Poster campaign a success: "Heiss auf Reis" wins over French-speaking Switzerland

Together with APG, Uncle Ben's launched a poster campaign in French-speaking Switzerland in winter 2010/11 for its "Heiss auf Reis" easy and quick-to-prepare rice meals. These light rice dishes are practical for in-between meals in the office or at home. To lend support to this product, Uncle Ben's and APG launched a poster campaign in the regions of Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg and La Chaux-de-Fonds.

In parallel, a study was designed to test how effective posters are at boosting sales. The results show that points of sale in areas with posters reported sales up to 44 percent higher than those without posters. What is more, the campaign had a long-lasting effect: the above-average sales levels in areas with poster ads continued for up to four weeks after the end of the poster campaign.

Success along mobility routes
The posters were hung along the main mobility routes, both in a classic breadth strategy and concentrated around the points of sale. Thanks to the prominent positioning of the ads, Uncle Ben's rice meals were made visible to the general public also at times when people are hungry. The posters were seen and acknowledged during store opening hours, and the advertising impulse thus unleashed its sales impact in the right place at the right time.

A. Etienne Schüpfer, Category Director Chocolate and Food, Mars Switzerland Ltd, Zug, says: "We, and our partner APG, are delighted with the excellent sales figures and will continue to put our trust in poster campaigns in the future – for both product launches and promotions."

The case study confirms that posters provide the best leverage for increasing sales revenues. It forms part of a broad-based study commissioned by APG together with Germany's industry association FAW (Fachverband Aussenwerbung e.V., Frankfurt/Main) in 2010.

About the company
APG AG is the clear market leader in Swiss out-of-home advertising. As a subsidiary of Affichage Holding SA, the company provides posters at busy locations all over Switzerland. Using one of the largest natural gas-fuelled vehicle fleets, the regular trips made by its employees to expertly hang posters in urban and out-of-town settings have minimal environmental impact. With over a century of experience, APG combines quality with long-standing tradition.

Information
Thomas Macho, APG Key Account Manager, Giesshübelstrasse 4, 8027 Zurich
Tel. +41 58 220 70 37
thomas.macho@apg.ch

Christof Hotz, APG Head of Research, Giesshübelstrasse 4, 8027 Zurich
Tel. + 41 58 220 58 74
christof.hotz@apg.ch

Information on study with Germany's industry association FAW
www.apg.ch/en/roi