Title	#SHOWUSEQUAL
Brand	DEUTSCHER OLYMPISCHER SPORTBUND E.V.
Product/Service	DOSB
Category	G07. Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility
Entrant	KOLLE REBBE, PART OF ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation	KOLLE REBBE, PART OF ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production	KOLLE REBBE, PART OF ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Production 2	RTS SCHOLZ Bremen, GERMANY
Production 3	KOLLE REBBE, PART OF ACCENTURE INTERACTIVE Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company	GERMAN OLYMPIC SPORTS CONFEDERATION Frankfurt/Main, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Florian Frank	German Olympic Sports Confederation	Head of Marketing
Jens Behler	German Olympic Sports Confederation	Head of Digital Communications
Stefan Wübbe	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Executive Creative Director
Christoph Bielefeldt	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Group Creative Lead
Marco Obermann	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Group Creative Lead
Jan Vierig	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Account Supervisor
André Tiedemann	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Account Manager
Jenne Genser	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Art Director
Marcus Gackstetter	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Art Director
Natasha Pramanik	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Art Director
Fabian Rößler	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Copywriter
Tim Bolte	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Copywriter
Erik Baeßmann	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Copywriter
Jule Fuhrmann	Kolle Rebbe GmbH	Copywriter
Lore Glander	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Production Manager
Martin Lühe	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Production Manager
Ralf Seelig	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Final Artwork
Marco Cordes	RTS SCHOLZ GMBH	Production / Account Manager
Tobias Schlieperskötter	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Photo Post Production, Photographer
Jan-Ole Brendel	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Agency Producer
Alexander Seipel	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Editor
Klaas Nocken	Kolle Rebbe Studios	Sounddesigner
Ella Schreiber	Freelance	Speaker
Daniel Guiu	/	Copywriter
Cristina de Blas	/	Art Director
Andy Cruz	/	Art Director

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Sports is not just physical activity, it is also the teaching of social values such as honesty, fair play, and respect. Values that the DOSB (the German Olympic Sports Confederation), as one of the world’s largest sports federations, has embedded deeply in its DNA. With #ShowUsEqual, the DOSB took responsibility for its athletes, activated countless people to stand up for equality, and turned a campaign into a social movement – true to the DOSB values.

Background

Tokyo 2020 was a premiere in Olympic history. For the first time, as many female as male athletes were chasing the medals. Sounds like women in sports finally get the attention they deserve. Quite the opposite. Besides during the Olympic Games, the inequality in German sports media reporting is still tremendous. While male athletes get 90% of the coverage, women get only 10%! This comes with far-reaching consequences: less attention means less revenue from sponsors and less idols for girls in youth sports – and it even gives a distorted image of women in our society. Team Germany and the DOSB were determined to make a statement against this inequality and tasked us to come up with an idea that is true to the brand purpose and has the power to spark a social conversation.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

90% of sports media coverage is for male athletes, only 10% is for females – what a sad statistic. Sad, but still a statistic – abstract numbers in a dry bar chart. So, to really grab the attention of the community, we turned those figures into a more striking and engaging visualization: two socks being worn at uneven heights, which represents the statistic in a distinctive and sports-related way. It is a symbol for the inequality in sports media reporting – combined with a hashtag as our clear call: #ShowUsEqual.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We created a symbol that captivated with its simplicity ¬– eye-catching for the media to pick up and easy for the community to turn into own content. To spark the conversation, we teamed up with German sports stars and influencers. With their publicity, we could activate our main protagonists and target group to join our movement: all those hardworking female athletes around the country who aren’t in the spotlight yet – those who can authentically claim: #ShowUsEqual.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The campaign kicked off with an open letter to the German media outlets we claimed had equal sports reporting for female athletes. Then, we sent out our socks embedded in a specially designed #ShowUsEqual packaging to Team Germany athletes and several sports influencers. They made their “sock statements” on their social media channels and asked the community to join. Athletes from all sports participated, creators produced content, fans shared our hashtag, and even several leading social scientists supported our call.

List the results (30% of vote)

The outcome? Well, it knocked our socks off! #ShowUsEqual was one of the most discussed sports topics in Germany and showed that the DOSB as a brand is also – and especially – committed to the concerns of female athletes. Sports-savvy influencers and athletes from a wide range of disciplines – from gold-medal winners to amateur athletes – supported the campaign. With a budget of 4,000 euros, we achieved 2.8 million impressions on Instagram and around 25 times more comments on the DOSB Instagram channel than the previous average.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

As the umbrella organization of one of the world’s largest and most successful sports nations, the DOSB sees itself in a position of particular responsibility to contribute to the global development of sports. With this reach, it has always seen its purpose not only as a promoter of sports but also as a strong communicator of social values such as honesty, fair play, and respect. The DOSB always tries to point out social developments and initiate change. For example, the association founded its own department (Women & Equality) to specifically work for the equality of all genders in sports. And the DOSB even changed it statutes. At the 10th general assembly, the delegates passed a gender quota: from now on, women and men must each be represented by at least 30% in all DOSB committees. These reforms are for equal opportunities and are an inspiration for our #ShowUsEqual movement.