In 2001 something happened that nobody thought was possible: Swissair announced that it was grounding its fleet. And when the newly founded SWISS was sold to the German airline Lufthansa a few years later the love that the Swiss people felt for their airline was gone for good. The task: Bring SWISS closer to the Swiss people so they fall in love again with their airline. To achieve this we simply asked ourselves why we fly and made this our campaign idea.

That’s why the „Seats for Switzerland“ campaign is all about bringing people together.

At the beginning of the campaign there was a simple question: Who do you miss most in the world and why? Nearly 5000 people told their stories which we published on a microsite. Users were given the opportunity to vote for the best 300 stories and decide who would win one of the 300 SWISS tickets. After giving away the tickets we proved what SWISS is actually doing for the Swiss people with six different documentaries that showed just how emotional a reunion can be.

Even Swiss Television was inspired by Seats for Switzerland and produced the series Mission Surprise. In 11 episodes, expatriate Swiss people around the world were surprised by their friends and family.

Seats for Switzerland not only brought people together – it also stirred up emotions across the country. And Switzerland once again fell in love with SWISS.

At the beginning of the campaign there was a simple question: Who do you miss most in the world and why? We posed this question through a variety of channels across Switzerland: Online, in print media, on the radio, in PR articles and in a trailer that spent days driving through Switzerland. Each story was published on a microsite. On this site, users were given the opportunity to vote for the best 300 stories and decide who would win one of the 300 SWISS tickets.

The reactions were breathtaking. A total of 4756 stories was entered that generated over a million sessions, resulting in 1,6 million page views from 779.328 individual users. Switzerland was involved with SWISS again. Swiss Television was also inspired by Seats for Switzerland, producing the series Mission Surprise. In 11 episodes, expatriate Swiss people around the world were surprised by their friends and family.

Seats for Switzerland not only brought people together – it also stirred up emotions across the country. And Switzerland once again fell in love with SWISS.