The cross-media campaign for the European Capital of Culture 2025 wins the German Brand Award "Winner" in the Brand Communication - Integrated Campaign category and "Special Mention" in the Brand Efficiency of the Year category. The realisation of the campaign was only possible with the help and support of the citizens of Chemnitz, who turned the European Capital of Culture application into a movement. Starting with the survey of around 6,000 Chemnitz residents, the sowing of the flowering meadows, the Capital of Culture streets and the handover of the bid book at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin - all projects are based on the overwhelming commitment of the citizens. The bid campaign went hand in hand with the creation of the bid book by the communications agency zebra | group, which created the most authentic bid book among the candidate cities. In line with the message "No title without a team!", this joint approach has now also led to this title
Chemnitz will be European Capital of Culture in 2025 - and this was only possible thanks to the fantastic support from the population. Together, the people of Chemnitz have shown what culture means, that alongside theatre and museums, sport, allotments, gastronomy and cuisine also play a role. And that culture is also present in the park, in the outdoor pool or at the dinner table and can have its place.
During the application process, this analogue content formed the basis for the primarily digital campaign, which was played out via social media channels in particular. Local and regional multipliers were involved and individualised campaigns were launched. All in all, this was an internal campaign with a major external impact: with a reach of 58.3 million, the Chemnitz campaign achieved as many contacts as all other application sites combined. In combination with the authentic bid book, the application was rewarded with the title of "European Capital of Culture 2025" in October 2020. The entire team is all the more delighted about the award, which emphasises the quality of the brand and is a special recognition of the work done over the past year. The fact that Chemnitz deserved the title became digitally visible far beyond the city limits and proved that sometimes it doesn't take a lot of money to reach people and get them excited about an idea.
In May 2020, Chemnitzer Wirtschaftsförderungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH took over the communication for the application for the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 due to the pandemic and, together with the zebra | group, applied for this award on behalf of the Chemnitz 2025 team. A jury selected the winners from more than 1,200 entries. The German Brand Award is one of the most important marketing awards in the German-speaking world. This is accompanied by international visibility for the campaign and thus also for the title of the city of Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture 2025. In this sense, the creative makers of the city are also honoured and placed in the spotlight under the motto of the Capital of Culture application "C the Unseen".
