Tagesschau |  Throwback ’89

2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Throwback ’89 aimed to let young people experience this important event in German history – via interactive time travel and innovative technologies right on their smartphones.

Insight

Insight

The Fall of the Berlin Wall is one of the most significant moments in German history. But over 25M Germans can’t relate to this historic moment – they simply weren’t born yet! How does one spark a young generation’s interest for an historic event, make it accessible and the Fall of the Wall experienceable? Through innovative storytelling.

The case film
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Solution

Solution

An interactive time travel to the Fall of the Berlin Wall. For the 1st time, we made use of Snapchat’s Landmarker Lens technology and built a virtual replica of the wall to representatively place it over the upper part of the Brandenburger Tor. By tapping, Snapchat users were able to tear down the wall and experience the moment of joy for themselves. A fictional Instagram diary made the last days before the fall of the wall tangible from the perspective of a teenager – as if Insta-Stories had already existed in 1989. And in a rebuilt Tagesschau studio, people were able to announce the historical news once more by themselves and share it via social media.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall – made to be experienced by young people across all relevant touch points
Result

Result

Throwback ’89 turned the Fall of the Wall into a digital experience for young people and took a stand for solidarity in an increasingly divided society. With a reach of 6,4M people and more than 1,25M interactions in less than a month, we took every third person in our target group on this interactive time travel.

Credits

Credits

Client: Tagesschau (NDR)
Strategic Consulting: Snap Inc.
Development Snapchat Landmarker Lens: Linus Brandes