SWISS NATIONAL MONUMENT

TitleSWISS NATIONAL MONUMENT
BrandBUNDESAMT FÜR KOMMUNIKATION
Product/ServicePUBLIC SERVICE
Category A06. Financial Products & Services, Commercial Public Services, Business Products & Services
Entrant FARNER, SWITZERLAND
Idea Creation FARNER PR Zurich, SWITZERLAND
PR FARNER PR Zurich, SWITZERLAND
Additional Company AROMA Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Additional Company 2 FEDERAL OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS OFCOM Bienne, SWITZERLAND
Credits
Name Company Position
Philipp Skrabal Farner Consulting AG Chief Creative Officer
Irena Barbaric Farner Consulting AG Senior Consultant
Lucian Cadalbert Farner Consulting AG Project Manager
Martin Böni Farner Consulting AG PR Executive
Nina Wick Farner Consulting AG Advertising Consultant
Ibtissam Aiterrami Farner Consulting AG Junior Consultant
Melanie Bockhorn Farner Consulting AG Desktopper
Peter Thieu Farner Consulting AG Senior Web Developer
Marco Cavalli Farner Consulting AG Desktop & Electronic Publisher
Lukas Abegg Farner Consulting AG Junior Web Developer
Pascal Rohner Farner Consulting AG Senior Designer
Regula Marti Farner Consulting AG Multimedia Producer
Manuela Rocchese Farner Consulting AG Consultant
Michel Grunder Farner Consulting AG Head of Farner Berne
Ceng Dirlik Farner Consulting AG Motion Designer
Thomas Besmer Farner Consulting AG Digital Marketing & Analytics Specialist
Andrea Löpfe Farner Consulting AG Junior Digital Consultant
Senada Haralcic Farner Consulting AG Social Media & Community Manager
Renato Steck Farner Consulting AG Consultant
Janine Zundel Farner Consulting AG Consultant
Tillmann Clausen Aroma Project Manager
Marc Wiederkehr Aroma Head of Production

The Campaign

.swiss stands for the many positive features of the Swiss brand which are recognized worldwide. For people to understand and experience the abstract concept of a virtual top level domain, the toplevel domain .swiss is brought to life as three-dimensional character. To make it more tangible .swiss was placed in public places and together with Swiss national monuments. Artistic visual production and promotional live activities create public and media attention and are showcasing the domain’s underlying values and significance to Switzerland and potential applicants. Finally a catchy claim shall summarize and capture in a nutshell everything that .swiss stands for.

Execution

Promotional live performances created media/public attention. The website became the virtual home and information hub, connecting all stakeholders. Campaign and registration launched with a media conference by the Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard. Concrete value propositions, promotional live performances and testimonials created an abundance of content for media reports, online ads and posts on social media platforms. Key target audiences and selected decision makers are reached through direct mailing, the intensive use of social media platforms, concerted ad-campaigns and promotional inserts in corporate and interest group publications. A key stakeholder and media event launched the general opening of the registration. The first year achievements were celebrated with a life performance and a review video. Video testimonials of businesses gone live on .swiss created “success stories” that are presented online.

The campaign launch received national media attention. Reports in print media (unpaid) reached 4.3 million readers in the first two days and 22 million in the first month. During the first five months the website registered 43’000 visits and the reach on social media accumulated to 8 million users. The client set the goal of 15’000 applications received within the first year. This mark was surpassed quickly, with already 20’000 applications received after only six months. Six months into the campaign 50% of all “Swiss Market Index”-companies, 44% of the 50 top employers, 71% of all Swiss banks and a third of the “Best of Swiss Web Winners 2015” had already applied for a .swiss address. Within the first year after the launch 16’000 registrations have already been approved and are ready to go live.

The Situation

Being exclusively for Swiss organizations and institutions the new top level domain .swiss embodies typical swiss values and thus creates unique opportunities base on the international quality and recognition of the Swiss brand. The project demonstrates potential domain owners that it definitely is Swiss if they make it .swiss, identifying all the advantages and possibilities of the exclusive toplevel domain and thus creating a successful stream of registrations and active .swiss community.

The Strategy

Swiss businesses, organizations and institutions are defined as the campaign’s target audience. The decision makers were approached through storytelling via various online and classical media channels, as well as directly and indirectly through direct mailing, online and print ads. Intensive social media work played an important and integral part throughout the campaign. The campaign was planned out in three phases: - Tease: Set the stage, create public attention, provide information and involve target audiences. - Sunrise: Create excitement and first wave of registration, privileged treatment of public bodies and owners of trademark rights. - Landrush: Demonstrate impact, general opening of registration process, controlled assignment and supervised use of generic domain names (naming mandates). The agency offered a one-stop communication solution in five languages, from conceptual work to production and live events.