BACKGROUND/CONTEXT

The Ahrweiler region in Rhineland-Palatinate is the largest red wine-growing area in Germany, and it's well-known among connoisseurs for its hospitality. Wine culture is at heart of the Ahr valley, and the essence of many family businesses.

July 2021: Flood hell

On 14.07.2021, heavy and persistent rainfall resulted the highest water level ever measured – it was up to 700 cm. The flood destroyed entire villages, livelihoods

and lives.

In addition to the rebuilding of infrastructure, the main task now is to help family businesses in viticulture, gastronomy and tourism, which ensure the economic survival of the Ahr Valley through their existence. These local people have lost everything, and are facing the ruins and remains of their existence.

CREATIVE CHALLENGE

The only thing that survived the flood were some of the best bottles of the excellent and appreciated Ahr wines. These bottles were rescued from the cellars of the wineries. They were covered with mud and became no longer saleable. However, they were still good and enjoyable.

SOLUTION

We reframed the story, and created an advantage of the situation. We branded these characteristic mud coated bottles as "flutwein" (flood wine), staged them as key visual of the catastrophe, and sold them to raise donations.

The bottles became the symbol of the flood disaster – and a sign of optimism and hope for the whole wine region.

EXECUTION

The idea was implemented within a few days to grab public attention, and maximise it for the fundraising campaign.The newly created #flutwein brand unites the wines of more than 50 independent wineries from the Ahrweiler region under one single label.

Each bottle was original, and represented a piece of history. They were muddy, unique objects with symbolic value – and meant a positive way to give a hand, and help the region to recover financially.

The #flutwein bottles were offered for a donation on the crowdfunding platform Startnext from 24.07.2021. Through the crowdfunding mechanism, supporters not only helped financially, but also became an active part of a brand ambassador community.

The campaign, unlike typical fundraising campaigns, didn't stage suffering and destruction – but focused on the wine bottles, creates the attention with surprising and high-quality, iconic images and the creation of a new brand to catch attention in the flood of messages.

The classic campaign in TV and OOH advertising space provided by the media partners gave high visibility for the crowdfunding campaign from the very beginning.

On social media, influencers were involved in #fl utwein, and created additional reach and relevance among their followers.

PR-work and crowdfunding dynamics created relevance for press coverage and generate – without any media costs – additional awareness for the campaign and the region.

This interaction of the individual elements of #flutwein created the high cross-media visibility that is needed to reach many people, and activate them to donate.