Let's take the Berlin public transport company. Basically as sexy as a car wash on a public holiday. The ladies and gentlemen at BVG know this too, of course, because their core business is transporting people in Berlin and the surrounding area by bus and train. Grubby stations, smelly carriages, bad-tempered loudspeaker announcements - so far, so good. Selling annual tickets for this organisation is rarely one of the activities subject to entertainment tax.

So how - and this is my point - do you package such a snore-inducing service so that the whole world wants this damn annual pass? The advertising artists at Jung von Matt knew what to do: in 2018, they sewed the ticket for the BVG into the tongue of a hip Adidas trainers. These trainers were then offered on a specific date in a limited special edition of 500 pieces in two trendy sneaker shops in Berlin - costing 180 euros each. Snapper.

The highlight: the design of the sneakers with the name EQT Support 93/Berlin was based on the pattern of the BVG seat covers on buses and trains. Not good news for people with a basic aesthetic education. But of course the marketing stunt worked anyway. Days before the date, young people were already loitering outside the sneakers shops, camping out in the January cold to take the ugly BVG trainers home with them on day X. The whole of Berlin was talking about the local transport company's marketing coup - and, as if by chance, even the last young person in Berlin realised that the BVG is a pretty cool bunch and that the annual ticket is probably the it-thing of the hour.

Mission completed. Marketing brought together what didn't really belong together. Just one example of successful packaging artistry by advertisers with a feel for trends.

Unusual ideas are also in demand in tourism. The simple message alone: „Come and visit us because it's so beautiful here!“ rarely attracts new customers to the country. Sweden must have thought the same thing - or rather, the Swedish Tourist Board. The smart Vikings found a hip partner in Airbnb and confidently advertised their entire country as an offer. Without a price and without final cleaning ... They also showcased the most beautiful sides of Sweden on Airbnb. Clever. And not even grossly untrue, because as you know, Sweden has what is known as Everyman's Right. You can camp, bathe and eat anywhere in the country as long as you don't cause any damage: „Belong anywhere“.

Recently, this also applies to Johann Strauss„ Danube Waltz. To mark the 200th anniversary of his birth, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra performed this epitome of musical Vienna at the Museum of Applied Arts on 31 May 2025. So far, so conventional. However, the story is made funnier by the fact that this Danube waltz was sent into space at the same time as part of a “Waltz into Space" project via the European Space Agency (ESA) - in the direction of Voyager 1. A 20.89 billion kilometre trip for the ears.

Incidentally, the Danube Waltz has exactly 13,743 notes - and just as many people were allowed to accompany the famous song on its journey into space as „Space Note Ambassadors“. A bit crazy? Of course it is. What will the aliens out there think when they hear the Danube Waltz? „Let's definitely go to Vienna?“ I doubt it.