Communication & Marketing

Swiss Federal Railways SBB

Communication & Marketing

SBB has been an Official Partner of Expo.02 practically since its inception. With two clear objectives:

  • Half of Expo.02's traffic takes place by rail
  • SBB positions itself as a modern company

And SBB has achieved both of these goals. The decentralised concept of Expo.02 suited them well: it demanded mobility. In response to this, SBB defined the four Arteplages as a single virtual railway station. This meant that visitors did not have to decide at the railway ticket office whether they wanted to travel to Murten-Morat, Yverdon-les-Bains, Biel-Bienne or Neuchâtel: They simply bought a ticket to Expo.02

SBB has entered into a close marketing and communication partnership with Expo.02. SBB was granted exclusivity in the sale of Expo.02 tickets to private customers and was given various target groups to work with. SBB designed a temporary campaign for school classes, in which they filled the Arteplages during the first two months of the Expo.02 at a standardised national price. Companies and clubs were approached with mailings, while for families an offer was put together around the children's Junior Card, which became a free Expo.02 ticket. The railway used ticket sales to communicate the Expo.02 theme at an early stage. In addition to the Expo.02 tickets, a combined ticket was created for the one- or three-day passes, and an Expo.02 half-fare season ticket for CHF 60, valid for the 159 days of Expo.02, was launched. This also sold very successfully and generated many new customers for SBB.

The communication itself was divided into three phases. In the pre-sales phase up to March 2002, posters with the headline Don't look around for long drew attention to the fact that Expo.02 tickets were only available from the railway. In MobilBonus, the magazine sent to 2.2 million SBB customers, attention was drawn to Expo.02 offers, competitions and promotions were organised, while the GA travelcard holder segment received the season pass for CHF 98.00 instead of CHF 198.00 in a limited-time promotion. Shortly before the opening of Expo.02, in March and April 2002, target groups such as car drivers, who typically do not use the railway, were sensitised with the rocker campaign. Apparently with success, as the Expo.02 car parks remained notoriously under-occupied.

With the start of Expo.02, the railway stations were fully involved in the communication, which was a major exception to the rule: Expo.02 flags were hoisted on the platforms. In the entrance areas, red ribbons on the ground clearly proclaimed: Expo.02 begins here. Arrows, small posters and floor stoppers continued to draw attention to the Expo and the sale of tickets. The POS was given an Expo.02 focus in each of the three phases (pre-sale, start of sales, family campaign), with bulk baskets, posters, flyers and banners. All measures supported the central message: the railway stations are THE gateway to Expo.02. Over 800 SBB employees were deployed on site: they swapped their offices with Expo.02 for a few days and were there to provide visitors with advice and information. The destination stations themselves were given special waiting areas. They were made wheelchair-accessible and directions were also displayed in Braille for the blind. Special emphasis was also placed on a festive atmosphere. In Murten-Morat and Yverdon-les-Bains, the architects of the Arteplages took care of this. Finally, an information system was set up to display the next trains at the stations and - with a time delay to allow a comfortable walk to the station - also at the Arteplages. 

With their design and the Expo.02 logo, the modern tilting trains themselves were already flagships for both SBB and Expo.02 two years before the start of the national exhibition.

A final core element for SBB was the introduction of the coloured timetable. A colour code was used to communicate a dynamic timetable, which was determined from week to week on the basis of forecast frequencies, event calendars and the weather forecast. Rail travel has never been so flexible - the innovative timetable design around Expo.02 formed the broad platform for a daily updated SBB message about Expo.02 and emphasised the innovative image of SBB around the national exhibition. Swiss television conveyed this message daily in its Meteo programmes.

All in all, SBB and Expo.02 have maximised the benefits of their commitment. SBB is perceived by the public in the desired way. The symbiosis has materialised: Expo.02 and SBB - they belonged together.

Text: Swiss Federal Railways SBB, 2002