Otztal Tourismus: Save Me - The Ski Pass That Saves Lives
Otztal Tourismus wanted to improve safety at Sölden resort and reduce avalanche fatalities among off-piste skiers. Serviceplan Munich was tasked with finding a way to protect visitors who often ignored safety warnings or lacked professional rescue equipment. The goal was to enhance the resort's reputation as a safe destination while providing a practical solution to a life-threatening problem for adventurous tourists.
Creative Idea
Integrated passive rescue reflectors into standard ski passes to make every skier automatically locatable.
To protect off-piste skiers who often lack expensive safety gear, Sölden integrated passive positioning chips into every standard ski pass, turning a mandatory piece of plastic into a life-saving rescue tool that makes every visitor locatable in an avalanche.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A major European ski resort with the infrastructure to issue thousands of RFID-enabled passes to every visitor daily.
Category
Ski resorts typically focus on marketing slopes, treating safety as a separate, expensive responsibility for the individual skier.
Customer
Off-piste enthusiasts who crave adventure but often underestimate risks or find professional avalanche gear too cumbersome and expensive.
Culture
The growing popularity of extreme sports combined with a rising demand for seamless, tech-integrated safety solutions in outdoor recreation.
Company
A major European ski resort with the infrastructure to issue thousands of RFID-enabled passes to every visitor daily.
Category
Ski resorts typically focus on marketing slopes, treating safety as a separate, expensive responsibility for the individual skier.
Strategy:
Transform a mandatory administrative touchpoint into a functional safety asset to demonstrate radical care for consumer well-being.
Customer
Off-piste enthusiasts who crave adventure but often underestimate risks or find professional avalanche gear too cumbersome and expensive.
Culture
The growing popularity of extreme sports combined with a rising demand for seamless, tech-integrated safety solutions in outdoor recreation.
Strategy:
Transform a mandatory administrative touchpoint into a functional safety asset to demonstrate radical care for consumer well-being.
Results
Since the introduction of SaveMe in the 2015/16 winter season, Sölden has had the lowest avalanche-related fatality rate in 10 years. The technology is now being considered for implementation by other ski resorts. The production cost of the integrated chip is noted to be only a few cents per pass.
10 years
lowest avalanche-related fatality rate
5,000+
people buried by avalanches annually worldwide
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Instead of just warning about avalanche dangers through traditional media, the brand solved the problem by creating a physical product that actively assists rescue teams and protects its customers.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected Utility
It transforms a mundane, functional item - the ski pass - into a critical safety device by adding a hidden technological layer that provides unexpected value in life-or-death situations.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign excels by seamlessly integrating life-saving technology into a standard consumer product, using clear data visualization to explain a complex technical process.
The integration of a passive RECCO reflector into a standard paper/plastic ski pass is a brilliant hardware innovation.
The 3D animation clearly explains the invisible radio frequency interaction between the rescue team and the buried chip.
The synergy between the physical product design and the technical explanation makes the life-saving benefit immediately tangible to the viewer.
