Gstaad charm offensive in Zurich

The aim was to create sympathy, break new ground in tourism marketing and make targeted personal contact with potential guests.

The 29 participants met at the train station in Gstaad at 6.45 am. The secret stars of the event, the two cows belonging to farmer Willi Bach from Saanen, had already been on their way to Zurich for a good hour. Spread over five vehicles and highly motivated, they headed towards the eastern lowlands. The meeting point was the Romantik Hotel Europe in Zurich. The guests were amazed when they saw the two guests from Gstaad, who were rather exotic by city standards, getting out of the cattle truck. After a quick shower and make-up with flower arrangements, the top models from Gstaad were ready to accompany the hoteliers and representatives of Gstaad Saanenland Tourism on their march through the Seefeld district with a cart and Bernese mountain dog.

Passers-by reacted with delight and amusement to the charming demonstration of hospitality and enjoyed the regional specialties, sliced cheese and dried meat on offer.

The focus is on people

"We want to invite our customers out of their everyday lives into our brand world and talk to them in order to get to know their vacation needs even better," says Head of Marketing Reto Tschannen, explaining the hoteliers' motivation for traveling to Zurich's city centre with bag and baggage. "The inspiration for this campaign came from the question of how we can stand out efficiently in times of excessive overstimulation and reach our guests in the best possible way," adds Christian Hoefliger, President of the Gstaad Saanenland Hoteliers' Association. "Because our core competence as hoteliers is and remains people and their needs."

A premiere in more ways than one

The campaign, which will be repeated in Lausanne on May 21, is also linked to the new advertising campaign of the Gstaad Saanenland Hoteliers' Association and Gstaad Saanenland Tourism, which is also a premiere in several respects. Consumers are not being addressed as passive recipients as usual.

Discover vacation experiences in a playful way

The campaign relies on interactive elements and allows customers to participate in an exciting story thanks to a creative and humorous approach. The aim is for them to playfully discover the values behind the Gstaad brand and the range of possible vacation experiences for themselves. Human closeness, warmth and hospitality are the key messages here. "The guest takes center stage and has fun at the same time," Reto Tschannen outlines the core messages. At the same time, the campaign invites people to take part in a virtual search for Tessa the cow, who has escaped from Gstaad farmer Tinu's barn (Gstaad.ch/Tessa). Whoever finds it can win an attractive prize.

Photos: Mattias Nutt