<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"We see ourselves as sales support: the front line is the sales force, and we need to simplify their lives."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Clemens Bartlome</div></div></div>

From August 2019, Clemens Bartlome will take over responsibility for the Switzerland Travel Center (STC) site in London as managing director UK. He was previously Head of Product and Experience Marketing at Graubünden Ferien (GRF), which provides targeted advertising for the Graubünden holiday region. The Chur-based economist has led the digital marketing efforts of several global consumer goods brands and implemented various community and loyalty software projects. In addition, Mr. Bartlome was a start-up consultant in the digital environment.

Graubünden Ferien

<h3 class="interview-question">Mr. Bartlome, what makes the Graubünden brand so authentic and unique?</h3>
We can look back on a very successful time in terms of marketing, and I think there are three reasons for that. We have the right people, who have proven to be thought leaders. We work with partner destinations that are very willing to participate and show a lot of courage. We also have agencies that are on board with our projects and understand us well as a client. Thanks to this combination, there has been a very positive development. In addition, we have this big gap between top destinations and smaller destinations in Graubünden. The smaller destinations are aware that they will never reach the strength of the top destinations. That is why they have other values than the classic tourist values such as overnight stays or skiing. They have the necessary leeway that helps us to live and position the brand. We recognized this potential early on, which gave us a certain fool's license that allows us to be so bold even today.

When the brand was founded - which was a pioneering achievement in Graubünden - they created these brand values and tried to differentiate themselves with them. It was a hard road and a lot of work to build it all up. Today, Graubünden Ferien no longer takes care of the brand. Two years ago, when I joined, the brand was separated because it was a regional brand and not a pure tourism brand. Graubünden Ferien is still the licensee, but the umbrella brand works for the whole canton and covers different areas.

<h3 class="interview-question">What is your job at Graubünden Ferien and how big is the team you lead?</h3>
My team consists of about ten people and I am the head of product and experience marketing. I am responsible for both strategic direction and operational marketing, including content development, social media and influencers. We handle smaller campaigns and SEO ourselves, and work with various agencies for the rest. Through our work, we have to create arguments to sell holidays better.

<h3 class="interview-question">In which areas of online marketing and online communication is Graubünden Ferien mainly active? What budgets and focus areas are you working with in 2019?</h3>
We have a performance mandate from the canton of Graubünden and receive CHF 6 million per year, plus various additional funds, for example for remote markets. We also look for partners to help us finance the projects.

In general, we take a very holistic view. There is no separation between online marketing and traditional marketing. So we don't have a specific focus. The focus is probably that we analyze everything very carefully. We spend a lot of time analyzing the things that we do and determining what we want to learn from them, even though we may not be able to use the results immediately.

An example of this is the hotel videos we are currently producing. In terms of content, we try to make the same video twice. However, the first video focuses on the hotel manager or owner, and the second shows him or her in passing. That way we can see what resonates better with guests. Is it the face of the hotel manager or is it the rooms or other unique selling points?

We also did a big ski and snowboard campaign last year where we ran over 100 different pieces of content over a four to five month period, trying to figure out what content works best when and where. We were able to use the results of that very well this year. We found that before Christmas, skiing with a wellness theme works really well. 

After Christmas, wellness does not play as big a role. In spring, on the other hand, the sun terrace is a successful addition to the ski vacation. We pass these results on to the ski resorts, so that they can consult with the hotels to include wellness in their communication during the pre-Christmas period. Through our work, we have to provide arguments to sell holidays better. We see ourselves as a sales support.

<h3 class="interview-question">Do you have any plans for further development in the area of online marketing?</h3>

For a year now, we've been trying to collect and use more of the insights we get from content analysis. We want to work more closely with partners like hotels, cable cars, destinations and ski schools to learn more. These partners have very successful campaigns with concepts that can be used in other regions. Our partners are willing to share their experiences, but often don't have the right opportunities to do so. For us as Graubünden Ferien, the Ibexes have a high value and they work phenomenally well. The demand is very high and when we make a video, it goes viral.

Success Factor: Ibexes

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"For us at Graubünden Ferien, the ibexes hold great value—and they work phenomenally well. Demand is very strong, and whenever we produce a video, it goes viral."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Clemens Bartlome</div></div></div>

<h3 class="interview-question">Probably the most famous ibexes on Youtube: Gian and Giachen. Millions of hits, ringtones, wallpapers, fan shop. What is the basis for the success of this marketing campaign (for 10 years now) and how does it fit into the overall marketing strategy?</h3>
As far as I know, they were created when the brand was being built. They worked with Jung von Matt and thought about how to differentiate themselves. That was done in the early days with traditional television advertising. At that time, the Internet was different and they said that branding with online advertising was not possible. There was no brand that had managed to build itself online. With the Ibexes, however, this was achieved step by step, which was an outstanding achievement by the team at that time. For us as Graubünden Ferien, the Ibexes have a high value and they work phenomenally well. The demand is very high and when we make a video, it goes viral. The interesting thing is that the announcement that we are making a new clip goes even more viral than the clip itself.

<h3 class="interview-question">Is video content left to creative agencies or is it data driven?</h3>
We do both, and we've done some analysis on that as well. For example, on Youtube, if you type "skiing" into the search bar, how-to videos come up about third. We found this topic very exciting, so we started to create such videos. For the texts, we worked with experts - for example, hiking experts or e-bike experts. We also make campaign videos that are written by agencies. The content is the most important thing, and then we think about the right channel.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"Content comes first—then we consider which channel might be the right fit."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Clemens Bartlome</div></div></div>

<h3 class="interview-question">For the remarketing activities, are there ready-made processes? Are the videos the start of an internally defined process, or are they just nice videos that get distributed?</h3>
Both are true. For example, we ran a campaign in which the comedian who voices Gian the ibex travels around the Grisons in search of different recipes. We then opened a pop-up restaurant in Zurich and collected these recipes for the menu. So it's a classic series, but we don't focus on one particular channel. The channel is always the second step for us. It's the content first, and then we think about what channel might be appropriate - maybe it's video or images or just sound.

<h3 class="interview-question">Blockchain, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, chatbots, voice search & voice assistants, live content and marketing automation will continue to dominate the digital scene in 2019. To what extent do these new technologies already influence the daily work of Graubünden Ferien?</h3>
The new strategy of Graubünden Ferien is ultimately also about taking a closer look at these technologies. The great thing about tourism is that you can test and use all the new trends. However, it is very difficult to achieve market acceptance in this area. In marketing, processes are established and it's easy to share insights. But when it comes to innovative topics, it's not so easy to convince people.

The people in Innovation & Research have already done a very good job and come up with some concepts. Last winter, we tested a new model for ski instructors. The instructors are on the slopes, and you can book them on the spot for a few runs instead of a day or weeks in advance. We also launched the "Bunanotg.ch" platform. On this platform, guests indicate their willingness to pay and the hotels in the desired region then book the guests, instead of the other way around as was the case previously. The difficulty, however, is to drive these projects forward and find partners to operate the offers.