To celebrate the launch of an exciting new shoe by On, we organised a press trip in partnership with Zurich Tourism for media to discover some hidden gems of the city and experience the style and comfort of the Cloud Hi on the brand’s home ground.

On, the fastest growing running shoe brand on the planet, rapidly exceeding 7 million worldwide fans, launched the all-new Cloud Hi for urban adventure and travel in October. The Cloud Hi is at the intersection between urban and outdoor; it’s the perfect shoe for exploration everywhere – from the urban jungle to the outdoors, and when travelling.

Knowing that Zurich has so much to offer – and that a variety of highlights can be covered in a relatively short trip – we decided to take an exclusive group of UK media to the city for a jam-packed 24-hour tour. This covered architectural points of interest, fine dining and hipster hangouts.

Upon arrival we were greeted by On’s European Comms Manager, Vesna Stimac. Vesna shared a full On kit pack with our guests (including the Weather Shirt, Lightweight Cap, Socks, Tights and shoes), so we were all kitted out from head-to-toe with everything we needed for the urban adventure ahead.

We started the trip with a tour of On HQ and a sneak peek at the impressive future HQ, which is currently under construction. Co-founder David Allemann gave an insightful and honest presentation and answered the many questions posed by the group. After this it was time to hit the ground (walking, this time) with enthusiastic representatives from Zurich Tourism who led the group.

We covered the hipster areas of the city during part one of our tour, which included a quick zip up the Freitag tower. We then moved on to more architectural points of interest, covering Zurich University and the xx Library, which was breath-taking and very hard to explain in words. We settled for dinner and a toast under the Viaduct and took some time to reflect upon the trip thus far.

Day two started early with a challenging yoga session led by one of the On team, and a relaxed run along the Limmat River. Another great way to put On’s performance wear to the test – it’s the most comfortable gear I’ve ever tried and, once you try it, you won’t want to take it off. This explains my ‘athleisure’ look in the office most days!

Part two took us to the Old Town; we started at the stunning lake and then went along a route that squeezed through various secret underground passes. The trip was then topped off with a stunning meal at Bauernschänke, where the chef xx has a Michelin Star to his name and, clearly, the group were taken back by the food offered to us.

Before our whistle-stop tour was complete, we found a beautiful shop where we all treated ourselves to some freshly made Swiss chocolate, presented in slabs and cut and weighed to order. We couldn’t properly experience Zurich without chocolate, right?

Everyone left the trip as huge fans of Zurich and On – and, thankfully, the chemistry was great between the group too. We had a great trip, and it certainly helped that the sun blessed us for the duration!

The group dynamics were fantastic, and we got the sense through feedback that everyone genuinely enjoyed the whole experience. It’s always challenging to get the right balance in an intimate group, and to get the content and pace of the trip right. We definitely achieved all these elements. The trip was planned to great detail by our client and their friends at Zurich Tourism, exploring some hidden gems that even Swiss-born Vesna hadn’t experienced before.

Feedback on the shoes has been really positive and we’ve secured some nice placements in target media that position the Cloud Hi perfectly. Due to the uniqueness of the shoe, we will continue to introduce it to media throughout 2020.

Please take a read of the Cloud Hi press release here