French find a use for Kiwi symbol

Press, 2 December 1987, Page 10

French find a use for Kiwi symbol

NZPA London French Railways have based a campaign aimed at millions of passengers round a unique little symbol — the Kiwi. The “Kiwi Card,” which features a stylised red version of the New Zealand bird, is destined to reach a market of eight million families in France. It is prominent in displays at travel agencies and other advertising throughout France, and the national railway, Societe Nationale de Chemins de Fers (S.N.GF.) estimates it will apply to 156 million journeys. The card offers discounts and free benefits — like a child’s drink? free sleeper, a trip in first class, or even a small plastic Kiwi — for family travel. No-one contacted in French Railways is sure exactly why the Kiwi was put forward as a suggestion for the campaign, although public relations staff said it had been mooted at an in-house

meeting. However, inquiries made by a New Zealand Embassy staff member in Paris, Stephanie Brooke, turned up S.N.C.F. literature which stated that French Railways had wanted to find'a logo “sufficiently young and dynamic” and easy for children and families to remember.

Groups of children and their parents were used in market research and asked to choose a catchy logo from a big range. Kiwi was the name chosen for its “cute and amusing sound” and its “aura of exoticism which links it with travelling, long holidays and a casual sort of life,” French Railways said. Miss Brooke said she also thought it might have had something to do with a “very well done” kiwifruit marketing advertisement playing on French television. It features a “sweet animated Kiwi making chirpy noises.”