Distribution

At OurFrame, media are defined neither by format nor platform, but by their ability to inform, engage and shape collective understanding. Our work therefore spans current and future channels: cinema, television, radio, the web, social media, streaming platforms, books and theatre.

As our impact media white paper sets out, each project’s distribution strategy follows from its Theory of Change. Understanding the target audience and its habits identifies relevant platforms, which in turn shape formats. Audience, platform and format are chosen together, according to the intended impact.

Broad or targeted distribution? A partnership with a major broadcaster or a screening and discussion in a community hall? These decisions need preparation. Distribution partnerships are a strategic tool in their own right. Measuring impact then completes the cycle: each campaign informs the next.

Research gives this approach a foundation: well-designed media campaigns rank among the most efficient social interventions, because the marginal cost of distribution is low and even limited behavioural change can generate substantial collective benefit.

Since 2016, KAPAW has investigated, documented and given a voice to people working towards a sustainable future, in French and German, from its Geneva and Zurich newsrooms.

By joining OurFrame in 2025, KAPAW became a fully fledged impact media organisation: an independent newsroom, substantial social media reach and our method applied to journalism. Each investigation is designed, distributed and measured to demonstrate how information can contribute to the common good.

WaterBear is the first free OTT platform dedicated to the planet’s future. OTT means “over-the-top”: a streaming service delivered directly over the internet, without a cable subscription or set-top box. Access is entirely free. Nearly 700,000 subscribers find award-winning documentaries, series and campaigns connecting each piece of content to NGOs and practical actions.

WaterBear is also a FAST television channel (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV): a free, advertising-funded linear channel streamed continuously to connected televisions, with around 2 million viewers.

Alongside OurFrame, WaterBear adds impact measurement to the power of stories: understanding how a story influences awareness and behaviour, then turning viewer engagement into real, visible and measurable change.

From the cinema screen to the social feed, we coordinate multichannel impact campaigns in which each distribution decision follows from the intended impact, target audience and chosen mechanism of change.

An investigation challenging misinformation about electric cars, À contresens has become a reference on the environmental cost of mobility. Its distribution campaign has run since 2017: television (Play Suisse, RTBF, Radio-Canada, Swisscom TV), VOD, two webinar premieres with thousands of live viewers alongside ministers and scientists, around a hundred screenings with discussions, inclusion in all geography courses in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, and a screening at the European Parliament. First prize at the Rushdoc International Documentary Film Festival.

Seven animated short films created with the DécadréE institute from real testimonies, illustrated by Swiss artists. The campaign combined broadcasts on RTS and RTS Découverte, a premiere at CityClub in Pully, selection at Fantoche and Les Créatives, then a national initiative on 25 November: an episode shown before screenings at around ten cinemas in French-speaking Switzerland for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Putting creators’ influence to work for the climate: content creators paired with Swiss scientists, drawing on more than 14,000 studies, to show actions that genuinely reduce CO2 emissions. Researchers at the University of Geneva analysed the effectiveness of each video, and good practices were shared at the World Biodiversity Forum in Davos, CLIMACT and Swiss Polar Days.

With the Act On Your Future foundation, this series of short films highlights initiatives supporting refugees in French-speaking Switzerland, seeking to change public perceptions and encourage new solutions. The impact campaign combined television broadcasts, film festivals, screenings in schools and migrant reception centres, and digital communication.

Five video podcasts in which young people discuss sobriety, hosted by comedian Yacine Nemra and supported by the Federal Office of Public Health. Distribution illustrates our cross-media approach: full episodes on Play RTS, short formats on RTS 1 during Dry January, podcasts on Spotify, Instagram and TikTok versions, public screenings, and dubbing in Albanian, Portuguese and Ukrainian to reach migrant communities. A feature on RTS’s 19h30 news extended the reach, and a survey before and after viewing measures changes in perceptions.

Made with EPFL’s Geo-Energy Lab, this documentary follows Swiss deep-geothermal pioneers from Vinzel to Haute-Sorne. Two versions serve two distribution routes: a 60-minute film for cinemas, festivals and panel discussions, and a 52-minute version for RTS. The campaign combines premieres, debates involving politicians, professionals and opponents, screenings at EPFL and the Festival du Film Vert, and a reference website mapping geothermal projects in Switzerland. The film now serves as an educational tool for professionals and cantons.

To discuss conspiracy thinking with 15–25-year-olds, the project reversed the method: create a false conspiracy theory with YouTubers Les Infiltrés and test it in real conditions, including a fake conference at the University of Fribourg, supervised by psychologist Pascal Wagner-Egger. Distribution reached the audience where it spends time: Les Infiltrés’ channel and its million followers across platforms, two sold-out premieres at Pathé Flon in Lausanne and Korso in Fribourg, coverage on Couleur3, the 19h30 news and in the press, followed by educational workshops in youth organisations through the Swiss National Youth Council.