Title	DEUTSCHE BAHN "THE FAN"
Brand	DB MOBILITY LOGISTICS
Product/Service	LONG-DISTANCE TRAFFIC
Category	B12. Brand Voice & Strategic Storytelling
Entrant	BBDO GROUP GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY
Idea Creation	BBDO GROUP GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY
PR	BBDO GROUP GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY
Production	SOUP FILMPRODUKTION Berlin, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Wolfgang Schneider	BBDO Group Germany GmbH	Chief Creative Officer
Jan Harbeck	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Creative Managing Director
Ton Hollander	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Creative Managing Director
Lukas Liske	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Executive Creative Director / Copywriter
Daniel Schweinzer	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Executive Creative Director / Art Director
Franzis Heusel	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Managing Director
Maike Schroeder	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Group Account Director
Meike Freymuth	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Account Manager
Alexander Geier	BBDO Berlin GmbH	Agency Producer
Steffen Gentis	BBDO Group Germany GmbH	Chief Production Officer
Stephan Fruth, Birgit Damen, Mika Gannon	Soup Filmproduktion GmbH	Producer
-	Pirates'n Paradise, Berlin	Post Production Company
Florian Stärk	Chimney Group	Post Production / Grading
Andreas Hindrichkeit	Pirates'n Paradise, Berlin	Producer
-	MOKOH Music	Music / Sound Design
-	SHAKERI/P3RRY	Composer
Stephan Moritz	-	Producer
Simon Glöde	-	Vocals
-	Teldex Studio Berlin	Audio Production House
Tom Ruszbüldt	-	Sound Engineer
Matt Smukler	-	Director
Julian Hohndorf	-	Director of Photography
Peer-Arne Sveistrup	Pirates'n Paradise, Berlin	Editor
Verena van der Hayden	-	Make up Artist
Ingken Benesch	-	Styling
-	Emily Tilelli ETCasting, London	Casting

The Campaign

Gays in football is one of the last big taboo topics in Germany. Not one single player in the professional leagues is openly gay. One week before the EURO 2016, “Deutsche Bahn“ published a shortfilm that gave the public debate about football in Germany a new twist. It was the story of a passionate football fan, following his team via ICE train throughout the season. Only in the end it turns out: the fan is actually more than a regular fan – he’s in a relationship with one of the players. The message: Deutsche Bahn is “connecting more than just A and B“. No other big brand in Germany had made a comparable statement so far.

Execution

The film was published on June 1st and hosted in parallel on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, accompanied by an official press release. Within the shortest time, every major media in Germany took up the subject.

„The Fan“ became the campaign with the most positive feedback in the history of Deutsche Bahn. Even the German Foreign Minister shared the film on his official FB site. Two months later, for the first time ever, a major German Football Association took part in Christopher Street Day. - 10m views on various platforms - 141 online articles, 27 print articles, 3 TV stations - sparking a national conversation - 2.2bn online media impressions - 2m earned media value Most positive feedback in the history of Deutsche Bahn (> 70% positive mentions)

The Situation

One week before the Football EURO 2016, „The Fan“ gave the national debate about football a new twist. It completely changed the perception of old Germany Railway “Deutsche Bahn“ from a traditional state-owned corporation into a modern, liberal brand with an attitude: connecting more than A and B. „The Fan“ was discussed in every major media. It became the campaign with the most positive feedback in the history of Deutsche Bahn.

The Strategy

We turned the biggest challenge for Deutsche Bahn – creating positive PR for the most bashed German brand in a time where everyone talks about football – into their advantage. „The Fan“ wasn’t perceived by the public as a viral film, but as bold statement that came unexpected and that “hit a nerve“ (BILD tabloid paper). So it hijacked the football news all over the country. Shortly put: we put one of the last taboos in Germany, an important issue for thousands, back on the agenda – and changed the perception for Deutsche Bahn for good.