The Zurich city magazine HelloZurich is focusing on native advertising

«We want to stand out from the crowd with carefully produced content,» says Christian Schiller, the project's founder and a member of the editorial team.

What began last September as a labor of love and an experiment is now something the creators of HelloZurich continue—and expand—it professionally starting in the new year. In addition to photo essays and stories about extraordinary people and places, the site will also feature current topics, reports, columns, interviews, and opinion pieces beginning in early 2018. Various journalists and photographers from Zurich are involved in the project. Journalists Nora Zukker and Christian Schiller will serve as editors-in-chief.

«After just three months, HelloZurich is already recording 500 to 1,500 page views per day—and we’re confident that readership will continue to grow,» says Christian Schiller. The bilingual online magazine stands out for its simple design and compelling images and text. The expert jury at Awwwards agrees, having awarded HelloZurich an «Honorable Mention.» Awwwards is a prestigious platform that recognizes the world’s best achievements in web design and development, as well as in creativity and content.

The focus is on native advertising

As Christian Schiller explained to *Werbewoche*, the team is currently working on a funding model. «As a first step, we’re focusing on native advertising,» said Schiller. Although all articles published on the website so far have been produced free of charge, this is set to change in the future. Clients can commission the editorial team to produce a high-quality article that will remain visible for one or two years and appear randomly on the homepage from time to time. Micro-enterprises and nonprofits receive an 80 percent discount and thus pay only the production costs. (pd/hae)