"Energy has long been more than just a radio station"
On Saturday, the concert event "Energy Air" celebrates its premiere in Bern. Dani Büchi, Managing Director of the Energy Group, reveals why the event cannot be compared to other open airs and why once again all tickets were given away.
"Energy Air" is the name of the youngest child in the ever-growing Energy Event family. The Open Air will be held for the first time on Saturday, September 6 at the Stade de Suisse in Bern. Around 40,000 expected visitors can look forward to concerts by national stars such as Pegasus, Bastian Baker, Lo & Leduc and Dabu Fantastic, but also inernational acts such as Family of the Year, Steve Angello or Kodaline. As usual with Energy Events, all tickets for "Energy Air" were raffled in advance. The Open Air will also be broadcast live on Energy TV and Energy.ch. The 36-year-old Energy managing director Dani Büchi is in the final organizational spurt and explains the background to the upcoming event to Werbewoche.ch.
After "Energy Stars for Free," "Energy Live Session," Energy Movie Night and Energy Fashion Night, how did Energy decide to become an open-air event organizer?
Dani Büchi: We've wanted to bring the unique atmosphere of Energy Stars For Free outside for a long time and set up a big open air with our listeners. The timing was ideal this year because we found a partner in our presenting partner Swisscom who was willing to set up such an event with us. The project is a big and exciting challenge for everyone involved, and we are looking forward to it.
Isn't Switzerland saturated or even oversaturated when it comes to open airs?
You can't compare the Energy Air with other open airs for various reasons. We have more than twelve international and national acts performing on one stage on one evening. This variety does not exist at an open air in this density and so alternately. In addition, as usual with Energy Events, you can't buy tickets for Energy Air, but only win them with luck. These two points alone make Energy Air unique.
What considerations lay behind the principle of giving away all 40,000 tickets?
Something that you can buy does not have the same desirability as something that you just can't buy, but can only win with luck, sometimes even a lot of luck.
In general, what is Energy's motivation for putting on concerts and events?
Energy has long been more than just a radio station: Since the launch of Energy in German-speaking Switzerland in 2003, we have evolved from a classic private radio station for the young target group into an entertainment brand with multifaceted activities in the areas of radio, TV, online, social media and events. Today, we are represented in Switzerland with three stations in the cities of Zurich, Basel and Bern. What was initially a classic private radio station, Energy Zürich, has developed into a nationally active entertainment company. We are thus available on all vectors with different products and achieve both broad and compact coverage of the advertising-relevant target group across all platforms.
Swisscom is acting as the sole main sponsor of the event, and the tickets are being given away - does this calculation work? Is holding the event also associated with a risk for Energy?
We finance our events primarily through sponsorship and enter into appropriate partnerships for this purpose - such as the long-standing cooperation with Swisscom for various events. In some cases, of course, we still have to use our own marketing resources, such as at the premiere of Energy Air. But our goal is not to make money with the events, but to build up a strong marketing tool, on the one hand for the Energy brand, and on the other hand for the bond with our listeners and commercial partners.
Did the bad weather of the outgoing summer affect the interest in tickets or are you satisfied with the way the pre "sale" went?
Satisfied is an understatement. We are overwhelmed. Even in the first few days, when we only communicated that the Energy Air would take place in Bern on September 6, 2014 and no act was known yet, we received so many inquiries that we could have easily filled the Stade de Suisse to capacity. That's a great compliment to us and our partner Swisscom and confirms that we've built up a strong name for ourselves in the event business. Energy Bern and its listeners are of course particularly happy that the event is taking place on their doorstep, but the ticket requests from all over German-speaking Switzerland have also far exceeded our expectations.
The line-up is based on popular national and international artists. Clear international headliners/top acts are missing - deliberately? Or is it primarily a question of budget?
We are happy to welcome Steve Angello, currently the biggest electronic DJ star in the world. This is a great coup that we have managed to pull off. But it is the versatility of the line up and not a single name that is in the foreground. Our events should musically whet your appetite for more. At Energy Air, or at Energy Stars For Free, more than ten acts play two to four songs. In this way, visitors discover acts they didn't know before or for whom they wouldn't have bought a concert ticket before.
Finally, an outlook: Will Energy Air take place again in 2015?
Yes, of course. The date is set, the Stade de Suisse is reserved and the first acts have already confirmed.
Interview: Thomas Häusermann