Title	DFB-WOMEN – YOUR GAME, YOUR BEAT, YOUR BANK
Brand	COMMERZBANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
Product/Service	BANK / BRAND PARTNERSHIPS DFB
Category	B09. Sponsorship & Brand Partnership
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

Why is this work relevant for PR?

Instead of a branded commercial, we created a bold, provocative statement for equal rights of women. A film that not only reached people in Germany, but also hit the nerve of the time worldwide. And with minimal media budget.

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 creative idea (20% of vote)

We built our film around one key insight that grabbed everyone's attention: The football crazy German audience did not know the names of their most successful football players which were not the male football stars but in fact their female counterparts which raked in more titles and success on the football world stage while earning almost no attention at all. In our campaign, the women players competed against it with strong 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. This helped us to highlight the bias and adversity German women face not just in football but in everyday life. This helped us to reach a broader audience and make a stand for women in our society.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

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. That’s how we get the public attention and reach people's’ hearts.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

To get the most attention we focussed on three steps. Step 1: Three weeks before the tournament started, we used a official german football press conference to launch our film in front of selected audience of sports journalists. At the same day we placed the spot before the most popular german news in television. The Video went viral – more and more people in Germany shared our spot on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. Step 2: The news created buzz worldwide. News channels, radio stations and newspapers shared the film and featured articles about the campaign in more than 47 countries. Step3: The message became a real movement and inspired people. People created massive content, like hundreds of Commerzbank DFB TikTok Videos.

List the results (30% of vote)

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 m. Media contacts (Online and TV) - reached people in more than 47 countries - and generated a PR Value worth 30 m Euros