The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2019
Commerzbank turns sexist clichés into a ponytail anthem — Grand Effie Germany 2020
Commerzbank's film has the DFB women disarm sexist clichés — 190M contacts, €30M PR value, Grand Effie Germany 2020.
Commerzbank
What it had to solve
Commerzbank had sponsored the German women's national team since 2008, yet the team — one of the most successful in the world — had almost no public profile and faced abuse in the social web. The bank had to activate its sponsorship for the 2019 Women's World Cup on a small media budget.
How it works
Ahead of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France, the German women's national team was one of the world's most successful football teams and yet virtually unknown at home — players faced comments like "women are just there to have babies". Commerzbank, its sponsor since 2008, had to make its partnership count with a small media budget.
Instead of a conventional sponsorship campaign, thjnk Hamburg made the discrimination itself the theme. The 90-second film opens with the players asking the German audience if it knows their names (it doesn't), then dismantles the prejudices around women's football with humour, self-irony and punchlines like "We don't need balls — we have ponytails."
The film launched in the run-up to the World Cup and was then rolled out on TV and online. Per Horizont's effectiveness analysis it achieved roughly 190 million gross contacts, 36% positive reactions and about €30 million in PR value, and it triggered a nationwide debate about women's football.
After years of decline, membership numbers of women and girls in German football clubs rose — a result the Grand Effie jury credited to the campaign. The work took two Gold Effies and then the Grand Effie Germany 2020 as the most effective campaign of the year.
Why it lands
- The campaign turned an obligation (sponsor activation) into a statement the players could own, giving it authenticity no product ad could buy.
- The hook was the audience's own ignorance — "you don't know our names" — which made indifference the story instead of a barrier.
- A small paid budget forced earned media and social debate, which delivered far more reach than bought placements.
- The brand tied itself to a social outcome, women's football visibility, rather than a banking claim.
What it did
The campaign generated roughly 190 million gross contacts, with 36% of reactions positive and around €30 million in PR value (per Horizont), and for the first time in years membership numbers of women and girls in German football clubs rose. It won the Grand Effie Germany 2020 plus two Gold Effies (Public Relations, Highlight).
What you can take
When a sponsorship is invisible, make the invisibility the message: let the talent answer the stereotypes head-on, and a tiny media budget can become a national conversation.
Since then
Ponytails became one of the most decorated sponsorship campaigns in German advertising: two Gold Effies and the Grand Effie Germany 2020, with the Eurobest film entry documenting it for international juries. Trade coverage (blachreport, promedianews, pr-journal) framed it as the year's most effective German work, and it is regularly cited as a reference for purpose-driven sponsorship on a small budget.
Sources
- 2020 Effie Awards Germany Winners Announced: Commerzbank and thjnk win Grand Effie
- Commerzbank und die DFB-Frauen: "Wir brauchen keine Eier, wir haben Pferdeschwänze"
- DFB-Women – Your Game, Your Beat, Your Bank
- Grand Effie 2020 für thjnk und Commerzbank
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