At a time where far-right parties are on the rise, our client, Laut gegen Nazis decided to bravely take a stand. But they didn't just want to raise awareness against the growing widespread extremism; they wanted to do something that actually stopped this threat to democracy.

Our campaign managed to strategically make Nazi codes part of the mainstream public discourse. We ignited a strong and pervasive conversation and played a pivotal role in reshaping the public perception of Nazi merchandise featuring repulsive ideologies – leading to a global media reach of 2.2 billion.

The extreme right disseminates their hateful messages and ideologies to the masses by blending in. They use codes that reveal their true meaning only upon a closer look, or to people that are part of the Nazi scene.

Most Nazi symbols, signs and words have long been banned in Germany and other European countries. However, the Nazi scene has been bypassing bans for just as long: with its own codes and abbreviations. So the banned word "HAKENKREUZ" (Swastika) became "HKNKRZ", "HITLER" became "HTLR" and "VATERLAND" (Fatherland), "VTRLND" – rendering all bans pretty powerless.

A big problem! These codes, printed on shirts and merchandise, are the main source of income for right-wing organisations – and a way to spread their racist believes. A challenge that lawmakers have not yet risen to and one that is becoming more and more urgent with the political shift to the far right in Germany and Europe.

Our client and NGO Laut gegen Nazis (Noise Against Nazis) is on a mission to make our society a safer and more inclusive space for all, standing as a fortress against hate, extremism, and the subtle codes that fuel them. Their battle Cry is Unity Through Understanding. "Laut gegen Nazis" is not just a movement; it is a rallying cry for all those who stand for justice and against hatred, for all those who believe in the power of unity and knowledge to defeat extremism and hold far-right extremists accountable. That’s why raising awareness and sharing the knowledge around Nazi codes and their meaning has been at the core of the campaign. It’s the NGO’s mission is to educate people about Nazi codes and take action to stop them.

The extreme right have been concealing their hateful ideas through coded messages. Codes – used in place of explicit far-right terms – mean lawmakers are incapable of banning their use. Giving Nazis the opportunity to use them on merchandise such as t-shirts and sweaters to finance the movement.

Our client, "Laut gegen Nazis" (Noise against Nazis), is a nonprofit organisation that stands against the spread of extreme-right wing violence and hate across Germany and Europe. Our brief was to create awareness for the NGO, boost donations and educate people on existing Nazi codes and abbreviations.

The briefing resulted in a world-first approach to effectively stop the spread of extremist ideologies and hate.

Since Adolf Hitler came to power, the right-wing scene in Germany has not been as strong. At the fore front: Nazi organisations that spread hatred and incitement against their opponents. Our client, the NGO “Noise Against Nazis”, takes action against the spread of right-wing extremism, hate and violence in Germany and Europe.

The political climate and general culture in Germany has shifted to the right. It was the time of German state elections. The German far-right Party AfD had been forecasted to produce record results, while Germany felt generally fatigued by a struggling economy and a war at Europe’s borders.

As a result, awareness and willingness to donate to the fight against it has reached an all-time low. We had to turn this around, maximise awareness and donations, and educate on the existence and meaning of Nazi codes that spread violent and hateful messages, while lawmakers remain powerless.

The idea: Outsmarting Nazis by securing their codes with trademark law, and revoking the rights of Nazi online shops to use them.

Together with Laut gegen Nazis, we secured trademark rights for German and international Nazi codes at the European trademark office. As the new rightful owners of these trademarks, we can now bring Nazi shops to justice for the first time ever. By compelling them to remove and destroy the merch bearing these codes and claiming compensation for each item sold.

More and more of these trademarks will be published to create PR buzz for our campaign. We introduced our smart idea to our audience with a film and a website, optimised for press and social media. It is designed to engage our audience and encourage them to take part through donations.

Our primary target audience were community leaders, educators and politicians that would carry the campaign further and help by sharing it. This is why X (Twitter) was crucial to our phenomenal success – the campaign heavily relied on these opinion makers to create a viral effect, given there was no media budget. This way we could reach a wider and general public – especially young people, who are more vulnerable to Nazi codes and their hateful ideologies.

Having zero media budget, our case was all about momentum: we launched the campaign right after the German state elections, which carried a significant risk of producing a strong outcome for the extreme right. This then would become the main topic – both online and offline, making it the perfect time for an uplifting and empowering campaign against the extreme right.

Our launch was supported by a press meeting on day one, followed by a range of press interviews and an extensive press release. Simultaneously, we launched a film and a website.

Our idea was swiftly picked up and featured by crucial German news outlets like Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung and even ZDF and shared via X (Twitter). Media outlets worldwide picked up on the campaign, from top-tier online publishers to international press. Social media accounts, both big and small, featured it and brought it to millions of users who liked, shared, and discussed the campaign. The results are huge, considering no money was spent on PR. Ultimately, all reach occurred organically.

Our campaign managed to strategically make Nazi codes part of the mainstream public discourse. We ignited a strong and pervasive conversation and played a pivotal role in reshaping the public perception of Nazi merchandise featuring repulsive ideologies. The media reach spanned a colossal 2.2 billion people. Online we reached impressive 117 million. Fostering an active engagement of 176,000, our campaign has masterfully orchestrated an unparalleled wave of awareness for our client, Laut gegen Nazis.

The impact manifests in a staggering 630% surge in searches related to the NGO and Nazi codes. Donations have increased by a massive 687%. We have achieved this while Germany is going through a general decrease in charity donations, which plummeted by over 30%. To summarise, our results have vastly exceeded the expectations set by our client.

The work was designed to have a long-term impact. We managed to play a crucial role in reshaping public perception of hateful Nazi messages. Nazi shops removed their bestsellers immediately. The campaign convinced leading fashion platforms to create a new alliance with us that will make it even harder for Nazis to sell their hateful merch in the future.

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