Zalando – We will hug again

In 2020, we implemented a campaign for the online mail order company Zalando in cooperation with Havas Media Germany. Under the claim “We will hug again”, various (digital) out-of-home media were used to spread good wishes and positive feelings to show Corona-stricken people a light at the end of the tunnel. The focus was not on promoting a new fashion collection, but on the longing for togetherness that united the entire nation.

THE MEDIA STRATEGY

The “We will hug again” campaign was divided into two phases that built on each other and took place in November and December 2020 in the seven largest cities in Germany.
In the first phase, which explained the campaign, the question of whether we will ever hug again was placed quite openly. The creation of a mural showed a single person with only an empty shadow in their arms.

The resolution followed shortly after in the second phase. Here, another person was added to the existing mural. Suddenly the slogan also changed and the open question “Will we hug again?” became the hopeful statement: “We will hug again” in the second campaign phase.

THE PLAYOUT

In order to convey this symbol of hope, optimism and solidarity in the best possible way, we networked everything the out-of-home (OOH) world has to offer: (digital) city light posters, mega lights, city light pillars, premium giant posters, big banners, airport banners, mall screens and programmatic displays. But also special implementations such as façade painting and an innovative mask dispenser made the campaign one of the most spectacular and certainly most emotional OOH implementations in 2020.

In addition to targeted reach building, creative beacons were set in the form of giant posters and murals. One target group in particular was addressed: 50 to 60-year-olds. By means of programmatic targeting, the people who particularly miss the hug of a child or grandchild were once again directly addressed. In addition, the campaign was extended organically and also via paid into social media. Photos of the murals were shared thousands of times on Instagram, Twitter (X) and Facebook.

Often, the friends and loved ones that people were dying to hug again were linked under the shared posts.

So #wewillhugagain was not only present on all channels, but above all in people’s hearts.

THE RESULTS

First and foremost, the campaign aimed to stir emotions, give people hope and be an active support in the fight against the virus. But the numbers also speak for themselves:

• A whopping 188,500,000 contacts were achieved in the core target group E 20-55.
• Thanks to the programmatic target group optimisation on the target group 50 to 60+, a sensational 63 percent uplift could be achieved compared to a loop-based campaign
• The OOH media was shared, liked and clicked thousands of times on social media. The campaign was also present everywhere in the press at Christmas time – even on TV the impressive and above all emotional OOH use was thematised
• The most important thing: the campaign touched people. From the poster straight into the heart