Title	DFB-WOMEN – YOUR GAME, YOUR BEAT, YOUR BANK
Brand	COMMERZBANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Product/Service	BANK / BRAND PARTNERSHIPS DFB
Category	D01. Social Video
Entrant	THJNK Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation	THJNK Hamburg, GERMANY
Media Placement	SYZYGY MEDIA Hamburg, GERMANY
Production	MARKENFILM Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Tobias Grimm	thjnk Hamburg	Creative Managing Director
Raphael Schils	thjnk Hamburg	Creative Director Art
Niklas Schachtebeck	thjnk Hamburg	Creative Senior Copy
Christina Duskanich	thjnk Hamburg	Creative Art
Clemens Wolff	thjnk Hamburg	Creative Copy
Marco Hackmann	thjnk Hamburg	Strategist
Jessica Kiesel	thjnk Hamburg	Account Director
Isabella Düvelius v. Klass	thjnk Hamburg	Account Manager Senior
Thomas Nabbefeld	thjnk Hamburg	Agency Producer
Mario Feil	Markenfilm Hamburg GmbH	Director
Mortimer Hochberg	Markenfilm Hamburg GmbH	Director Of Photography
Moritz Dreifke	Markenfilm Hamburg GmbH	Editor
Uwe Hellmann	Commerzbank	Head of Brand Management
Georg Habedank	Commerzbank	Head of Corporate Marketing
Stefano Morelli	Commerzbank	Campaign Manager
Marcus Ballhausen	Commerzbank	Campaign Manager
Gabriele Scholz	Commerzbank	Campaign Manager

Background

Summer 2019: the best female footballers are battling it out for the world championship title in France. But nobody in Germany was interested in the women’s football world cup. Even worse, our female players faced discrimination in the social web: “Women are just there to have babies ... they don’t belong on the pitch”. It seemed that the debate about equal rights after #metoo was already forgotten. Or has never arrived in the conservative football world. Time to fight against this social injustice. Together with Commerzbank – Germany’s second-largest bank and sponsor of the women’s national team since 2008 – we wanted to create a strong statement for equality and against female discrimination.

Describe the strategy

Instead of running the usual sponsorship campaign, we came up with the idea of giving the women’s national team a platform to raise awareness for the lack of appreciation – not only on the pitch, but in all areas of social life. We wanted to make a big, visible statement that gave women and girls courage and power in everyday life. To not stand in men’s shadows. To be proud and confident about what they can achieve. For such a big message we put the brand Commerzbank in the background and gave the players all the attention they deserved.

Describe the execution

With a courageous and self-ironic film, our players discounted hate comments and disarmed prejudices. To achieve this we let our female players speak and act by themselves and recorded a stunning commercial within a 4 hour timeframe. Every scene tackled a known stereotype, fought a dirty comment from the web or a sexist point of view with humour. They came up with statements like “We don’t have balls. But we know how to use them”. Additionally this statement was supported by our campaign hashtag “Pferdeschwänze” which literally translates as “ponytales” but also suggests these ladies have got balls. Our film was aired in social channels at the moment the German squad for the 2019 Women’s Football World Cup was announced. It ran from May till July 2019.

List the results

Within a short time, the polarizing video went viral. German and international press as well as TV broadcasters picked up our provocative film in their regular schedule. One bold and funny phrase from the film became a viral hit in social media. More and more prominent supporters, like the German Federal President spoke out for this self confident women's attitude. But that's not all. The message of the spot became a real movement and the #pferdeschwänze became a strong symbol for equality. Our campaign raked in: - More than 280 Mio. Media contacts (Online and TV) - reached people in more than 47 countries - and generated a PR Value worth 30 Mio. Euros