The Rabbit Race was a revolutionary twist to an otherwise dull 5% discount sales promotion for easter. We came up with a live sports event, broadcasted online and on the 9 biggest private TV stations in Germany. Instead of another promotional ad we created an entertainment program for the whole family.

The campaign was based on generating earned media on a big scale, basically by activating customers all over Germany to shop at Media Markt first, then drawing them (by the chance to win) in front of their TV screen and get fascinated and entertained by our branded content. In case of a win, customers had to collect their voucher at the store, creating another need for a purchase. The whole campaign created a lot of awareness and multiple activational impulses on three different occasions in just one stroke.

The briefing was an Easter related 5% discount promotion. But instead of another dull sales campaign, we wanted to create a promotional live marketing event that outshines every other Easter campaign throughout Germany:

The Rabbit Race.

Three races were shown live during prime time on the 9 biggest private TV stations and turned into a betting game. To participate, customers could shop at Media Markt on three days before the three races to win a voucher with 50% worth their purchase back. So, instead of giving a 5% discount to everybody, we gave every tenth customer 50% of his money back, while creating tons of content.

The Easter Bunny Race turned Media Markt from biggest German electronic entertainment retailer to biggest entertainer over night, creating a never before seen and revolutionary live marketing event that Media Markts target group enjoyed to watch, follow and share.

A content format broadcasted live at prime time, on the 10 biggest German TV stations , as well as online on YouTube's frontpage, Bild.de (Germany's biggest online newspaper) and MediaMarkt.de

The result:

21 Mio. live viewers.

+ 250 Mio. overall campaign net reach.

+18.2% customer increase .

+250% interaction and +40% more followers on facebook.

+ 208% more followers on Twitter.

- #OsterhasenRasen generated roundabout 6.3 mio. twitter impressions.

The Rabbit Race was teased and presented like a major sports event, with a famous sports anchor presenting live from a specially built race arena. The event was framed in reports, background stories and star portraits of every participating racing bunny, as well as press conferences and behind the scenes material. The whole production was set to be enjoyable to watch, regardless of the weaved in sales promotion, leading to great awareness without being perceived as advertising in the first place.

Once the event draws attention to a customer, it is encouraging to take part by shopping at Media Markt, watching the live race and in case of a win, returning to the POS to receive a voucher, which creates another activation for a purchase.