To many people, Christmas stands for presents and chocolate first of all. The Evangelical Youth Council in Württemberg (EJW) wanted younger people to rethink the meaning of Christmas. The aim was to bring religious issues out of the churches and into people’s everyday lives. And to make people consider the offers of the EJW as far as questions of belief and spiritual life are concerned.

14,531 followers tuned in to Joseph within just 3 weeks. Thousands of them engaged in the story and responded on Twitter, with comments, questions and good advice. In the worldwide follower ranking, he climbed up to position 17, in Germany even to No.1. Media all over the world reported about Joseph, for example on the front page of the German WELT and with a double-page spread in 'WELT kompakt'. Joseph was featured in the Times, the Telegraph, TIME Magazine, the National, Daily Mail, the Independent – and even on abc-News.Media coverage: 70m people.Cost: €0.

As the budget was far too low for a face-to-face promotion, we had to think of another solution. The idea: a promotion that spreads by itself. We took the Christmas story and told it in a new way, with a protagonist who had not offered his view of the matter before: Joseph. By using Twitter, we made the story happen live – in real-time. Joseph offered a unique perspective and met people at eye level. His problems became understandable, the story got exciting again – and we could invite people to take part and to make contact.

With Twitter, we brought the Christmas story into people’s everyday lives. So it gained new relevance and a new meaning for the life of today. Thousands of responses on Twitter prove this.With the last tweet, the users were directed to a landing page that unveiled the EJW behind Joseph and invited the users to get in contact immediately.