Situation

Christmas: feast of love and a feast of consumption. Heavenly times for the trade: German retailers and online retailers have forecast season sales of about 86 billion Euros. Of course, every retailer wants a piece of that cake. The formula for success seems easy: more attention = more activation = more sales. But – while products are interchangeable only communication can make a difference.

Brief

Time to engage with consumers on a more emotional level and create an innovative campaign whilst building on the emotion and brand linkage established through past Christmas campaigns. Not only in order to gain clicks, likes and shares but to use emotion specifically for sales – a radical change.

Objectives

To bring OTTO into the relevant set for Christmas presents and to establish the online retailer as the single point of contact in Germany. Always in focus: the clear sharpening of OTTO’s brand image.

On a cold December night, a mailman is working in his post office and dicovers an unopened, long-lost letter from an unknown young boy. The mailman sets out to fulfill this little boy’s long awaited wish.

Implementation

A new campaign mechanic. Instead of conventional TV spots – an 82” animated film was launched across social media first and could only be viewed online. A short 20” TV trailer promoted the online film and the landing page, where the audience could find the film, the specially composed song, an audio book and the „the sky of wishes“, where people could post their own long awaited wishes. All media activity (TV, online banners, etc.) served as teasers for the main film. A huge organic platform on which the borders of shop and campaign were blurred.

Timeline

The campaign ran from November 17th till December 14th.

Placement

The full-length film was hosted on YouTube, Facebook and on a temporary landing page specifically developed for the campaign. A 20” TV trailer was run to promote the online film and the landing page.

Scale

Germany-wide: TV, online and print.