Ovomaltine Social Series: When Sponsorship Becomes a Story
Instead of individual sponsored appearances, the agency Pas Mal developed a multi-part social media series for Ovomaltine: Jan and Ruth travel through Switzerland in an Airstream—with humor, running gags, and millions of views.
This summer, the Zurich-based agency Pas Mal transformed Ovomaltine’s festival sponsorship into an Ovomaltine social media series—proving that traditional sponsorship communication and serial storytelling don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In 15 videos, followers accompanied the characters Jan and Ruth on their Airstream road trip through Switzerland.
A road trip as the central theme
The idea behind the campaign was as simple as it was effective: Instead of promoting Ovomaltine’s individual festival appearances—at Greenfield, Heitere Openair, and Openair Gampel—in isolation, they were woven into a cohesive narrative. Jan, a new Ovomaltine employee, and Ruth, who has been doing the job on her own for decades, travel together from festival to festival to represent the brand’s sponsorship presence. True to the motto, «With Ovo, you can’t do it better, but you can do it longer.».
The chemistry between the two characters thrives on contrasts: Jan provides the humor with his mishaps—most notably his pronounced inability to tell left from right, which regularly leads him astray on the festival grounds— while Ruth, as an experienced staff member, pulls the strings, even if her patience is occasionally put to the test. This running gag serves as a unifying element throughout all 15 episodes.
Nina Romang, Brand Manager at Ovomaltine, describes the duo this way: «Jan and Ruth are the perfect Ovo duo: He provides the popular Ovo humor with his mishaps, while she, as an experienced Ovo employee, keeps everything running smoothly—even if she loses her patience every now and then. It’s precisely this interplay of chaos and experience that makes the two of them so endearing and ensures that our followers enjoy following them on their road trip.»
Cameo, Parking Assist, and the Ovomaltine Social Series with Reach
A highlight of the series was rapper Jule X’s cameo appearance at the Heitere Openair—a moment that underscores Jan’s commitment as a brand ambassador but also lands him in navigational trouble once again. He wins her over in another scene when he helps Ruth park—so charmingly, in fact, that she doesn’t even mind not seeing him in her rearview mirror.
The numbers speak for themselves: Between organic views and ad views, the series is said to have generated approximately 4,595,051 views and more than 14,098,184 impressions.
Noah Nüssli, who is in charge of storytelling and social video production at Pas Mal, explains the core concept: «It’s precisely this episodic structure—with short, self-contained scenes and recurring humor—that transforms a sponsorship campaign into something much more: it turns the campaign into a series that people want to follow. Even though everyone knows there’s a brand behind it.»
"Pas Mal" relies on a serial narrative format
The Zurich-based agency Pas Mal—formerly Be Loud—designed and executed the entire campaign in close collaboration with Ovomaltine and the creators. The company, which is based in Zurich’s 4th district and works for clients such as Migros and Helvetia Insurance, consistently focuses on content designed specifically to meet the demands of social media.
The two main characters are played by Nathalie Trachsel as Ruth and Jan Löning as Jan. Löning has been active as a host for "20 Minuten" on TikTok, Instagram, and the web since 2022 and has established himself in the Swiss media landscape with a mix of humor, spontaneity, and self-deprecating humor.
For fans of Jan and Ruth, the story isn't over yet: The series is set to continue on social media this fall—this time under the theme «Off to the world's highest-altitude Ovo Shop.».
For more information about the Ovomaltine brand, visit https://www.ovomaltine.ch available.
Responsible at Wander: Nina Romang (Brand Manager), Lena Cina (Brand Manager), Migana Paramsothinathan (Digital Manager), Christof Stulz (Marketing Manager); In charge at Pas Mal: Jonas Bayona (Creative Direction), Valérie Gantenbein (Account Direction), Nicole Michel (Storytelling), Noah Nüssli (Storytelling and Social Video Production), Julia Suter (Project Management). Cast: Nathalie Trachsel as Ruth; Jan Löning as Jan.
