A life sciences destination brand that’s anything but clinical

Client
Basel Area Business & Innovation

Sectors
FDI, Investment promotion, Destination branding, Inward investment, Life sciences.

Services
Naming, Brand strategy, Brand story, Brand identity, Brand guardianship.

THE BRIEF

Making the Basel Area the destination of choice for life sciences companies, globally

The Basel Area is Europe's most concentrated life sciences destination, home to the highest density of sector professionals worldwide. Spanning Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft and Jura, across Switzerland, France and Germany, it hosts over 800 companies, 1,000 research groups and nearly 35,000 experts. Yet despite this, the region's reputation hadn't kept pace with its performance. Viewed as a big pharma hub anchored by Roche and Novartis, its biotech, healthtech and medtech ecosystem, and its remarkable quality of life, went largely unnoticed.

Basel Area Business & Innovation appointed Lantern to shift those perceptions and put Basel on the shortlist for US companies considering European expansion or a global HQ. The brief was complicated by fierce competition, US tariffs pulling activity stateside, and the need to unite three cantons behind one story. Creatively, we wanted to challenge the status quo in a sector that's traditionally cold and clinical.

+5.4%

YOY increase in regional settlements since launch

71.7%

Life sciences settlements AS % OF ALL REGIONAL SETTLEMENTS

95/100

AI BRANDED VISIBILITY SCORE, RATED 'EXCELLENT'

NAMING AND SYMBOL

A naming strategy was developed to put the destination on the map, creating intrigue while communicating unrivalled scale and concentration. ‘Supercluster’ was chosen – a deliberately bold term that makes the scale impossible to ignore. A new logo shares the same intent, skipping sector clichés of molecules and DNA helixes, it uses three black arrows to reflect the cantons and tri-border location, with a fourth representing the injection of talent, powering the ecosystem, and providing a subtle link to the iconic Swiss cross.

THE STRATEGY

Bringing science → to life

Basel was unfairly tarred with Swiss stereotypes – expensive, conservative, perhaps a little predictable. The opportunity was to reveal a different reality, and finding it called for an approach that was audience-led and place-powered.

Fifteen stakeholder interviews, more than 150 hours on the ground in Basel, 15,000 words of field notes and an analysis of over 60 sources revealed one central truth: In Basel, life sciences shape the region itself. The sector defines the skyline, supports the arts and has written much of the region's history. Neuroscientists are neighbours, biotechs trade discoveries over drinks and CCOs swim the Rhine in summer. A new brand essence, ‘Bringing science to life’, captures that truth.

BRAND NARRATIVE

Determined to tell a story about far more than pharma, we developed a new manifesto and messaging framework that connected life and science in two ways. It borrowed the lexicon of life sciences, with lines such as ‘Your growth enzyme’ and ‘Life sciences? It's in our DNA’. And it played with place, from ‘This is our wet lab’ over Rhine swimmers to ‘Make a breakthrough in our buvettes’ and ‘Switzerland, with a little more je ne sais quoi’. The tone speaks directly to decision-makers, pairing clear benefits with intelligent wit.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Working with Paul Tait, Rob Caddy and Aviatic Films, a new photo and film shoot captures the tension between science and life, combining labs and workplaces with drone and helicopter views of the Rhine, cityscape and tri-border geography. Partnering with Basel Tourism unlocked additional lifestyle photography of buvettes, streets and Rhine swimming culture, reinforcing a city that feels anything but clinical. In an AI-driven visual world, the imagery felt refreshingly real.

IMPLEMENTATION

Switzerland, with a little more je ne sais quoi

Life sciences place marketing tends to be sterile, leading with statistics rather than human benefits. Basel had something warmer to work with – a French border, a Rhine you can swim in, a city that makes room for the arts – and the communications system had to carry that feeling as reliably as it carried the facts. It’s all housed in a system born from the city’s skyline. Custom supergraphics echo the Roche Towers, the Novartis Pavilion, Theater Basel and other local landmarks, letting the city's own architecture frame photography and hold headlines.

That system now runs across the website, LinkedIn, organic social, PR, sales presentations, location guides and other business development materials, creating a consistent journey from first impression through to investment conversation.

WEB, TV AND SOCIALS

Our digital partner, Adaptable, translated the brand guidelines into a flagship digital presence. baselsupercluster.com is a dedicated destination for international decision-makers, bringing together the region’s proposition, proof points, company ecosystem, location advantages and lifestyle. Meanwhile, the Supercluster's sponsorship of Biotech TV produced a 15-second spot promoting the region, and newly launched social channels are building a fast-growing audience for the Basel Area.

THE ICONIC WICKELFISCH

Welcome to Europe’s wet lab

Every summer, thousands of Basel's workers swim home down the Rhine. It's a much-loved local ritual and a defining image of the city. Determined to connect life sciences with Basel's way of life, we created the ultimate piece of life sciences merchandise. The Wickelfisch, the cult waterproof bag carried by Rhine swimmers, was reimagined as ‘wet lab equipment’ playfully fusing a quintessential Basel experience with the language of life sciences.