Blaues Kreuz Zurich offers information and services to alcoholics on their website. These services should be made known, with a minimal communication budget. At the same time the general public should be sensitised to the work of the organisation.The various communication goals can be achieved only with an independent media partner. We planned an ambient-action that was so unusual that the TV station TeleZuri reported on repeatedly in its hourly newscast.For the ambient-action we built special MP3-players which were equipped with a noise sensor that were mounted inside the recycling containers in which the empty bottles were thrown. As soon as someone throws in a bottle, the voice of a drunken person could be heard from within.A sticker on the container directed people to the website of Blaues Kreuz Zurich were one can receive help. We then recorded the surprised people by using a hidden camera and passed the footage on to TeleZuri.

Through the TeleZuri’s coverage Blaues Kreuz Zurich reached in the end another nearly 390,000 viewers in the target area, which amounts to nearly 20 percent of the population. The results showed a rise in the click-rate on the website of 8.1 percent.

In a first step we convinced Blaues Kreuz Zurich of the PR potential of the action. We then laid the action out in detail and built the MP3 player. Finally we went to the TV journalists with the proposition and the appliances, offering to supply them the film footage on the hidden cameras. Together with the journalists we adapted the action until it was completed and was reported on in a news broadcast.

The action took place in the city of Zurich. The PR goal was to reach a wide public. A Zurich TV station reported on the action, reaching approximately 390,000 viewers in the target area, which amounts to nearly 20 percent of the population and would require a media budget of about 180,000 Swiss francs if done with classic TV advertising.

As a result considerably more people were interested in the services offered on Blaues Kreuz Zurich’s website: The click-rate rose 8.1 percent.