As the airline of Switzerland, Swiss has always been committed towards bringing different people and cultures together. As part of its latest experiential initiative Swiss welcome, the airliner is seeking keen travellers from 17 countries to come to Switzerland, explore the country with local hosts and acquire a unique Swiss experience.
In an exclusive interaction with,
Titus Fernandes, Marketing & Business Development Manager Swiss Airline India we get an insight on the airliners experiential endeavours and the importance of India as a market for it.
Swiss International Air Lines is looking in for people who would like to get to know Switzerland from an individual local perspective. And to this end, SWISS is inviting people in all 17 nations – nine in Europe and eight farther afield –
The “A Swiss Welcome” programme already has its own
swiss.com/welcome website. And would-be visitors, hosts and voters can all visit the platform and communicate their interest. The best and funniest “A Swiss Welcome” encounters, and the experiences of the visitors and their hosts, will also be channelled into an appealing film that will be featured on the programme’s website from the end of next April onwards.
Q-How was the idea of a Swiss Welcome campaign conceptualized?
A-After two successful “Seats for Switzerland” campaign which were completely directed towards the Switzerland home market, Swiss decided to create a new campaign that was unique yet still celebrated the motto of Swiss to bring different people and cultures together and thus as a result it was decided to launch “A SWISS Welcome” worldwide.
As part of the campaign activity Swiss is inviting people in 17 nations including India who would like to get to know Switzerland from an individual local perspective.
Q-How will the Swiss Welcome campaign be rolled out?
A-To apply to this unique trip one has to submit a creative one-minute video on
swiss.com/welcome platform between now and
30 November.
All the videos received will be judged by the online community to determine the 20 best submissions from each of the 17 countries. And a judging panel will then choose a winner from among these for each country by
14 December. The successful entrants will each win an attractive individual trip to Switzerland with personal contact with their Swiss hosts, and with a SWISS flight voucher, their hotel accommodation and a travel allowance all included.
Once the 17 winners of these visits to Switzerland have been chosen, the “A SWISS Welcome” programme will enter its second phase in early 2016 when SWISS invites members of the Swiss public to apply to serve as the visitors’ hosts. Here, too, the successful applicants will be selected by a combination of public voting and a judging panel.
The guests from abroad will arrive in Switzerland in March of next year, and will be introduced to their Swiss hosts at a welcome event in Zurich in appropriately “Swiss” surrounds. The visitors will then spend the following two to three days travelling around the country with their hosts and experiencing it from a truly personal perspective.
Q-How important is India as a market for Swiss?
A-India is one of the key and important intercontinental markets for Swiss and a source of profitable growth. It is not only a core long haul market but also a key growth market. Swiss remains committed to the Indian market it offers daily flights from Delhi & Mumbai to Zurich. And Zurich continues to be a key aviation hub in Europe.
Q-What are some of the other on-ground experiential campaigns launched by Swiss in the recently?
A-A complete Europe based campaign called the “ Art of Attentiveness” was recently launched and is currently ongoing. As part of it together with renowned light artist Gerry Hofstetter Swiss has created a symbol of greater attentiveness between individuals – in the form of spectacular light installations on monuments in selected European capitals. In November, England is due to become a part of this movement.
Q-Why defines the marketing strategy for Swiss?
A-After establishing a strong position in Delhi & Mumbai as the leading airline connecting India to Switzerland, all our efforts are targeted at maintaining this excellent position. The highly dynamic Indian aviation sector motivates us to constantly innovate in our marketing activities. This is also important for our high end “boutique” approach. We seek a focused quality positioning, to differentiate us from commoditized volume brands. We definitely position Swiss as quality brand. For us every customer is welcome , whichever class he travels.
Q-How does the Swiss welcome campaign resonate with the image of the airliner in India?
A-Swiss embodies its home country’s classic values of “Swiss hospitality “ “quality in every detail” and “ personal attention and care” . With this campaign and as the Airline of Switzerland . Swiss brings people and cultures together. Swiss is seeking keen travelers from various countries to come to Switzerland and experience these classic values and explore the country with local hosts and acquire a truly unique Swiss experience.
