«Paris loves Basel»: when two cultural cities kiss

Basel and Paris share a deep passion for art, culture and architecture. The creative agency Mona and Mateo is taking advantage of this common ground on behalf of Basel Tourism - with a performance called «Paris loves Basel», which focuses on the simplest and most sensual of all signs: the kiss.

For the performance, Mona and Mateo's team traveled to Paris and brought together 38 Parisians and 38 Basel residents - strangers who meet in a kiss. Writing on the participants' clothes visually reinforces the connection. The performance started at the Louvre and led through various locations in the Le Marais district, accompanied by film and photo productions.

Basel as an answer to Paris - for a young, art-loving audience

The aim of the campaign is clear: Basel should be considered just as attractive to young, art-loving people as the French metropolis. «»Paris loves Basel' shows what Basel stands for: an exciting passion for art, culture and architecture. I love the campaign - and I am convinced that Parisians will also fall in love with it and our city," says Dominic Stöcklin, CMO at Basel Tourismus.

The campaign is now available digitally on Instagram and YouTube.

Further information on Basel Tourism can be found at https://www.basel.com.

Responsible at Basel Tourismus: Dominic Stöcklin (CMO), Léonie Koch (Manager Markets & Communication), Josepha Bosshart (Manager Arts & Culture Marketing), Salome Ruf (Co-Lead Content & Social Media Marketing). Responsible for concept and implementation at Mona and Mateo: Mišel Gavran, Noeline Helfenfinger, Nuria Rogger, Joëlle Frutiger, Mona Fluri, Mateo Sacchetti. Responsible for implementation: Cynthia Matumona - Pierre Studio (Cast), Lars Gebert (Video), Simon Habegger (Photo), Jack Milwaukee - M!R!M (Music). Responsible for media at Forward Advertising: Andrea Kloter, Sonam Wieland.

Basel delivered - and how. The ESC 2025 was not only a global music festival, but also a media tour de force that impressively demonstrated what a cleverly organized host city and a committed public broadcaster can achieve together. In reference to Paola Felix's fourth place in 1980 with the song "Cinema", the evening really did offer: great cinema.

From the fireworks over the Joggeli, which was packed with 36,000 fans, to the choreographed final show in the St. Jakobshalle, a spectacle was staged that can be regarded as European entertainment at the highest level - but also as a successful communication and branding platform for Switzerland.

 

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Basel as stage and ambassador

What Basel has achieved goes beyond event logistics. The city used its international appeal to reposition itself as an open, creative and cultural metropolis. The Friends of Eurovision" branding boxThe "ESC", an idea of Basel Tourism and Mona and Mateo, allowed local businesses to visibly participate in the event even without an ESC license.

This creative response to trademark boundaries led to a collective cityscape with attitude: welcome, diverse, self-confident. Accompanying art actions - such as Claudia Comte's "Lightning Symphony" or the Rainbow installation at the Fondation Beyeler - also made Basel part of the show in public space.

SRG: A strong signal for public broadcasting

SRG also knew how to use its home advantage. The broadcaster delivered a top European production with a first-class production, pointed direction, fluid stage changes every minute and a show dramaturgy that focused on content rather than effects.

Over 550,000 viewers for the first semi-final alone are proof of a strong response - the final ratings will be higher. It was a moment in which linear television showed that it is still capable of touching and connecting.

Hazel Brugger surprises - the trio convinces

The moderation was in the hands of Hazel Brugger, Sandra Studer and Michelle Hunziker. And while Hunziker acted in an experienced, albeit somewhat scripted manner, and Studer shone as a show professional, it was Hazel Brugger who provided new accents with her fresh, ironic style.

Not every punchline hit, but their approachability worked surprisingly well in the setting of a large-scale TV production. The trio's mixture of coolness, lightness and show experience created a credible, modern overall effect.

Basel was good, Céline wasn't, Sandra and Hazel were good, Michelle unnecessary, Joggeli cool, Demos not - 20-Minuten-User

Media brands and momentum

Swiss media companies also took advantage of the ESC momentum: 20 minutes focused on visibility and reach with special editions, live reporting and stage campaigns. Advertising brands such as Nivea and Vaudoise docked with special formats - a prime example of how entertainment, media presence and brand communication can be combined.

