What comes to mind when you think of Switzerland?
André Hefti: Large natural playground for young and old.
Georg Gadient: As a newly qualified tourism professional, I of course know Switzerland’s tourist trinity: Alps, nature, idyll. For me as a Graubünden resident, there are also Capuns and Bergbach.
André Hefti, the so-called “Gold Flower” has been used to advertise Swiss tourism for almost 30 years. Now the gold-plated Edelweiss is supposed to disappear (persoenlich.com reported). Is there a bit of melancholy there too?
Staple: No melancholy, but rather gratitude and the strong conviction to now consistently continue on the path that was taken with the Goldblume. And the certainty that with the new brand you are ideally prepared for the challenges of the future.
The gold flower gives way to a “brand world”. Georg Gadient, why does a static logo no longer work these days?
Gadient: You have to imagine that when the Goldblume was launched 30 years ago, the Internet was still in its infancy. Back then, print was still king and smartphones were science fiction. Today it looks different. The target groups are not only informed selectively, but are also guided on journeys. From inspiration to travel planning to the on-site experience, guests are supported on all channels. In order to be able to offer a consistent experience, the brand needs the appropriate tools.
The gold flower has so far been accompanied by the words “Switzerland” – in 16 different languages. The new brand world, however, only focuses on “Switzerland”. Why does it always have to be English?
Staple: Marketing and communication today mainly takes place digitally and is therefore hardly limited to one market or one language. Rather, every communication is quickly seen worldwide. To always be recognizable and memorable, a brand must always look the same, no matter where our target groups can see it. Therefore, the new brand will always look the same from now on. We follow the principle “One Brand – One Name”. The logo is in English. Slogans, claims and copy will continue to appear in the national languages in the future.
The letter “T” in “Switzerland” becomes a Swiss cross. But it is said that this is much more than just a national flag. How come?
Gadient: Basically, the logo embodies the aim of uniting the two best-known ambassadors for our country: the name “Switzerland” and our flag. At the same time, we want to give the image brand an unmistakable character. We have divided the Swiss red into a five-level color tone. It represents the diversity of our beautiful travel destination, acts as a lively pulse in the brand world and its color scheme also reminds us of the breathtaking alpenglow in the Swiss mountains. With the Swiss flag in the heart of “Switzerland”, the otherwise silent “t” becomes loud for once.
A new font was even created for the new appearance, “ST Allegra”. What makes this font special?
Gadient: Switzerland is known worldwide for its font design. This doesn’t just apply to the old classics, younger type foundries also do outstanding work. We developed the font “ST Allegra” together with Extraset from Geneva. The font creates the ideal balance between good readability and its own character. “Switzerland” produces a lot of content and the font makes a valuable contribution to the recognition of the brand.
The new appearance was unveiled in Geneva on Monday. How difficult was it to keep all this secret?
Staple: We had already informed the industry in January that “something was coming”. Because a few tourism players are known to still use the gold flower. Of course there was a lot of attention there. It was probably the hardest for us because we couldn’t wait to present our new appearance to the world. In the end, I’m proud that we, as a large, tight-knit team, stuck together and remained silent.
“The discussions were sometimes intense, including red heads.”
How long did you work on the new appearance overall?
Staple: The process of creating a new brand began almost two years ago. The first step was to analyze all the strengths and weaknesses of the Gold Flower and its future application. We examined a wide variety of options here, and the discussions were sometimes intense, including red heads. In late autumn last year, the board of Switzerland Tourism (ST) finally gave the green light to the new brand world. Since then we have been working at full speed on implementation.
What were the biggest challenges?
Gadient: An individual challenge for everyone was certainly the realization that the Goldblume cannot be translated to the new needs and that this chapter is coming to an end. The entire team, from Switzerland Tourism and from us, then placed extremely high demands on the new brand. We constantly challenged each other to make the performance even better, more precise and more agile. That demanded a lot of stamina from all of us, but it was worth it in the end. We are all extremely confident with the result and are now looking forward to bringing the brand to life worldwide.
The real work is just beginning now. The complete changeover is expected to take a few months. Why didn’t you want a “Big Bang”?
Staple: The realization and implementation of the new brand world by both our ST partners and our ST stores worldwide will probably be completed at the end of this year. Due to our structures – partner models and global activities – a “big bang” would have been difficult and would have been disproportionately expensive.
Where will the new brand world be used in the future?
Staple: From now on on all our own channels and over the coming weeks in all our activities around the globe. Digital, analog, from billboards in Times Square to office signage in Sydney. From the hotel partner in Vevey to the business event in Zurich. The brand will be completely rolled out across all touchpoints by the end of the year.
“Creating a new brand world is a generational project”
And how much does the whole rebranding cost? Countless appearances also have to be changed by the tourism partners.
Staple: Creating a new brand world is a generational project. The one-off costs are therefore justifiable in view of the expected lifespan of the new brand world. In addition, the new, versatile brand makes communication much more efficient and even saves costs in the future. Bridging measures and patchwork to adapt the existing logo for a few more years would be financially less effective and more expensive overall, especially given the current austerity pressures. The costs of rebranding are covered by the regular budget, no additional funds are required.
Back to the gold flower. Many tourism professionals proudly wore the Edelweiss on their clothing. What will be emblazoned on the lapel in the future?
Staple: Our new logo is actually also available as a pin. And he looks very attractive. We hope that many tourism professionals will enjoy it as much as we do. There are now also pocket squares, foulards, socks and many other hip accessories.