Brand bytes # 1
An occasional series on brands we admire — and why
Enter Swiss Railways.
Here’s a case where railing against national stereotypes is futile.
This beautiful, simple and yet intriguing brand embodies the essence of place, wrapped into a smooth experience that always delivers.
Surely that’s what good branding is all about:
- Delivering on a clear proposition.
- Elevating it through perfect experiences.
- Inspiring via good design.
- Enhancing the culture it’s from and which it in turn supplies.
So let’s break down that success.
First up, the very name: a wonderful constellation of acronyms. It should be a dog’s breakfast, but ends up as an elegant, intriguing answer to Switzerland’s official multi-lingualism.
Then there’s that font: yes, guess what, the Swiss-originating Helvetica. Bold, simple, functional — and calmingly beautiful. Rather like that country.
Don’t forget delivery. Enter that other Swiss cliche — timeliness. Watch the seconds count down on the also-iconic Swiss railway Mondaine clocks, and feel the train start to move at the exact appointed second.
What about on board? King here has to be the catering. If you’re at your seat, expect a trolley with fresh sandwiches — not made in a distant factory, and, in a nod to the Italian dimension to Swiss identity, an actual Lavazza espresso machine on wheels.
In a word, wow. In another: heaven!
And if you’re a little old-school, there are often restaurant cars. These have ‘proper’ tables, starched tablecloths, and chairs that aren’t screwed down to the floor. Civilised. The food is expensive (another Swiss cliche), but you’d be a fool not to have the 6-franc coffee and croissant combo, while watching that unrivalled scenery swish by.
Then there’s the pre-boarding experience: lots of ticket counters. Good, self-explanatory, multilingual machines. And excellent apps that tell you not only what to expect in terms of services, carriages, stops and all the usual, but which, as well as selling you tickets, tell you the expected load of passengers, should you feel like waiting for a quieter one.
To cap it all, there’s a nicely innovative feel about the brand, beyond the traditional flourishes — and even that almost obligatory ‘Swiss’ red and white colouring.
Some of these depend on the eye of the beholder — enter the world’s first and so far only ‘travelling Starbucks’ on certain commuter services.
But either way, here’s a brand that promises, delivers — and then some. To my mind, the whole package makes what is otherwise a relatively ordinary experience something elegant, uplifting, and resoundingly satisfying.
Use national cliches to your advantage? Why not.
Brand job — done.
Proscht — Santé — Salute!