Music, jury and the Swiss zero number

Musically, ESC 2025 was not a year for the history books. But Zoë Më, the Swiss representative, impressed with a classic, deliberately calm ballad - and was voted into second place by the jury. The fact that the audience gave her zero points was bitter - but perhaps also an expression of a show that found its way back to the music instead of fleeing into the spectacle.

Switzerland had the feeling they could win with a lullaby. They just don't learn - 20-minute user.

Austria's JJ took the win with a drama track somewhere between opera and club, staged as a stormy voyage on the high seas. That too: great cinema.

The conclusion: ESC 2025 was a joint effort - by the city, broadcaster, artists and audience. Basel presented itself as an urban stage, SRG impressed with its technical brilliance, and Switzerland showed how culture, media and brand can work together. Perhaps not the best music show - but one that will be remembered. "Cinema, Cinema" indeed.

When the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 takes place in Basel, the city will be in the international spotlight. For Basel Tourism, this is much more than just a major media event - it is a unique opportunity to present Basel as an open, creative and hospitable destination. The aim is for the attention generated by the ESC not to simply pass by, but to have a lasting impact on the city's positioning. Guests should experience Basel as an inspiring host city that impresses not only with its infrastructure, but also with its attitude.

Creative response to the limits of trademark law

The challenge here is that the official image of the ESC may not be used by third parties for marketing purposes. Smaller businesses in particular, which are an important part of Basel's identity, would have little opportunity to visibly participate in the event. This is precisely where the idea of the "Friends of Eurovision" branding box comes in. The toolbox should make it possible to make the ESC spirit visible in the city without violating legal regulations. The branding box was created in cooperation with SRF and was developed by the agency Mona and Mateo developed and implemented.

What the Branding Box does

The box developed by Basel Tourismus contains various advertising materials such as posters, stickers, pins, beer mats, tattoo sheets and postcards. Everything has a visually independent design, but fits harmoniously into the atmosphere surrounding the ESC. Businesses in the canton of Basel-Stadt - in particular stores, restaurants, hotels and cultural institutions - were able to obtain the box free of charge and thus become part of a city-wide presence. The specially developed "Friends of Eurovision" logo may also be used - a unifying element that contributes to recognizability without making use of protected trademarks.

Cityscape and attitude as a joint appearance

The concept goes far beyond decorative effects. It aims to make Basel's welcoming culture visible and tangible. At a time when urban hospitality is increasingly contributing to differentiation, this can be a strong signal. Anyone walking through the city should feel that Basel welcomes people - together. The branding box thus focuses on a positive and uniform image that invites both guests and locals to be part of the ESC. At the same time, the project demonstrates how local identity, brand management and international events can be combined - without license agreements, but with impact.

A project with a broad impact

The branding box is part of a broader strategy by Basel Tourism to involve as many people as possible in the ESC - emotionally, creatively and culturally. It is complemented by the "Tell Your Friends" activation campaign, which encourages people to recommend the event to others, as well as a broad-based public value program run by the Canton of Basel-Stadt and SRG. This includes formats such as an over-60s disco, school projects, urban art campaigns and special exhibitions - all with the aim of bringing the ESC into the heart of society. Delegations also benefit from customizable city tours, while new tour formats such as Pride tours or AR city walks allow visitors to experience Basel from unusual angles.

The websites of Zürich Tourism and Basel Tourism recently welcomed their visitors with an innovative new feature - two friendly and intelligent AI butlers. Both cities are thus pioneers in Europe and are moving together into the future of guest advice. The innovative technology promises personalized and automated assistance for every guest, impressively enriching the guest experience while increasing the ease of travel.

"The first experiences are very positive. It's amazing how quickly the guide learns and already provides competent information," enthuses Thomas Wüthrich, the director of Zurich Tourism. Letizia Elia, the director of Basel Tourism, is also enthusiastic: "The AI concierges master the impossible and answer the questions of our interested visitors in record time, around the clock and in almost all languages."

No traditional chatbots

The AI concierges in Zurich and Basel are not conventional AI chatbots or ChatGPT imitations. What makes them unique is their ability to respond to every conceivable question while maintaining a personal touch. They are based on ChatGPT's technology and use artificial intelligence to analyze questions as well as formulate answers. Fed with all the information about their cities and regions, they no longer know any language barriers.

In close cooperation, Zürich Tourism and Basel Tourism developed the idea for the introduction of the AI-Concierges. The AI-Concierge was realized by the Viennese company "goodguys gmbh". For their conversational services, the goodguys rely on their own language models in combination with intensive use of "generative AI" (OpenAI, Google), which enables comprehension-oriented processing of information in almost all languages for all conceivable situations.

