Creative Gallery of Responsible Communications

THE SITUATION: GERMANY IS NOT A CHILD-FRIENDLY COUNTRY. Only 20% of the German population thinks it lives in a child-friendly country, in comparison to 80% in France. Kids are generally seen as a problem and an inconvenience, and are no longer considered to be the most important responsibility that society has. A case in point: a Hamburg court ruled that 40 children who attended a local crèche would have to leave their existing premises and move into a building surrounded by two-metre-high noise barriers after local residents successfully filed a noise pollution complaint. This was an isolated case, but it is indicative of how children are treated in Germany in this day and age. THE CONSEQUENCE: THE BIRTH RATE IN GERMANY IS TOO LOW. People’s desire to have children is lower in Germany than in any other EU member state. Getting on for a quarter of the population now plans to live a children-free life. As a result, the birth rate is now at its lowest since 1946 – and has dropped by 50% in the last 50 years. While a French woman has an average of two children, in Germany, the average is just 1.3. As a consequence, the German birth rate chart is becoming top-heavy and the country’s social security system is doomed to collapse. THE CHALLENGE: INSTIGATING A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE IN SOCIETY. Based on the “You are Germany” campaign which was launched in 2005 and which served to boost people’s motivation in the run-up to the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany, the task in hand was to develop a continuation of the campaign that would once more generate momentum and trigger a public debate – with the ultimate objective of restoring the idea of having children as a cherished matter of course. THE RESULT: The biggest social marketing campaign in the history of Germany becomes quite a talking point. With a gross advertising budget of more than €30 million, the campaign appears in much of the country. More than 42 million people in Germany are soon familiar with the campaign and more than 35 million consider the topic to be important. The campaign improves the climate for children and 16% more people familiar with the campaign agree with the statement “Having children is a wonderful thing” than people who have not encountered the campaign. The is still ongoing. (Sources: Federal Institute for Population Research 2005, Allensbach Institute 2004, Die Welt 12/2007)

You are Germany’s future” – “You are Germany”. Firstly, we needed to forge a strategic link between the first “You are Germany” campaign and the new campaign. By having the campaign tell kids that they are our future, we establish a logical link to the previous campaign, which won various awards two years ago, including the Golden Social Effie. OUR CREATIVE STRATEGY: WE SHOW PEOPLE “A WHOLE LIFE” WITH CHILDREN. The easiest way in which to communicate the happiness that a lot of people don’t know is by visualising it. Not in a kitschy or authoritarian way, but directly and taken straight out of real life. We make use of the preconceptions often held by people without any children: children are loud, rude and difficult, and break everything. They forget about the joy that kids can bring: loving and being loved, laughter and surprises. We show these people all the things they usually push to the back of their minds, but that are actually the real bringers of joy. AUTHENTIC LOVE THAT CAN EVEN MELT THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE WITHOUT CHILDREN. The campaign features real kids in real surroundings, thus treading the fine line between kitsch and emotions. Our commercials are authentic and full of love, and communicate the candid joy and pleasure that kids can cause. THE MAIN VEHICLE FOR THE CAMPAIGN IS ATL MEDIA. The media decision makers and businesspeople are so impressed with the campaign concept that they donate enough money for ad placements to make the campaign really visible: the campaign appears in 46 magazines (incl. Der Spiegel, Brigitte, AutoMotorSport, Gala and Stern) and 21 daily papers (incl. FAZ, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Financial Times Deutschland) with a total circulation of 42.1 million. In addition, it features on 12 TV channels (incl. ARD, ZDF, RTL, ProSieben), 148 radio stations, 1,160 supersite backlit posters in 13 cities and in 766 cinemas in just under 200 towns (source: Mindshare). The gross media volume amounted to more than €32 million. • TV: 42% • Magazines: 32% • Newspapers: 12% • Radio: 3%: • Out of Home: 3% • Cinema: 2% • Online: 3% • PR: 3% One of the difficult aspects of the campaign is that its target group is so incredibly broad and cannot be narrowed down at all. After all, it’s designed to address the whole of Germany as we need everyone in their individual roles: • The media decision makers who are responsible for bringing the campaign to the attention of the public in the first place. • The companies that declare their commitment to children and make active use of the campaign. • The opinion formers who can make the joy of having children a public and much-discussed topic once more. • Parents, who proudly proclaim the joy their children bring them. • Potential parents, who are to be reintroduced to the advantages of having children. • And finally, everyone in Germany who wants to make the country a child-friendly place once more.