In Switzerland, the state-owned media (Swiss National Television and Swiss National Radio) have by far the greatest penetration. Private channels and stations increasingly meet regional needs.

All operators are subject to strict legislation: branded content must always be clearly declared and recognizable as advertising for the consumer, and is therefore only possible during commercial breaks.

The only permitted form of branding is TV sponsorship in the form of a 10 second trailer before and after broadcasts. But it is only allowed to place the logo, without any form of advertising message.

Editorial content is not permitted to include branding or product placement. Journalists are not allowed to accept advertising assignments or to communicate advertising messages.

If a company infringes these regulations, the usual penalty is a fine to the value of a day's revenues.

We created a cultural event at the Brockenhaus that made second-hand items more desirable than new ones and opened up all available media channels for cultural communication.

The city of Zurich subsidizes a network of billboards for culture: our posters were hung exclusively there.

We used Zurich bars, bookshops and galleries that advertise cultural events to hang posters free in places frequented by our target group.

As a cultural event, we were automatically listed by Zurich's biggest magazines and 'What's on' websites. Various newsletters reported it, including Zurich Literaturhaus.

Our campaign consciously made the event more relevant for cultural publications: for instance, we worked with Swiss National Television, Swiss National Radio, and Zurich's biggest daily newspaper.

Switzerland's best-known culture programme for example was dedicated exclusively to our event. Swiss national television aired a 45 minutes special from the opening.

The public relations value exceeded the campaign budget seven times.

By packaging our campaign as a cultural event, we managed to circumvent strict Swiss legislation and to place branded content in state-run media outside the prescribed commercial breaks.

Among other things, the following media put out special broadcasts or ran a cover story: SF1 Swiss National Television, with a penetration of 31%, DRS1 Swiss National Radio, with a penetration of 38% and Zurich's biggest daily newspaper, the 'Tagesanzeiger', with a penetration of 51%.

The value of the entire PR (215,000 francs) was seven times that of the campaign budget.

More people came to the opening than the Brockenhaus could accommodate. The exhibition proved so popular that it was prolonged by two months. The negative trend for visitors was reversed: during the month of the exhibition, the Brockenhaus had 20% more visitors. There was a lasting 7% increase in sales.