Swiss Instagram campaign causes a stir
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING How can Instagram be used for marketing purposes? The communication project "The Gstaad Slow Life Experience" by Gstaad Saanenland Tourism, the Hotel Saanewald Lodge and the global user network "Instagramers" shows what a successful campaign can look like.
Eight active Instagram users from Europe were invited to come to Gstaad and enjoy the winter offer.The action ran from February 7 to 9. Even after that, people were still posting diligently: By February 14, there were about 500 pictures. The photos alone, which were marked with the keyword (hashtag) #TheGstaadSlowLifeExperience, appeared 6.6 million times. They were actively rated with around 137,800 likes. The viewers were inspired to write around 4,000 comments.With 10,800 likes, a landscape photo by Nathalie Geffroy (@nathparis) from France is the absolute front-runner among the images posted. The response through various links on Facebook, blogs and Twitter is also remarkable. "This result is great," notes Phil Gonzalez, founder of the Instagramers network and participant in Gstaad. There is a blog post about the action from the Instagramers here.Goal of the action was fully achievedIn the campaign, the partners are relying on the emotional power of images rather than text. "The numbers achieved so far cannot be seen in absolute terms. The photos are now available on the web and will continue to be seen and rated," explains Kerstin Sonnekalb, Head of Public Relations at Gstaad Saanenland Tourism. "It would certainly be interesting to re-evaluate in a few weeks," says Criss Jiménez from "Instagramers", who helped organize the project and was also present in Gstaad.Paul Peyer, owner of the Saanewald Lodge and initiator of the campaign, has a similar view. "Actually it is still too early for a balance. What is certain is that we had an incredible amount of fun during the planning and realization." The main purpose of the campaign, to get in touch with the respective target group, to win new friends as well as to create visibility for the region and the hotel, has been fully achieved, according to his assessment.Action with two starting pointsThe campaign was divided into two different projects. First, eight influential Instagrammers from all over Europe were invited to spend three days exploring the region and posting their personal impressions on their Instagram accounts, free of any promotional messages.They did not receive a fee for this. The only requirement was to tag the pictures with three specific hashtags: Under #TheGstaadSlowLifeExperience #Saanewaldlodge and #Gstaad, the results can thus be found again on Instagram.Sunshine for aperitifOn the other hand, the partners had invited to a "GstaadInstameet" on February 9, a public photo safari with dogs and two ponies on foot, by snowshoes, ski or snowboard through the winter landscape of the Saanenland. Despite heavy snowfall in the morning, more than 30 participants met for this event. Some of them came from Lausanne and Zurich to Saanenmöser to the Saanewald Lodge. The youngest participant, Noah (15) from Freiburg im Breisgau, also had the longest journey. He and his family used this occasion for a leisurely day trip. All participants were rewarded with a small aperitif in the piste restaurant "Kuhstall" in Schönried and bright sunshine in the afternoon. Their works can be viewed at #GstaadInstameet.Motivation boost for new edition in summer"The cooperation with the globally active user network Instgramers was an incredible enrichment for this action. Without their specialist background, we certainly wouldn't have got this far," says Kerstin Sonnekalb, underlining the importance of the experts with their far-reaching contacts.The universally positive reactions mean a boost of motivation for both GST and Saanewald Lodge. "Our next goal is to break the previous participation world record at an Instameet," jokes Paul Peyer, referring to the rather high bar of 400 set by challenger San Diego Instameet. "Why not? We'll definitely be there," says Kerstin Sonnekalb, looking forward to further campaigns of this kind.A similar Instagram project is already being planned for the summer. Gstaad Saanenland Tourism is the first destination in the Alps to realize such a communication project in collaboration with Instagrammers.The video of the campaign:
