Agency commissioned for two years Confederation pays CHF 62,300 for the name of a cell phone app
The federal government's planned e-ID app is called "Swiyu" - a word creation that cost around 150 proposals and over 60,000 Swiss francs. However, branding experts doubt that the name will catch on.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The name search for the new e-ID app cost the federal government 62,300 francs.
- "Swiyu" was developed with the help of two copywriters and a Cologne branding agency.
- Experts consider the pronunciation and effect of the name to be problematic.
Whether "Swiyu" will be part of the digital everyday life of the Swiss in the future will be decided on September 28 - when the new e-ID law will be voted on. The Confederation has now presented the corresponding app, which is intended to function as a central digital wallet. It is not only the function of the app that is striking, but also its name - and the price it took to find it: CHF 62,300.
As a public request from Tamedia newspapers shows, the Federal Office of Justice spent two years reviewing more than 150 name suggestions with an agency from Cologne specializing in branding and two copywriters. Three names made it onto the shortlist, with "Swiyu" finally coming out on top.
According to the documents, the name should convey values such as trust, innovation and Swiss identity. Associations such as "Switzerland united", "Swiss innovation for you" or "Your swiss digital suite" were the inspiration for the word creation.
Brand expert is skeptical
The goal: a name that works in all national languages and, in the best-case scenario, becomes a household name - like "Twint".
But brand expert Stefan Vogler from HWZ Zurich is skeptical about Tamedia newspapers. "Swiyu" is phonetically and visually difficult to access - the interplay of "I" and "Y" in particular makes the pronunciation unclear. The connection to Switzerland is also not self-explanatory.
Vogler does not share the hope that "Swiyu", like "Twint", will become part of the language. However: if the app works, even the bumpy name won't be a problem.
