With the global campaign for train travel, Switzerland Tourism (ST) has achieved the most successful marketing measure in its history. For the third time in a row, the focus is on ST’s global brand ambassador, Roger Federer. He is seen alongside comedian Trevor Noah. The video has been viewed over 82 million times to date. With a 59% increase in sales of Swiss Travel Passes (STP) compared to the same period of the previous year, a new record for rail travel tickets for international guests was set as part of a promotion.
The latest ST campaign was played out worldwide, with a focus on the home markets of the USA, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Greater China, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Switzerland and its “Grand Train Tour of Switzerland” were advertised, which is best experienced with the Swiss Travel Pass (STP). This acts as a general holiday subscription for international guests on the Swiss public transport network. The sales figures reflected the focus of the campaign: the top 3 markets with the strongest sales are the USA, followed by India, and finally Korea. Even if the success of the previous year could not be repeated in terms of YouTube views in the first two months (« No one upstages the Grand Tour of Switzerland», 102 million views within one year), the Chief Marketing Officer of ST and Advertiser of the Year 2023, André Hefti, is satisfied: «The figures for the length of stay, recommendation rate and likes are the best we have ever had – that is remarkable in that the video is very long. Through strong storytelling, we managed to get people to look at pictures of our beautiful Switzerland for almost four minutes. It’s world-class!” The film received overwhelming national and international feedback: 99% of the comments are positive.
Platform-Specific Storyline
New to the campaign was the platform-specific, bespoke storyline on TikTok. The content, designed by the Wirz Group from Zurich, draws attention to the topic of rail travel in a humorous way and thus generated initial attention even before the launch. Wirz, led by Livio Dainese, CO-CEO and Advertiser of the Year 2018, was responsible for the campaign idea with ambassador Roger Federer for the third time.
The social media measures were flanked at the international level with a competition that was very well received. Participants could win a trip to Switzerland and a trip on the “Grand Train Tour of Switzerland”. The competition generated leads in the six-figure range. The agency Sir Mary, also based in Zurich, was responsible for the distribution of the campaign. In the third film with Roger Federer, something new was dared with the unconventional approach of only distributing the clip on the YouTube video platform. The film could only be seen in its entirety there. The cooperation with the two agencies led to the desired result for ST. ST director Martin Nydegger: «We are very satisfied with the way the campaign went. The fact that Switzerland is not only a country with incomparable nature and culture in a small area, but also offers modern and sustainable travel options, hits the nerve of the times for our guests. Our campaign does this in a fun way – and very successfully». The basis of this success was once again the close and constructive cooperation with Roger Federer and – in this case – Trevor Noah.
Swiss Travel Pass: best-selling weekend in its history
Through the sales of the Swiss Travel Pass (STP) advertised internationally in the campaign, the effectiveness of an ST campaign could be directly measured for the first time. In the last three days of the campaign alone, sales in the mid-single-digit million range were generated, making them the three best-selling days in the STP’s history. Andreas Niederhauser, Head of Marketing Coordination at Swiss Travel System AG (STS): “The promotion in cooperation with ST also fueled the current trend towards rail travel. This is reflected in the figures for our most successful campaign of all time, which makes us very happy». Remarkable: Three-quarters of future guests state that they want to start their trip in the next three months, which is atypical for the STP markets with the highest sales, the USA, India, and Korea. The promotion triggered an immediate desire to travel here since guests from distant markets traditionally have a longer lead time in their travel planning.
The “Grand Train Tour of Switzerland” offers a round trip of 1,280 kilometers through Switzerland, passing the country’s greatest highlights, 8 stages, 11 lakes and 5 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Switzerland, including the Bernina Express on the Unesco World Heritage route, 21 mountain excursions along the round trip, for example at the foot of the world-famous Matterhorn, Europe’s highest railway station, the “Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe” at 3,454 meters above sea level, The Bernina Line / Bernina Express is Europe’s highest train connection at 2,253 meters above sea level (Height measured at the Bernina Hospice)
Also, read
Tracing the journey from bread making to fine dining
Watch on Youtube
