Change please in the trash
Publicis wants to popularize the Cash payment system with a guerrilla campaign
Publicis wants to popularize the Cash payment system with a guerrilla campaignBy Luca AloisiThe Cash electronic payment system is already five years old. Despite the high density of EC cards, the system suffers from a lack of acceptance and awareness. This is now set to change with Expo.02 and a capillary Publicis campaign.
Originally, Cash - a product of the Swiss banks and Swiss Post marketed by Europay - was to be used as an exclusive Expo payment method. However, the planned monopoly position, which could have been the ultimate market penetration for cashless payment without a PIN code, was then dropped.
According to David Jäger, project manager at Europay, the organizers had to adapt their communications support to the change of course. The initial situation was such that the smallest of the 12 official Expo.02 partners had to use its relatively modest budget all the more efficiently in order to stand out in the Expo media hype and to achieve its quantitative and qualitative goals.
Jäger does not conceal the fact that sustainable establishment in the market for cashless payment methods depends on many factors and that the positioning with the Expo as a communication platform for cash is almost existential. "This is a very decisive six months in the life cycle of the means of payment," explains Jäger. After a "not very satisfactory" first few years, Cash is still in the development phase, which is why the company is now hoping for a lasting effect. An eye-catching guerrilla campaign alone is not enough. In addition to the basic campaign, information, partner activities and PR, a dominant personal presence on the ground is therefore essential to explain the means of payment.
An "advertising-free" Expo.02 requires special campaigns
The pitch for the communication measures for the "Cash - the means of payment at Expo.02" strategy was won by the previous budget holder Publicis. However, CD Markus Gut is not talking about a campaign. "For us, this is an action, a movement", which he wants to see perceived accordingly. "We are calling on the Swiss to dispose of their coins," is how he sums up the humorous advertising idea.
This dramatization was a natural choice because small change is superfluous on the Expo site. As simple as the message is, it is conveyed directly. The main emphasis of the budget is on guerrilla campaigns. These are reinforced with the remaining budget via the classic advertising media of posters and advertisements. Because the advertising spaces are unusual, the stringently implemented appeal achieves a high level of distribution and visibility despite the relatively low budget.
Adhesives and wild posters are affixed to waste garbage cans, containers, tree wells, fountains and manhole covers. In order to increase the stop and reminder effect, Europay does not even shy away from placements that "re-explore" the limits of legality: with "coin disposal" tree troughs in central locations or with cash-decorated bridge railings at the "advertising-free" Expo.02 - to name just two examples. The client openly admits that the company has protected itself against possible lawsuits and provided an advertising war chest.
Push-and-pull method to boost the market
The cash presence should be loud. This is because the discrepancy between the high density of cardholders and the low acceptance rate is due to the still thin network of Cash outlets in Switzerland. There are more than 3.8 million cards with the cash chip in circulation in Switzerland. However, only ten percent of cardholders use them, and only rarely. Nevertheless, people are confident: "The EC card also took a long time to catch on," says Jäger. It remains to be seen whether the comparison is justified, as product perception has also accelerated in recent years along with technologization. The relatively low perception and high market potential of the payment method therefore remain obvious.
It is not only marketing-specific problems that have probably delayed the breakthrough so far: The high upgrade costs, the fees and the commission for the contractual partners are offset by the modest purchase amounts that are processed with cash devices. The question of whether the investment is worthwhile in terms of potential volume ultimately depends on consumer behavior.
The aim of addressing the estimated three million electronic payers at Expo.02 is not only to increase their understanding. The overriding aim is to reduce skepticism on the part of consumers and merchants and to win new customers for additional acceptance points. To this end, Europay is pursuing a targeted regional development strategy with a push-and-pull character. Jäger sees an expanded network as a symbolic goal, thanks to which the additional function on postcards and EC/Maestro cards would be used two to four times a day.
Europay targets 40 percent cashless transactions
For the time being, the broad-based campaign has achieved the desired audience size: Blue stickers in all possible and impossible places draw attention to the disposal of small change and the reasons for it. It remains to be seen whether the unusual Expo.02 cash campaign will be followed by a surge in demand from end consumers. The target is 40 percent cashless transactions. However, Europay does not wish to disclose how large the proportion of cash transactions will be.
Nevertheless, even a moderate surge in development would mean a positive breakthrough for the previously flat trend curve. According to consultant Christian Siegrist, it is already clear that the Expo campaign will be followed by an image campaign that takes up the same new visual world. Instead of the previous color red and the dramatization of the chip, blue with bright elliptical lines will now be used to imitate the value of material means of payment. This positioning is reinforced by the equally new claim "Pay the easy way".
