Case Film

Presentation Image

Title	NAZIS AGAINST NAZIS- GERMANY´S MOST INVOLUNTARY CHARITY WALK
Brand	ZDK GESELLSCHAFT DEMOKRATISCHE KULTUR
Product/Service	EXIT-DEUTSCHLAND
Category	A01. Use of Promotional Events & Stunts
Entrant Company	GGH LOWE 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

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.