Normal customers
Versus is positioning the Küschall wheelchair brand through a global advertising campaign
Versus positions the Küschall wheelchair brand with a global advertising campaignby Simone Keller Advertising for or with disabled people is often fraught with prejudice, and many implementations are often controversial. Versus goes beyond the classic role models for the Küschall wheelchair brand and shows disabled people in their normal everyday lives.
Since December 2000 at the latest, the Swiss population has been confronted with a new image of disabled people: In its image campaign, the organization Pro Infirmis showed self-confident people who "do not allow themselves to be hindered". According to a 1997 health survey by the Federal Statistical Office, 790000 people live with a disability in Switzerland. While previous fundraising campaigns for disability organizations often portrayed people with disabilities as pitiable, Pro Infirmis and the agency at the time, Metzger Lehner Briccola, set new standards in this market - standards that had a lasting effect.
Take the Basel-based full-service agency Versus, for example. Following a pitch, it was commissioned by Invacare AG to reposition the Küschall wheelchair brand. Founded by Rainer Küschall, the brand stands for designer wheelchairs that are characterized by their lightness and functionality. The "Competition" chair even earned the tetraplegic in New York the Museum of Modern Art's design prize.
Versus leaves the usual cliché behind for Küschall
"People who opt for a Küschall usually buy a second wheelchair," explains Versus CD and management member Filippo Muscara. A study commissioned by Invacare shows that Küschall customers buy a wheelchair that is adapted to their current life situation and special needs. People with walking disabilities who have just been confronted with their fate are influenced by doctors and therapists when choosing a wheelchair. The level of insurance premiums, which vary from country to country, also plays a key role when buying a wheelchair.
In addition to the CI and logo, the campaign launched in October also includes brochures and advertisements and is aimed directly at consumers for the first time. The aim is to increase awareness of Küschall at an international level and communicate the associated customer benefits.
The CD admits that visualizing these messages was a balancing act. After all, the target audience should be addressed as normal customers of a consumer product. According to Muscara, most wheelchair manufacturers rely on the image of the device or the classic role model "I'm disabled, you're not" in their communication.
Clear and simple speech, only for disabled people
In the realization, the Versus creative team deliberately avoids exclusion and shows people "in an everyday situation for which the corresponding wheelchair model is specially suited". The black and white, posed photos by Heino Heimann may appear sterile to the non-disabled viewer. Muscara: "We have depicted situations that everyone knows, but that everyone experiences individually. The abstract photos leave room for the experience and the associated personal ideas." The campaign is also clearly aimed at people with disabilities. Muscara is pleased to report that they also responded very positively to the new image at the Rehacare trade fair, where it was presented.
But even the most functional wheelchair is useless if many restaurants, stores or means of transportation are inaccessible. A report commissioned by Pro Infirmis and compiled by the Federal Statistical Office provides some estimated figures: According to the report, 87 out of 19,000 restaurants are wheelchair accessible, and only half of the 3,600 SBB train carriages have a wheelchair compartment. The initiators of the popular initiative on equal opportunities for the disabled, submitted in 1999, are seeking to remedy these shortcomings. The proposal was rejected in the winter session on the grounds that it would have unforeseeable financial consequences. It is expected that the sovereign will have to decide on the referendum in the coming 'European Year of People with Disabilities'.
The campaign will be implemented over a planned period of two years in the following countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Greece, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, the USA, Argentina, Japan and Eastern Europe (sk).
Since December 2000 at the latest, the Swiss population has been confronted with a new image of disabled people: In its image campaign, the organization Pro Infirmis showed self-confident people who "do not allow themselves to be hindered". According to a 1997 health survey by the Federal Statistical Office, 790000 people live with a disability in Switzerland. While previous fundraising campaigns for disability organizations often portrayed people with disabilities as pitiable, Pro Infirmis and the agency at the time, Metzger Lehner Briccola, set new standards in this market - standards that had a lasting effect.
Take the Basel-based full-service agency Versus, for example. Following a pitch, it was commissioned by Invacare AG to reposition the Küschall wheelchair brand. Founded by Rainer Küschall, the brand stands for designer wheelchairs that are characterized by their lightness and functionality. The "Competition" chair even earned the tetraplegic in New York the Museum of Modern Art's design prize.
Versus leaves the usual cliché behind for Küschall
"People who opt for a Küschall usually buy a second wheelchair," explains Versus CD and management member Filippo Muscara. A study commissioned by Invacare shows that Küschall customers buy a wheelchair that is adapted to their current life situation and special needs. People with walking disabilities who have just been confronted with their fate are influenced by doctors and therapists when choosing a wheelchair. The level of insurance premiums, which vary from country to country, also plays a key role when buying a wheelchair.
In addition to the CI and logo, the campaign launched in October also includes brochures and advertisements and is aimed directly at consumers for the first time. The aim is to increase awareness of Küschall at an international level and communicate the associated customer benefits.
The CD admits that visualizing these messages was a balancing act. After all, the target audience should be addressed as normal customers of a consumer product. According to Muscara, most wheelchair manufacturers rely on the image of the device or the classic role model "I'm disabled, you're not" in their communication.
Clear and simple speech, only for disabled people
In the realization, the Versus creative team deliberately avoids exclusion and shows people "in an everyday situation for which the corresponding wheelchair model is specially suited". The black and white, posed photos by Heino Heimann may appear sterile to the non-disabled viewer. Muscara: "We have depicted situations that everyone knows, but that everyone experiences individually. The abstract photos leave room for the experience and the associated personal ideas." The campaign is also clearly aimed at people with disabilities. Muscara is pleased to report that they also responded very positively to the new image at the Rehacare trade fair, where it was presented.
But even the most functional wheelchair is useless if many restaurants, stores or means of transportation are inaccessible. A report commissioned by Pro Infirmis and compiled by the Federal Statistical Office provides some estimated figures: According to the report, 87 out of 19,000 restaurants are wheelchair accessible, and only half of the 3,600 SBB train carriages have a wheelchair compartment. The initiators of the popular initiative on equal opportunities for the disabled, submitted in 1999, are seeking to remedy these shortcomings. The proposal was rejected in the winter session on the grounds that it would have unforeseeable financial consequences. It is expected that the sovereign will have to decide on the referendum in the coming 'European Year of People with Disabilities'.
The campaign will be implemented over a planned period of two years in the following countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Greece, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, the USA, Argentina, Japan and Eastern Europe (sk).
