2021 Social & Influencer

#SHOWUSEQUAL

Title#SHOWUSEQUAL
BrandDEUTSCHER OLYMPISCHER SPORTBUND E.V.
Product/ServiceDOSB
Category D07. 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
Credits
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 Social & Influencer?

With #ShowUsEqual, we created a social campaign that turned quickly into a social movement and inspired countless people to stand up for equality. With the power of social media and the community, we reached those who usually spread the word but in our case – bringing awareness to the unequal representation of female athletes – are part of the problem: the media.

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 (the German Olympic Sports Confederation) were determined to make a statement against this inequality and tasked us to come up with an idea to involve the community and spark a social conversation.

Describe the creative idea (30% 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 inequality combined with a hashtag to start our movement: #ShowUsEqual.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

In order to give our initiative the biggest platform, we published it shortly before the Olympic Games in Tokyo – a time when media coverage was at its peak. To spark the social conversation, we teamed up with German athletes and sports influencers. With their reach, we could activate our main target group: all these hardworking athletes around the country who aren’t in the spotlight yet – those who can authentically claim: #ShowUsEqual.

Describe the execution (20% 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 activated the community to join. And they did. Athletes from all sports participated, the community produced their own user-generated 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 talked-about sports topics in Germany. 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.