Matter & Gretener: Free Holiday Republic of Saas-Fee proclaimed
The agency Matter & Gretener won the pitch for the Saas-Fee/Saastal Tourism budget and has launched a communications campaign for the vacation region.
80 percent sunny days, 100 percent guaranteed snow and up to 4545 meters above sea level: the four Valais communities of Saas-Balen, Saas-Grund, Saas-Almagell and Saas-Fee believe that there is nowhere else as beautiful as here. That's why last Saturday, in a spectacular ceremony with church bells ringing and a huge fireworks display, they declared their independence from the usual vacation regions and proudly proclaimed the Free Holiday Republic of Saas-Fee. The founding ceremony was attended by the people of the four municipalities, their presidents, numerous winter holiday guests and national celebrities. For example, the singer Kisha and her band CH presented their new song "Saas-Fee".
The idea of founding a state is not only reflected in posters, advertisements, brochures and the online area, but also in a wealth of other measures. For example, vacation guests now have "civil rights" (such as the "right to look down on the Matterhorn from the cathedral"), the guest card is designed as a passport and restaurants with foreign cuisine are embassies (for example from Italy or Thailand). In addition, the Free Republic of Saas-Fee has a national dish created by Gault Millau "Chef of the Year" 2007 Markus Neff, its own country license plate for the rear of the car and a national television station that regularly broadcasts via Facebook, YouTube and Saas-fee.ch humorous news. Probably the most spectacular measure of the campaign, however, is the construction of a border house with a barrier in front of Saas-Balen, the first village in the Free Republic of Saas-Fee. A border guard was even employed to guard the national border.
The marketing association Saas-Fee/Saas Valley Tourism and the Zurich agency Matter & Gretener, which won the budget for the well-known vacation region in a competitive presentation last July, are behind the communication offensive.
Responsible at Saas-Fee/Saas Valley Tourism: Pascal Schär (Managing Director), David Graefen (Head of Marketing). Responsible at Matter & Gretener: Daniel Matter (CD), Dominik Imseng (text), Julia Batzlen (graphics), Marcus Gretener, Simone Frei (consulting). Photography: Sven Germann, Christof R. Schmidt. Production of viral and TV commercials: Condor BB/A, Olivier Egli (producer/director). Banner programming: Hausheer. PR: Open Up.
FFSF State foundation from Matter & Gretener on Vimeo.
