Public Relations
Social Media
Storytelling
Consumer Marketing
Content Production
Influencer Relations

Wacken World Wide – Making mud and metal a digital experience

THE CHALLENGE

In 2020, for the first time in 30 years, the legendary festival cannot take place. 75,000 fans make the pilgrimage to Wacken every year and now have to miss out on mud and metal due to the pandemic. The tranquil village in Schleswig-Holstein remains silent. But then – a statement instead of the cancellation: If the fans can’t go to Wacken, Wacken will come home to the fans. Together with the festival organizers, we are positioning Telekom as an uncompromising enabler in the crisis. Together, we are tackling the huge task of thinking in completely new ways and blurring the hard line between real and digital.

OUR APPROACH

For the first time, mixed reality technology is being used on this scale. International metal icons play real concerts that are connected to the virtual festival world. This creates spectacular stage sets. The community is involved through activities such as a headbang contest and integrated directly into the livestream as a virtual audience via QR code and video conferencing tool. High-quality content is produced with the artists. We play all of this out on social media channels. We also convince bands and fans to share the campaign on their channels and achieve a large earned social media reach.

THE RESULT

The biggest and most emotional Wacken of all time – and one of the most successful brand experiences for Telekom. The livestream is an emotional highlight for millions of people worldwide and, according to Pollstar, the most successful music livestream of the year. From ZDF, RTL and Bild to laut.de and Metal Hammer – many top media outlets report multiple times and transport the branded content and brand messages to the diverse target groups.