Winners & Shortlists

ZDF ONLINE DISPLAY MURDER MYSTERY

TitleZDF ONLINE DISPLAY MURDER MYSTERY
BrandZWEITES DEUTSCHES FERNSEHEN
Product/ServiceONLINE RETARGETING CAMPAIGN FOR THE CRIME SERIES OF THE GERMAN BROADCASTER ZDF
Category A03. STORYTELLING
Entrant Company SERVICEPLAN Munich, GERMANY
Advertising Agency PLAN.NET Munich, GERMANY
Advertising Agency 2 SERVICEPLAN Munich, GERMANY
Media Agency MEDIAPLUS Munich, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Alexander Schill Serviceplan Chief Creative Officer
Friedrich Von Zitzewitz Plan.net Chief Creative Officer
Markus Maczey Plan.net Executive Creative Director
Axel Thomsen Plan.net Executive Creative Director
Michael Reill Plan.net Creative Director
Bernd Nagenrauft Plan.net Creative Director
Moritz Franke Plan.net Copywriter
Flavio Redlich Plan.net Copywriter
Rolf Eggers Plan.net Art Director/Agency Producer
Reinhard Schneider Plan.net Account Supervisor
Carsten Rossetti Plan.net Account Supervisor
Lynn Halligan Plan.net Account Supervisor
Jochen Lenhard Mediaplus Media Manager
Andrea Koch Mediaplus Media Manager
Vanessa Pick Plan.net Media Media Manager

Creative Execution

The realization: our online Display Murder Mystery included seven consecutive episodes – spread across the web for the period of one week. This allowed users to experience real investigative work by simply clicking on one of our exciting online-ads: following clues, collecting evidence, tracing witnesses and chasing the murderer. The highlight: we gave cookies a whole new function: users didn't have to click their way through to the next clue, instead we kept tracking them down on major websites for one week by using intelligent retargeting. In a nutshell: a thrilling crime story combined with innovative target group control.

Starting at 43% the interaction rate increased to 80% on the last three clues. During the week the initial dwell time grew from 1.23 minutes to over 4 and a half minutes. We reached the younger target group with a combination of a thrilling crime story and smart retargeting. And in the end we established ZDF as an innovative broadcaster. Why? Because the young viewers were given the opportunity to slip into the role of an online-detective – and experience the thrill of chasing a murderer.

The insight: ZDF is Germany's biggest public broadcaster and is famous for its detective series. But younger viewers aged 20 to 30 spending less and less time watching TV. They prefer to surf the internet instead. The strategy: first we reach the target group inside the medium they use most: the web. And then we create a gripping crime drama that gives the young viewers an exciting online experience – storytelling is key. The idea: to stage the first ever online criminal case in Germany – one murder, a thrilling crime-plot with many twists and turns, millions of detectives, lasting a whole week. Everything is geared to a single goal: catch the murderer, if you can.