Expo 2015 Basel's presence in Milan for 1.3 million takes shape

Basel's appearance at the Expo is a "classic location marketing presentation", said President of the Cantonal Government Guy Morin to the media on Wednesday. The city-canton does not appear in the Swiss pavilion as part of the clichéd Heidi Land, but as an emphatically urban living space, workplace and travel destination. The two partner cities for the 150 square meter special show in the Swiss pavilion have a head start: according to Morin, Zurich and Geneva are better known in northern Italy than Basel. Three quarters of the 20 million Expo visitors are expected to be Italian. It is hoped to attract 800,000 to the Swiss pavilion and 600,000 to the city show.

Advertising spirit

The Expo theme of food and energy is "secondary" in view of the advertising potential of the major event, Morin continued. The umbrella brand for the various partners of the Basel Expo presence is a "Spirito di Basilea" with a symbolic butterfly. This alludes to the bright minds whose ideas from Basel later went around the world. With five to six minutes of expected visitor time in the city show, Basel has to appeal to people with something surprising if it wants to be remembered, said city marketing boss Sabine Horvath. Basel has two time slots for this: a solo appearance from May 1 to June 12 and a joint appearance from August 7 to September 12. The aim is to achieve this by focusing on shining examples, such as the research pioneers Tadeus Reichstein, who synthesized vitamin C and discovered cortisone, for which he received the Nobel Prize, or Gustav von Bunge as a food researcher - whose analyses later inspired the Popeye comic strip with spinach as the starchy ingredient.

Other exhibits include Friedrich Nietzsche's texts written in Basel and Arnold Böcklin's famous painting "The Isle of the Dead", as well as design and architectural icons with a Basel connection. The university and university of applied sciences are also on board. A broad accompanying program with podiums and culture - from theater to the jazz campus - also attracts attention.

Surrounding area

It is not only the city-canton itself that should benefit; the Expo presentation is also explicitly a marketing platform for Basel institutions and companies. The most important partners are the furniture manufacturer Vitra in Weil am Rhein (D) and Birsfelden BL as well as the agrochemical group Syngenta. The latter is contributing CHF 200,000 to the CHF 1.3 million budget, while the canton itself is contributing CHF 900,000. Morin countered criticism of the large weight of the company, which has been criticized by environmental and third world organizations, by referring to a fruitful dialogue. The Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL) in Frick AG, Bio-Suisse (Knospe label), the Läckerli-Huus based in Frenkendorf BL and others are also on the Expo's footboard. Even the so-called "Basel water" from historic springs is allowed to travel to Milan for special occasions: collected in the Pelzmühletal valley above Grellingen BL, it is bottled in half-liter bottles with Italian labels in Knuttwil AG. This city-owned product fits in well with the Expo's overarching theme of food. (SDA)