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.

The campaign's strategic approach resulted in unprecedented awareness and engagement in our client's history, with donations dramatically increase by over 687%. The phenomenal public response made it their most effective campaign to date, sparking a debate on how to use the law to halt the spread of Nazi ideologies.

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.

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.

Laut gegen Nazis (Noise against Nazis) were facing a general fatigue of awareness campaigns in the political sector through a toxic climate on social media and a negative environment in the news in general. Growing right-wing extremism and Nazism is just one of many problems we face as a society. Laut gegen Nazis is, at its core, a brand that acts against right-wing violence and hate. Therefore, a campaign that would result in real-world change was needed to take a stand against and get in control of Nazi codes. The NGO also stood with their back against the wall – the campaign needed to secure its future.

Our target audience was the general public, and educate them how Nazi messages infiltrate society through codes, and how they help evade law and fund extremism. Our campaign helped actually stop these codes from spreading, finally outsmarting Nazis and their tactics.

The campaign took more than two years to realise and research was integral to its success: countless interviews with former Nazis were conducted. Insider reports shared ex-members of the extreme right-political scene were evaluated.

In depth data research lead to the most prominent online Nazi shops in Germany and Europe. It revealed a strong link between Nazi merch and the significance of Nazi codes. This includes insights from music festivals, protests and political events: abbreviations are in fact codes for the scene. Further investigations showed that Nazi merch is funding their operations, making it the main source of funds for Nazis.

When the idea of stopping Nazi codes with trademark law was born, further research with lawyers has confirmed the potential of our campaign idea: Where laws against Nazism, racism and hate are powerless, trademark rights can actually stop Nazi ideologies from spreading.

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 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.