| Title | THE WEAPEN |
| Brand | REPORTER OHNE GRENZEN |
| Product/Service | REPORTER OHNE GRENZEN |
| Category |
D02. Costs / Creative Performance PR Campaign |
|
Entrant
|
DDB GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Idea Creation
|
DDB GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
PR
|
DDB GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Production
|
BLMFILM Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Production 2
|
SOUNDSCAPE MUSIC Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
|
|
Production 3
|
OPTIX DIGITAL PICTURES Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Production 4
|
HASTINGS MEDIA MUSIC Hamburg, GERMANY
|
|
Additional Company
|
THE WOODEN QUILL Land O Lakes, USA
|
|
Additional Company 2
|
BEINDER SCHREINEREI & WOHNDESIGN Weitnau, GERMANY
|
Credits
| Fabian Roser |
DDB Hamburg |
Executive Creative Director |
| Nicolas Schmidt-Fitzner |
DDB Hamburg |
Creative Director |
| Jan-Hendrik Scholz |
DDB Hamburg |
Creative Director |
| Christian Baur |
DDB Hamburg |
Senior Art Director |
| Thimon Machatzke |
DDB Hamburg |
Senior Copywriter |
| Eva Schramm |
DDB Hamburg |
Art Director |
| Pascal Rößler |
DDB Hamburg |
Junior Art Director |
| Vitali Wachramejew |
DDB Hamburg |
Junior Art Director |
| Quentin Frémont |
DDB Hamburg |
Junior Art Director |
| Nicolas Berg |
DDB Hamburg |
Junior Copywriter |
| Sönke Bruns |
DDB Hamburg |
Client Service Director |
| Carolin Sonnenschein |
DDB Hamburg |
Junior Account Manager |
| Laura Maroldt |
DDB Group Germany |
Head of Corporate Communication |
| Meike van Meegen |
DDB Hamburg |
Head of TV |
| Franck Papenbroock |
blmfilm GmbH |
Director |
| René Richter |
blmfilm GmbH |
Camera |
| Hessel Herder |
Soundscape Music |
Music Producer |
| Geert van Gaalen |
Soundscape Music |
Music Producer |
| Reinhard Hunger |
Bransch Europe |
Photographer |
| Eric Schoeffler |
DDB Group Germany |
Chief Creative Officer |
The Campaign
Everywhere in the world, people use murderous weapons to suppress one of our most important rights: the freedom of information. We took their fired bullets and turned them into the strongest ammunition in our fight against oppression – by turning them into: WEAPENs. A product innovation made to generate money for the work of ‘Reporters Without Boarders’. Soon, ‘theWEAPEN’ became a piece of communication that moved people and went viral very quickly.
Without spending money, we advertised ‘theWEAPEN’ on owned media channels. Popular journalists started to support us and wrote statements with ‘theWEAPEN’ against oppression. Whereby we could create powerful adverts. With a lot of backing from Germany’s biggest newspapers, magazines and media agencies, we could advertise our campaign for free in the whole of Germany.
Finally, ‘theWEAPEN’ became a strong symbol for freedom of information and still generates a lot of money – without ever spending a single dime.
The Brief
The whole campaign did not cost a single cent, but generated money right from the start.
By creating a piece of communication that affects people positively, we became word of mouth – only by advertising ‘theWEAPEN’ on owned media channels. Germany’s most popular journalists started to support us. With the help of their statements – written with ‘theWEAPEN’ – we could create powerful adverts. Germany’s biggest newspapers, magazines and media agencies published our campaign for free.
Without spending money, ‘theWEAPEN’ shook the whole of Germany, changed the perception sustainably and generated more than 50.000€ for ‘Reporters Without Boarders’ so far.
Execution
In 2015 we started with a teaser campaign on our owned media channels. When the interest reached its peak, the time had come to reveal the secret: on Freedom of Information Day we released ‘theWEAPEN’. A piece of communication, that affected people positively and went viral very quickly. Without spending money on advertising, the limited-edition pens reached break-even point within two hours – and were sold out in less than ten hours! To meet the massive demand, we introduced a second, unlimited edition on our website. With the support of Germany’s most popular journalists, we could create powerful adverts with their statements. Germany’s biggest newspapers, magazines and biggest media agencies published these ads for free. Thus, our campaign reached the whole of Germany. ‘theWEAPEN’ became a symbol for freedom of information national wide. And generates money for our cause down to the present day.
Without spending money, ‘theWEAPEN’ generated a lot of funds and created national wide awareness.
This campaign is a great example how powerful a creative idea can be. By building an innovative product, ‘theWEAPEN’ became a piece of communication that affects people positively. Advertised on our owned media channels, the pen went viral very quickly and got the attention of the most influential journalists, who wrote statements with ‘theWEAPEN’. With the support of the biggest newspapers, magazines and media agencies, we could spread our campaign in the whole of Germany – for free. Thus, national wide awareness for our cause and the product itself was generated, together with countless media impressions. By selling not only the 144 limited-edition pens but also a second unlimited edition, we earned more than 50.000 Euros so far. Finally, ‘theWEAPEN’ became a symbol for the freedom of information and raised the awareness of ‘Reporters Without Borders’.
The Situation
By inventing a symbol for freedom of information in the form of a product innovation, we created a piece of communication that affected people. Without spending money, we advertised ‘theWEAPEN’ on our owned media channels. Soon, we got a lot of support from Germany’s most popular journalists, who wrote statements against the oppression with ‘theWEAPEN’ – whereby we could create powerful adverts. Germany’s biggest newspapers, magazines and media agencies published these ads for free.
‘theWEAPEN’ still generates a lot of money for ‘Reporters Without Boards’ and raised the awareness of the freedom of information.
The Strategy
We turned an instrument of evil into ammunition for peace. By turning fired bullets into pens, we gave ‘Reporters Without Borders’ the means to fight non-violently against oppression. A symbol for freedom of information in the form of a product innovation: ‘theWEAPEN’. A piece of communication that went viral very quickly. Without spending money, we advertised ‘theWEAPEN’ on our owned media channels. Soon, we got a lot of support. By making the pen available to the most influential journalists, we could create powerful adverts with their statements against oppression – written with ‘theWEAPEN’. With the support of Germany’s biggest newspapers, magazines and media agencies, we could advertise our campaign in the whole of Germany – for free! Thus, we created national wide awareness and generated highly needed financial funds to support our battle. Finally, ‘theWEAPEN’ became a symbol for the freedom of information and raised awareness for ‘Reporters Without Borders’.