With a Hermes Baby on rails
Public Transportation: Ruf Lanz and the Zurich Public Transportation Authority are sending a tram driver and a journalist on a promotional tour as columnists.
Public transport Ruf Lanz and the Zurich public transport company send a streetcar driver and journalists as columnists on an advertising tour A few days ago, the Zurich public transport company (VBZ) rolled out a new campaign from the depot as part of the single-subject campaign that has been running since 2001. While the first campaign ironically dramatizes a wide range of customer benefits - from the densest timetable in Europe and the wide range of services to punctuality and reliability - the aim now is to complement the customer visuals by giving passengers a better understanding of the view from the cab.During a brainstorming session with VBZ Corporate Communications a year ago, the in-house agency Ruf Lanz realized that although a lot is written about public transport and even more people travel on it - 800,000 every day with VBZ - the "overview" of the approximately 1,300 VBZ drivers is still largely unknown. This idea gave the CDs Danielle Lanz and Markus Ruf an advertising idea and the necessary luck to realize it. With Thomas Schenk, VBZ has had a streetcar driver on duty for some time who can not only drive, but also write. "Part-time driver Thomas Schenk is a journalist in his day job," says Ruf enthusiastically about this happy coincidence.
Driver's cab and poet's lairThanks to this coincidence and the ideal starting position at the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten, a fortnightly column was soon set up, which started on the last Monday in June. In it, Thomas Schenk, who has also written for the NZZ Folio, describes his impressions and experiences from his perspective as a driver.
Heinz Vögeli, Astrid Rappel and Manu Wüest hope that his texts will arouse interest and understanding for the drivers' profession and convey a sympathetic image of VBZ. The columnist says of his new task that he sees himself less as an advertising figure for VBZ and certainly not as Mr. VBZ, but "as a storyteller, in the manner of a tram-driving city writer".
The VBZ response to Bänz Friedli's commuter rules column shows the author in a driver's cab converted into a poet's hut with a mechanical typewriter. In keeping with the launch, the first column dealt with the streetcar drivers' greeting ritual, a topic that, according to Markus Ruf, would otherwise have little reason to exist in traditional advertising.
In fact, the column stands out from the usual publicity reports thanks to its unpretentious and entertaining style. VBZ has already been using this form of customer care for several years as a dialog campaign, which it runs itself on a weekly basis. In contrast to this, the new column is not thematically limited by customer questions, although there is a feedback option via e-mail. The two campaigns will therefore alternate.
Column promotes awareness Schenk, who after his studies and ten years as a journalist found the long-sought fixed structure and clear separation between work and leisure time in his new profession, is looking forward to the feedback, criticism, praise and suggestions. "This column gives me the opportunity to take a more conscious approach to my work as a streetcar driver, i.e. to observe even more closely, to listen and to follow my own thoughts while driving," he says.
We are now eagerly awaiting his contribution about how streetcar drivers experience it when they can no longer let people who are rushing to get on because the doors are blocked. "Perhaps the free newspaper should be renamed 25 minutes on Mondays," jokes Markus Ruf, promising good entertainment.
At the wheel of the typewriter: inside view of a VBZ streetcar driver.
Driver's cab and poet's lairThanks to this coincidence and the ideal starting position at the commuter newspaper 20 Minuten, a fortnightly column was soon set up, which started on the last Monday in June. In it, Thomas Schenk, who has also written for the NZZ Folio, describes his impressions and experiences from his perspective as a driver.
Heinz Vögeli, Astrid Rappel and Manu Wüest hope that his texts will arouse interest and understanding for the drivers' profession and convey a sympathetic image of VBZ. The columnist says of his new task that he sees himself less as an advertising figure for VBZ and certainly not as Mr. VBZ, but "as a storyteller, in the manner of a tram-driving city writer".
The VBZ response to Bänz Friedli's commuter rules column shows the author in a driver's cab converted into a poet's hut with a mechanical typewriter. In keeping with the launch, the first column dealt with the streetcar drivers' greeting ritual, a topic that, according to Markus Ruf, would otherwise have little reason to exist in traditional advertising.
In fact, the column stands out from the usual publicity reports thanks to its unpretentious and entertaining style. VBZ has already been using this form of customer care for several years as a dialog campaign, which it runs itself on a weekly basis. In contrast to this, the new column is not thematically limited by customer questions, although there is a feedback option via e-mail. The two campaigns will therefore alternate.
Column promotes awareness Schenk, who after his studies and ten years as a journalist found the long-sought fixed structure and clear separation between work and leisure time in his new profession, is looking forward to the feedback, criticism, praise and suggestions. "This column gives me the opportunity to take a more conscious approach to my work as a streetcar driver, i.e. to observe even more closely, to listen and to follow my own thoughts while driving," he says.
We are now eagerly awaiting his contribution about how streetcar drivers experience it when they can no longer let people who are rushing to get on because the doors are blocked. "Perhaps the free newspaper should be renamed 25 minutes on Mondays," jokes Markus Ruf, promising good entertainment.
At the wheel of the typewriter: inside view of a VBZ streetcar driver.
Luca Aloisi