The competitive situation with international metropolises such as Paris and the increasing pressure from the art scene led to uncertainty among various tourism and economic service providers regarding the future of the international art fair in Basel. For this reason, Basel Tourism initiated a task force last fall on behalf of the Department of Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. To structure the creative process and coordinate the impact of the taskforce's measures, Basel Tourism brought the creative agency Yellow onto the team.

Based on brainstorming sessions with various service providers and an analysis of the demands of different target groups, the numerous ideas for measures were examined and evaluated according to their impact and complexity. In addition to adjustments in the range of services offered by hotels and restaurants, the charm offensive in terms of welcome culture and hospitality emerged as a measure with strong potential. Under the motto "I'm part of it", the Yellow team developed an awareness campaign for service providers in the gastronomy and hotel industry as well as for the Basel population. It includes films in various lengths and formats, flyers, various stickers and buttons in Art Basel colors.

Responsible at Basel Tourismus: Letizia Elia, Ann Müller. Agency: Yellow, Basel.

To this end, the Tourism Taskforce, headed by Basel Tourism, and the Culture Taskforce, headed by the Culture Department in the Presidential Department, are to develop concrete measures in the areas of gastronomy, the hotel industry and culture.

With a joint commitment by large sections of the hotel and gastronomy industry against price excesses and for more hospitality, the "I'm part of it" initiative supported by all stakeholders will be launched in 2023. The common goal is to make Art Basel more visible, perceptible and tangible throughout the city with this comprehensive initiative to strengthen the welcoming culture.

Visible and tangible welcome culture

Various measures have been worked out in the two task forces, which are intended to make Art Basel more visible and tangible.

In addition to the launch of the "I'm part of it" communication campaign, flagging along the main axes and visibility on public transport will be increased. In addition, new welcome and information desks will be set up at EuroAirport and at the train stations. Furthermore, Art Basel and Basel Tourismus are planning a Rhine swimming event, and a newly launched cross-restaurant reservation platform will enable Art guests and locals alike to enjoy an uncomplicated gastronomic experience.

Furthermore, the campaign will be extended digitally through DOOH, banners, social media, web and owned media, this time with a summer atmosphere in the city on the Rhine.

Responsible at Basel Tourismus: Christoph Bosshardt (Deputy Director, Head of Marketing), Sarah Bruhin (Social Media & Online Manager), Aline Franklin (Text & Content Manager), Silvio Iacconi (Digital Marketing Manager). Responsible at Kreisvier: Alexandra Kellenberger, Joel Kettl (consulting), Amaru Eslava, Carmen Stähelin, Michael Schmidt, Johanna Buehler (creation), Dario Bonarrigio, Jessica Wernli, Sinia Brugger (interaction design). Responsible at Cover Media: Stefan Sommerhalder (Production Manager), Angelina Belintani, Michel Zürcher (Production), André Guadagno (Director), Tim Gibbons (DoP), Nathalie Kamber (Camera Assistant), Samuel Erdmann (Production Manager), Philipp Keusen (Hair & Makeup), Oliver Muff (Gaffer), Wendelin Schmidt-Ott (Set Sound), Randy Looser (Production Design), Rainer Ammann, Baschi Thommen (Sound Design), Christian Taro (Editing), Roman Schnell (Motion Design). Responsible at Gamned (media consulting, media planning and activation): Fabrizio Tudisco, Granit Sermaxhaj, Taulant Ramadani

In 2021, Basel's hotels recorded 784,607 overnight stays. This was almost 44 percent more than in the previous year, which, however, will probably go down in history as a catastrophic year not only for tourism in Basel. The room occupancy rate of the 66 hotels (+3) of 35 percent on average was still at a low level.

"The worst is behind us," said Daniel Egloff, director of Basel Tourism, at a media conference on Thursday. But one is still far from normality, he added. With an increase in overnight stays of almost 43.7 percent, Basel did better than the reference cities of Zurich, Bern, St. Gallen, Lausanne and Geneva, which recorded an average increase of 21.4 percent.

As a pleasing point, Egloff mentioned that there was a striking increase of almost 44 percent in guests from Switzerland. They accounted for more than half of all overnight stays and even provided record figures in the months of August to October. Unsurprisingly, the value of overnight stays by guests from America and Asia barely recovered, while guests from European countries are slowly making their way back to Basel.

