its leg for Guye Benker (then still Guye&Partner). In a TV commercial for Winner.ch, it wet a pair of shoes of an unloved neighbor standing in a stairwell on its master's command.
