Hinz&Kunzt streetmagazine had identified a big problem: in rich Hamburg, Germany, thousands of people are homeless and even more people cannot afford to rent anymore, while at the same time over 1.4 million square meters of flats and offices are left vacant on purpose. As city hall elections were coming up, this important topic and unbelievable imbalance needed to be made public in order to influence voting behaviour. The audience: 1.2 million residents of Hamburg eligible to vote.

A guerilla campaign was launched in order to directly mark hundreds of vacant buildings. The posters used corrugated cardboard in a special way: portraits of homeless people were cut into the top layer. Punchy headlines were added. This unique design was also used for floor posters (including a 300 m2 version) were placed in shopping areas to maximise reach and create media buzz. All materials included a call to action: vote against homelessness, discuss online, participate in our survey. In short: nontraditional media and unconventional design were used to create maximum awareness - and images that the press picked up.

Prior to launch of the design idea, the topic and content of the campaign helped to win more than 20 companies to contribute work and materials (printing, media space, etc). This was key in order to be able to produce a campaign that really reaches the whole city. Only 19,000EUR invested created an advertising value of nearly 300,000EUR - which equates to 22 million contacts in Hamburg! Over 3,000 campaign postings online, close to 1,000 active participants, more than 10 TV editorials and countless articles followed. In the end, the ruling conservative party lost and a new, more social mayor won!