Upswing in leisure tourism

The fact that hotel occupancy was markedly higher on weekends than on weekdays was taken by Egloff as a sign that the recovery was primarily due to leisure tourism.

Business, trade fair and congress tourism is still struggling at the moment. And in this area, the medium-term prospects are still uncertain: In the business sector, the newly intensified use of digital communication tools will probably have a lasting impact on travel activity.

In the area of exhibition tourism, too, those responsible do not expect a one hundred percent recovery against the backdrop of the crisis-ridden exhibition operator MCH Group. Basel Tourism will, however, actively promote growth in congress tourism.

Based on these targets, Basel Tourism expects a moderate increase in overnight stays of 10 to 20 percent for the current year 2022.

He said it was pleasing that Basel would be able to boast a large number of top events in view of the good prospects in connection with the Covid 19 pandemic: Mention was made of the postponed Swissbau trade fair, the Basel Tattoo military music festival, the Swiss Indoors and also Art Basel, which had already provided the daily top figure for room occupancy last year.

In addition to the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Festival in nearby Pratteln BL, exhibitions at Basel's museums were also counted among the top events. With the Mondrian show at the Fondation Beyeler and El Greco/Picasso at the Kunstmuseum Basel, two blockbuster exhibitions were on the annual program. (SDA)

Even the campaign word mark "Switzerland with a difference. This is Basel." is intended to emphasize that Basel does not conform to stereotypical ideas. With a "Denglish" wink, the campaign proudly shows the internationality of the city of 200,000 inhabitants.

The interplay of abruptly clashing German and English parts suggests the regional, clichéd on the one hand, and modernity and cosmopolitanism on the other: with a rich cultural offering of every stripe, Basel self-confidently offers a contrast program to Switzerland's common alpine folklore image.

The campaign, focused primarily on billboards, is extended digitally through DOOH, banners, social media, web and owned media.

Responsible at Basel Tourismus: Christoph Bosshardt (Head of Marketing), Sarah Bruhin (Social Media & Online Manager), Aline Franklin (Text & Content Manager), Silvio Iacconi (Digital Marketing Manager). Responsible at Kreisvier: Alexandra Kellenberger, Andula Swendrowski, Mirjam Birrer (consulting), Ann-Kathrin Vogel, Bianca Kury, Carmen Stähelin, Dario Bonarrigio, Michael Schmidt, Ramon Niederhauser, Sinia Brugger, (creation), Imke Fichter, Lorena Wissler, Sybille Gundry (DTP), image editing: Sturm. Responsible at Gamned (media consulting, media planning and activation): Silvana Imperiali, Fabrizio Tudisco, Zbynek Zapletal, Granit Sermaxhaj.

From now on, Basel Tourism appears under the word-image brand "This is Basel". The overall appearance is younger, fresher and more colorful. An image film for international use, the new website, various print media, guest brochures, image brochures and all stationery have already been implemented in the new look.

A national campaign was launched just in time for the foreseeable end of the travel ban. The starting signal was a new job offer from Basel Tourism: with a certain wink, a test tourist was sought to put Basel's tourist attractions through their paces.

The campaign is now entering its second phase under the slogan "Basel macht dich ferienfit wieder" ("Basel gets you fit for vacation again"). Switzerland's capital of art and culture offers numerous opportunities to brush up on any vacation skills that may have been lost during the long break - so that the "big vacations" don't go down the drain.

Responsible at Basel Tourismus: Christoph Bosshardt (Head of Marketing), Vera Flückiger (Marketing & Communications), Melanie Kolofrat (Marketing & Communications). Responsible at Kreisvier: Consulting: Alexandra Kellenberger (Managing Director), Tamara Döbeli (Group Account Director), Bigna Bornhauser (Account Manager), Joel Kettl (Account Manager). Creation: Michael Schmidt (Creative Director), Ann-Kathrin Vogel, Amaru Eslava (Art Direction), Bianca Kury, Carmen Stähelin (Text), Joel Wächter, Jessica Wernli (Interaction Design), Jacqueline Geist, Simon Näf (DTP). Responsible at Cover Media: Stefan Sommerhalder (Production Management, Director), Baschi Thommen (Camera, Sound Design), Roman Schnell (Motion Design).

In addition, the CI/CD was slightly revised and further communication measures will be designed.