Goals and objectives
The Ministry of Economics, Science and Digital Society of the German federal state of Thuringia wanted to improve its public image as well as to attract qualified workers for its local industry, start-up scene and quality of living. To achieve both goals the newly founded SZ BrandStudio of Süddeutsche Zeitung created a multi-channel native ad campaign focussing on the quality of life in Thuringia.
Have you heard of Thuringia? This part of former East Germany suffers from a fairly negative media reputation dominated by news about right-wing activists, racism against refugees and unemployment. This negative image was solidified by viral videos like this during the time before the campaign.
Though Thuringia has without question its set of problems, it also offers a lot of untapped potential in the form of an active start-up scene (No 2 in the number of company foundations in Germany according to this recent report), leading innovative and creative industries as well as a high quality of life, combined with low costs of living and a unique culinary scene.