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← Back to IdeasDeutsche Bahn and Ogilvy launch campaign for the Fan BahnCard.
Frankfurt, 15. Mai 2024 – The European Football Championship – that means cheering and wishing for the national team to become European champions, in Germany too. With the new gamification approach for its BahnCard discount card, Deutsche Bahn is offering a very special promotion: Stefanie Berk, Head of Marketing and Sales for Long-Distance Passenger Transport, explains: “If Germany becomes European football champions, our Fan BahnCard is automatically extended by a whole year, free of charge. An offer that potential rail travelers should not miss out on now before the European Championships. Admittedly: the European Championship title for Germany is optimistic – but not impossible after the national team’s recent results.”
Once before, the odds for a German tournament victory were rather modest and others were the overwhelming favorites. But then what all Germany fans were hoping for happened: a football miracle. This is exactly where Ogilvy’s campaign idea comes in: in 1954, it was Herbert Zimmermann who commented on this football miracle in Bern with his unmistakable voice on the radio. In 2024, Deutsche Bahn has borrowed the voice of Frank Buschmann to commentate on a new football miracle in Berlin. In the film for the Fan BahnCard, both voices come together to drum up support for the Fan BahnCard.
Jürgen Kornmann, CMO Deutsche Bahn AG, says: “With the Fan BahnCard, we are launching another important building block in DB’s overall concept as a national partner of UEFA EURO 2024™. Attractive rail offers for football fans are the key to the use of climate-friendly mobility and the film is particularly inspiring for an atmospheric European Championship.”
Implementing the film idea was no easy task, reports Simon Oppmann, Creative Director at Ogilvy: “It was not possible to use original images and sounds from the historic broadcast from the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern without further ado. That’s why the voice of Herbert Zimmermann had to be generated with AI support for the film. And for the historical film scenes, we were able to take some sequences from the feature film ‘The Miracle of Bern’ with the kind support of director Sönke Wortmann.” The images for a fictitious legendary goal at the 2024 final in Berlin were also realized as authentically as possible. This sequence with players and fans was filmed at the original location of the upcoming UEFA EURO 2024™ final in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Director Bastian Glaessner and film production company Tony Petersen were hired to realize the film.
Now everything is in place for the new football miracle and on July 14 it should sound from the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, just as back in 1954 in Bern: “He should shoot from the back. He shoots. And: gooooal, gooooal, goooal! Germany are the European football champions!” And Fan BahnCard holders get their BahnCard free for a year.
The campaign starts on 15. May on TV and will be flanked by other campaign components such as OOH, radio, banners, social media and much more.
Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/946113456?share=copy
The creators:
Marketing Communication DB Fernverkehr
Stefanie Berk, Vorständin Marketing und Vertrieb
Dr. Thomas Kemper, Leiter Marktkommunikation
Lydia Hagedorn, Marktkommunikation
DB Group Marketing
Jürgen Kornmann, Leiter Marketing & PR, CMO
Markus Fälsch, Leiter Marketingkommunikation Personenverkehr
Friederike Pecoraro, Marketingkommunikation Personenfernverkehr
Ogilvy
Creation: Sebastian Kamp, Bent Kroggel, Simon Oppmann, Peter Römmelt; Consulting: Alice Baldczus, Leona Nöthe, Roland Stauber, Katharina Stückle; FFF: Claudia Vaternahm
Media: Carat Deutschland
Film production: Tony Petersen
Director: Bastian Glaessner
Press office Ogilvy
Ogilvy GmbH, Darmstädter Landstraße 112, 60598 Frankfurt
Telefon: 069 9622 500 23 | presse@ogilvy.com | LinkedIn: Ogilvy Germany