Originally, Cash - a product of the Swiss banks and Swiss Post marketed by Europay - was to be used as an exclusive Expo payment method. However, the planned monopoly position, which could have been the ultimate market penetration for cashless payment without a PIN code, was then dropped.
According to David Jäger, project manager at Europay, the organizers had to adapt their communications support to the change of course. The initial situation was such that the smallest of the 12 official Expo.02 partners had to use its relatively modest budget all the more efficiently in order to stand out in the Expo media hype and to achieve its quantitative and qualitative goals.
Jäger does not conceal the fact that sustainable establishment in the market for cashless payment methods depends on many factors and that the positioning with the Expo as a communication platform for cash is almost existential. "This is a very decisive six months in the life cycle of the means of payment," explains Jäger. After a "not very satisfactory" first few years, Cash is still in the development phase, which is why the company is now hoping for a lasting effect. An eye-catching guerrilla campaign alone is not enough. In addition to the basic campaign, information, partner activities and PR, a dominant personal presence on the ground is therefore essential to explain the means of payment.
An "advertising-free" Expo.02 requires special campaigns
The pitch for the communication measures for the "Cash - the means of payment at Expo.02" strategy was won by the previous budget holder Publicis. However, CD Markus Gut is not talking about a campaign. "For us, this is an action, a movement", which he wants to see perceived accordingly. "We are calling on the Swiss to dispose of their coins," is how he sums up the humorous advertising idea.
This dramatization was a natural choice because small change is superfluous on the Expo site. As simple as the message is, it is conveyed directly. The main emphasis of the budget is on guerrilla campaigns. These are reinforced with the remaining budget via the classic advertising media of posters and advertisements. Because the advertising spaces are unusual, the stringently implemented appeal achieves a high level of distribution and visibility despite the relatively low budget.
Adhesives and wild posters are affixed to waste garbage cans, containers, tree wells, fountains and manhole covers. In order to increase the stop and reminder effect, Europay does not even shy away from placements that "re-explore" the limits of legality: with "coin disposal" tree troughs in central locations or with cash-decorated bridge railings at the "advertising-free" Expo.02 - to name just two examples. The client openly admits that the company has protected itself against possible lawsuits and provided an advertising war chest.
Push-and-pull method to boost the market
The cash presence should be loud. This is because the discrepancy between the high density of cardholders and the low acceptance rate is due to the still thin network of Cash outlets in Switzerland. There are more than 3.8 million cards with the cash chip in circulation in Switzerland. However, only ten percent of cardholders use them, and only rarely. Nevertheless, people are confident: "The EC card also took a long time to catch on," says Jäger. It remains to be seen whether the comparison is justified, as product perception has also accelerated in recent years along with technologization. The relatively low perception and high market potential of the payment method therefore remain obvious.
It is not only marketing-specific problems that have probably delayed the breakthrough so far: The high upgrade costs, the fees and the commission for the contractual partners are offset by the modest purchase amounts that are processed with cash devices. The question of whether the investment is worthwhile in terms of potential volume ultimately depends on consumer behavior.
The aim of addressing the estimated three million electronic payers at Expo.02 is not only to increase their understanding. The overriding aim is to reduce skepticism on the part of consumers and merchants and to win new customers for additional acceptance points. To this end, Europay is pursuing a targeted regional development strategy with a push-and-pull character. Jäger sees an expanded network as a symbolic goal, thanks to which the additional function on postcards and EC/Maestro cards would be used two to four times a day.
Europay targets 40 percent cashless transactions
For the time being, the broad-based campaign has achieved the desired audience size: Blue stickers in all possible and impossible places draw attention to the disposal of small change and the reasons for it. It remains to be seen whether the unusual Expo.02 cash campaign will be followed by a surge in demand from end consumers. The target is 40 percent cashless transactions. However, Europay does not wish to disclose how large the proportion of cash transactions will be.
Nevertheless, even a moderate surge in development would mean a positive breakthrough for the previously flat trend curve. According to consultant Christian Siegrist, it is already clear that the Expo campaign will be followed by an image campaign that takes up the same new visual world. Instead of the previous color red and the dramatization of the chip, blue with bright elliptical lines will now be used to imitate the value of material means of payment. This positioning is reinforced by the equally new claim "Pay the easy way".
