Phone call contest promotes quiet Swiss village

Creative agency Jung von Matt/Limmat promoted Swiss village Tschlin by offering a free trip to anyone whose call to the village telephone went unanswered.

Getting off the beaten path is a popular way to travel, and a number of agencies and websites are encouraging this exploration. Travelers can use an app to get lost on purpose, and entrepreneurs can book tours of local startups. Swiss village Tschlin is said to be so quiet that whenever the village’s central telephone rings, a resident will answer. Creative agency Jung von Matt/Limmat made that tranquillity central to its recent tourism campaign, the Village Phone promotion. If any call to the village went unanswered, the caller won a vacation to Tschlin.

Part of the agency’s larger My Mountain Village campaign, the Village Phone promotion received more than 30,000 calls. Tschlin’s 166 residents had more than 4,000 conversations, and by the end of the six day campaign, there were more than 65 vacation winners.

How else could the particular attribute of a community be used to solve a remote location challenge?