THE MAGICAL ADVENT CALENDER
Title | THE MAGICAL ADVENT CALENDER |
Brand | TELEKOM DEUTSCHLAND GMBH |
Product/Service | BRAND |
Category |
A07. Audio Content |
Entrant
|
DDB GERMANY HAMBURG, GERMANY
|
Idea Creation
|
DDB GERMANY HAMBURG, GERMANY
|
Idea Creation 2
|
adam&eveDDB London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Media Placement
|
MEDIACOM Düsseldorf, GERMANY
|
Production
|
UNIT9 London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production 2
|
TONY PETERSEN FILM Hamburg, GERMANY
|
Production 3
|
THE MILL London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Production 4
|
HASTINGS MUSIC Hamburg, GERMANY
|
Production 5
|
MOKOH MUSIC Berlin, GERMANY
|
Additional Company
|
FACTORY London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Additional Company 2
|
SONNY London, UNITED KINGDOM
|
Credits
Dennis May |
DDB Group Germany |
Chief Creative Officer |
Fabian Roser |
DDB Group Germany |
Managing Director Creative |
Ben Priest |
adam&eveDDB |
Manging Director Creative |
Karsten Ruddigkeit |
DDB Group Germany |
Executive Creative Director |
Kristine Holzhausen |
DDB Group Germany |
Creative Director |
Paul Knott |
adam&eveDDB |
Creative Director |
Tim Vance |
adam&eveDDB |
Creative Director |
Dominika Zajac |
DDB Group Germany |
Art Director |
Chloe Pope |
adam&eveDDB |
Art Director |
Alessandro Rocco Tramontana |
DDB Group Germany |
Art Director |
Carsten Hohenstein |
DDB Group Germany |
Senior UX Designer |
Jessica Morris |
adam&eveDDB |
Copywriter |
Jeannette Bohné |
DDB Group Germany |
Copywriter |
Thomas Köhler |
DDB Group Germany |
Copywriter |
Katrin Spiegel |
DDB Group Germany |
Client Service Director |
Franziska Fischer |
DDB Group Germany |
Account Director |
Lena Landsberger |
DDB Group Germany |
Account Director |
Belinda Menzel |
DDB Group Germany |
Account Manager |
Arianna Giese |
DDB Group Germany |
Account Manager |
Natalie Kröger |
DDB Group Germany |
Account Manager |
Stefan Sindram |
DDB Group Germany |
Head of Strategy |
David Golding |
adam&eveDDB |
Chief Strategy Officer |
Meike van Meegen |
DDB Group Germany |
Head of TV |
Crille Forsberg |
Crille Forsberg |
Camera |
Fredrik Bond |
Fredrik Bond |
Director |
Rufus Beck |
Rufus Beck |
Narrator Audiobook |
Jan Brandt |
Jan Brandt |
Author |
Anthony Moore |
Factory Studios |
Sound Engineer |
Hans Christian Sametzki |
HASTINGS Music GmbH |
Sound Engineer |
The Campaign
It’s a German tradition to give kids an advent calendar on the first of December. The 24 doors, hiding a chocolaty treat, are
opened daily till Christmas eve. “The magical Advent Calendar” tells the story of little Jonas–who would never share with his
sister Sarah. On the 1st of December Jonas finds a magical advent calendar – but discovers that he can’t open the doors on
his own. He finds out that he can only open the doors with the help of other people. Through this experience he learns that life
is more rewarding when you share. Every chapter is a new adventure, Jonas meets a mysterious calendar warden, has to solve many riddles and much more. The listener witnesses Jonas’s transition – from an egoistic boy to a caring brother. The grand
finale takes place on the 24th when Jonas finally shares the last piece of chocolate with Sarah
Creative Execution
The whole story was created by the creative team and an author, who transferred the story into a book. The process took
almost two months and with every chapter the Jonas’s character got more multifaceted. Also the whole story revealed a lot
more about the village and its inhabitants, than the film could ever show, it even explained how the calendar works and what
will happen to it next. Finally, the manuscript was taken into the recording studio. The voice artist was chosen based on his
experience and his unique way to give every character its own voice. Rufus Beck, a famous German actor and the voice
behind the Harry Potter audiobooks, was the perfect fit. In an intense 2-day recording session (at Hastings in Munich) he
brought the audiobook to life. The finalized audiobook has a playtime of over 3 hours and was shared, episode by episode via
Soundcloud.
Synopsis:
This is the story of Jonas, a little boy who never shares. But on the first of December he finds a magical advent calendar and discovers that he can only open the calendar doors with the help of others.
On his mission to find the right person every day, he discovers a magical world behind the calendar doors, is shrunk, makes new friends and confronts his biggest fear. When he has to meet a witch-like old woman on Christmas Eve, he completes his transformation from a selfish child to a loving brother. The witch turns out to be a kind old lady who reveals that the last piece of chocolate is for Jonas himself.
It is this last piece that he happily shares with his sister, Sarah – the moment that teaches us all that life is more rewarding when you share.
“The magical advent calendar” was watched almost 13. Mio. times and became the most successful Youtube-Ad in 2016 (in
Germany). Many viewers followed the teaser to find out more and got hooked to the audiobook on Soundcloud. The first
episode was played over 80K times and the whole playlist made it No. 1 in the official German audiobook charts and No. 6 in
the official German album charts (charting above “The Weekend” with his record “Starboy”). Based on that it’s safe to say that
the audiobook was a massive success – but even more important is the fact that the audiobook brought branded content, the
spirit of the Telekom Christmas message, into many households every day. And creating a piece of content that brings families
together and lets them share a story, that is the true value of the audiobook “The magical advent calendar.”
Following Deutsche Telekom’s claim: Life is for sharing, the Christmas story “The magical advent calendar” was made (next to
a 2-minute online film) into a whole audiobook of which a new episode was shared daily, from the first till the 24th of December,
on Soundcloud With over 3 hours playtime divided in 24 chapters and read by the famous German actor and voice behind the
Harry Potter audiobooks, Rufus Beck, the story accompanied the Germans during the season. The audiobook charted No.1 in
the official German audiobook charts and No. 6 in the official German album charts.
The Christmas film first aired online – where it quickly reached almost 13 Mio. views, making it the most successful Youtube-Ad
in 2016 (in Germany). Online, TV and cinema teasers revealed that there was a lot more to discover. Via the website
Der-magische-adventskalender.de the users could enter Jonas’s room. Here a virtual calendar lead them deeper into each
day’s adventures with interactive illustrations and audiobook teasers. From the website users were directly send to Soundcloud
where they could listen to the whole episode. On Soundcloud a new episode was shared daily. On the 24th the whole
audiobook, with over 3 hours playtime, could be downloaded for free.