2015 Promo & Activation

NAZIS AGAINST NAZIS- GERMANY´S MOST INVOLUNTARY CHARITY WALK

Short List
TitleNAZIS AGAINST NAZIS- GERMANY´S MOST INVOLUNTARY CHARITY WALK
BrandZDK GESELLSCHAFT DEMOKRATISCHE KULTUR
Product/ServiceEXIT-DEUTSCHLAND
Category B03. Use of Social Platform(s) in a Promotional Campaign
Entrant Company GRABARZ & PARTNER Hamburg, GERMANY
Advertising Agency GRABARZ & PARTNER Hamburg, GERMANY
Advertising Agency 2 GGH LOWE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production Company 27 KILOMETER ENTERTAINMENT Hamburg, GERMANY
Production Company 2 HARVEST DIGITAL AGRICULTURE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production Company 3 STUDIO FUNK Hamburg, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Fabian Wichmann Zdk Gesellschaft Demokratische Kultur Ggmbh Client Account Director
Ralf Heuel Grabarz Und Partner Chief Creative Officer
Florian Grimm Ggh Lowe Chief Creative Officer
Jan Wiendieck/Boris Grunwald Ggh Lowe Creative Director
Philipp Schwartz Ggh Lowe Concept/Strategy
Ina Bach Grabarz Und Partner Concept
Philipp Schwartz/Fabian Wichmann Idea
Ina Bach Grabarz Und Partner Account Manager
Miriam Mückner Ggh Lowe Online Project
Matthaeus Bauer/Michael Martin Ggh Lowe Copywriter
Alina Meisenbach Grabarz Und Partner Copywriter
Fiete Luehn/Anne-grit Maier Ggh Lowe Art Director
Yasemin Boyraz Grabarz Und Partner Art Director
Robert Stoof Ggh Lowe Art Direction (online)/Screen Design
Jens Gardeler Ggh Lowe Web Development
Ulrich Erdmann Grabarz Und Partner Digital Director
Michael Sturm Ggh Lowe Motion Design
Steffen Zoernig Ggh Lowe Technical Director
Martin Kaeswurm 27 Kilometer Entertainment Gmbh Director Of Photography
Mark Broszeit 27 Kilometer Entertainment Gmbh Editor

The Brief

For 15 years, the organisation EXIT-Deutschland has been successfully helping neo-Nazis quit the far-right scene. Yet, despite this socially important and effective work, the initiative receives too little attention and too few donations. That’s why EXIT-Deutschland has to fight for its own existence every year. Many towns and cities in Germany are also fighting against right-wing extremists who are exploiting their right to demonstrate and overrunning them. One of them is the small German town of Wunsiedel.

Campaign Success

To ensure we got the right setting and story, we chose the neo-Nazi march in Wunsiedel, where Hitler’s deputy and mass murderer Rudolf Hess was once buried. The town, sick of the annual march, was willing to cooperate and helped us raise €10,000 from local companies and citizens. As the neo-Nazis set off, so did a meticulously planned campaign. Via the microsite, Twitter and Facebook we reported live from the march, so everyone could follow what was happening in Wunsiedel. Even during the march, 21,000 people visited the microsite and helped us spread the word. Just three hours after the neo-Nazis crossed the finishing line, another element of the campaign went online: a documentary. In the end, all sides got what they deserved: Wunsiedel positive PR, EXIT-Deutschland €10,000 and global publicity, and the neo-Nazis the chance to leave the far-right scene.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

With a budget of just €5,000 (invested mainly on banners and bananas) and €0 media spend, we exceeded our first objective of magnifying the impact of our campaign – to deliver extensive campaign awareness through media impact. Whilst no targets were set, the campaign has out-performed all previous activities from EXIT-Deutschland: we reached 24 million people in Germany through earned media via TV and print, worth €1 million of national TV and print coverage. We gained 279 million campaign impressions online, and as the event unfolded, the news was picked up by traditional media worldwide. They all reported on EXIT-Deutschland and the “Miracle of Wunsiedel” using the campaign’s images, text and video footage. In the end, all sides got what they deserved: Wunsiedel positive PR, EXIT-Deutschland €20,000 (thanks to additional donations) and global publicity, and society a new form of protest against neo-Nazis.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

On 15 November 2014, we secretly turned the annual neo-Nazi march in Wunsiedel into something positive: Germany’s most involuntary charity walk. For every metre the neo-Nazis covered, €10 went to EXIT-Deutschland, an NGO that helps neo-Nazis leave the far-right scene. With giant banners, bananas and chalk writings all along the route, we made sure the neo-Nazis and the general public immediately understood the idea of neo-Nazis unwittingly donating against themselves. Thanks to its entertaining character and the meticulously planned digital campaign, the event quickly gained its own dynamics and the media worldwide reported about the “Miracle of Wunsiedel”. In the end, we not only amazed millions of people in Germany, but also made Wunsiedel and the work of EXIT-Deutschland famous virtually overnight. And last but not least, the original sum of €10,000 was quickly doubled by a huge number of voluntary donations.