Santiago Campillo-Lundbeck Horizont
That applicants in a casting must expect negative comments is unavoidable. But none of the young candidates who wanted to take part in Telekom’s “Dream Job Influencer*in” campaign had expected this flood of digital venom. They are the unknowing stars of the Telekom initiative “#DABEI - Against Hate on the Net,” which aims to make it possible to personally experience the effect of anonymous hate comments. The social experiment was supported by veteran influencers Diana zur Löwen and Eko Fresh.
The “Against hate online” attitude campaign may not be one of the most costly media investments in Telekom’s marketing universe, but it is a successful perennial hit. Launched two years ago, the company says the initiative has now achieved around 700 million media contacts and now works with 44 partners. At the same time, the initiative remains strongly associated with the brand: 64 percent of the German population knows that Telekom is committed to combating hate on the Internet.
And the new project, developed by creative agency The Goodwins, is also designed to raise awareness of the impact mechanisms of hate, says Christian Hahn, Head of Strategy Marketing Communications and Media at Deutsche Telekom: “We are fighting for a network where people feel comfortable and everyone treats each other with respect. The digital space is far too often a place of hate speech, shitstorms and cyberbullying. How hurtful, humiliating, and unsettling hate comments are usually remains hidden.” The “Influencer Skill Test” and the accompanying campaign aim to show how reactions on the net can suddenly turn, and to educate on how to deal with aggression and hate comments on the net.
To this end, the company launched the call “Dream Job Influencer*in?” at the end of 2021, in which young people with social media ambitions were asked to demonstrate their talents. A total of nine candidates were given the opportunity to present themselves to a supposed online community of around 1,000 users. The candidates were able to follow the reactions of the online audience on large screens. What they didn't know was that all the comments they saw during their performance were orchestrated by an editorial team. And after an initial positive phase, these comments quickly turned into the most vicious insults. The experiment was psychologically accompanied at every stage to ensure that it did not become a permanently traumatic experience for the unknowing candidates.
The actual campaign message only emerges in the final reappraisal of the experience with the visibly shocked participants. These interviews are intended to reach a young audience in particular, many of whom are likely to dream of an influencer career themselves and can identify with the scenario accordingly.
Accordingly, the videos (production: Load Studios) are played out exclusively digitally via YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, Reddit, Instagram and TikTok (media planning: Mindshare, Frankfurt / Emetriq, Hamburg). Although Telekom is investing a higher six-figure media budget for start-up financing, it is relying mainly on earned media. Influencer management was handled by Studio71. Schröder+Schömbs PR is responsible for public relations.