Media Mart: Rabbit Race
MediaMarkt, Germany's leading electronics retailer, needed to significantly boost store traffic, sales, and brand interaction during Easter 2015. They aimed to engage a broad German audience beyond typical holiday promotions, seeking an innovative campaign that would create buzz and drive customers back to stores.
Creative Idea
Turned purchase receipts into betting slips for a live, celebrity rabbit race.
MediaMarkt transformed Easter 2015 into a global spectacle by casting, training, and turning 10 rabbits into celebrity athletes for the world's first live commercial break sports event, the 'Rabbit Race,' engaging 21 million viewers by turning receipts into betting slips for cashback vouchers, driving unprecedented traffic and sales.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
MediaMarkt leveraged its leading retail position and production capabilities to orchestrate a massive, multi-platform live entertainment event.
Category
The electronics retail category typically relied on traditional Easter sales and discounts, lacking interactive, high-stakes engagement.
Customer
Customers sought entertainment, the thrill of competition, and tangible rewards, valuing experiences that offered both excitement and potential savings.
Culture
A cultural appetite for live sports, reality TV-style celebrity narratives, and the universal appeal of cute animals converged during Easter.
Company
MediaMarkt leveraged its leading retail position and production capabilities to orchestrate a massive, multi-platform live entertainment event.
Category
The electronics retail category typically relied on traditional Easter sales and discounts, lacking interactive, high-stakes engagement.
Strategy:
Transform routine transactions into engaging, high-stakes entertainment to drive participation and reward loyalty.
Customer
Customers sought entertainment, the thrill of competition, and tangible rewards, valuing experiences that offered both excitement and potential savings.
Culture
A cultural appetite for live sports, reality TV-style celebrity narratives, and the universal appeal of cute animals converged during Easter.
Strategy:
Transform routine transactions into engaging, high-stakes entertainment to drive participation and reward loyalty.
Results
The campaign achieved a net reach of 250 million. Facebook interaction with the brand's page increased by +259%. It garnered more traffic in stores and more sales, specifically customers increased by +18.2%. The live race was watched by 21 million viewers, which is more than the soccer World Cup semi-final.
250M
net reach
+259%
Facebook interaction
+18.2%
customer increase
Strategy Technique
Create a New Mental Shortcut
The campaign forged a direct link between MediaMarkt purchases and the thrill of a live sports event. This created a memorable shortcut, associating the brand with unexpected entertainment and value.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Gamification
The campaign transformed every purchase receipt into a betting slip, directly engaging customers in a live competition. This gamified the shopping experience, adding excitement and a tangible incentive to participate.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its ability to blend whimsical animal antics with professional sports broadcasting and integrated commerce, making a unique and highly engaging live event that drove significant results.
The execution of a live rabbit race as a major sports event, with multiple cameras, commentators, and simultaneous broadcast across national TV and digital platforms, was an unprecedented feat.
The creative styling of the rabbits as 'athletes' and 'celebrities' with costumes and personalized branding, combined with the professional sports aesthetic of the race, created a cohesive and highly entertaining visual identity.
Integrating the campaign across multiple digital platforms (YouTube, brand website, news sites, social media) with interactive elements like betting slips and rich content ensured broad engagement and participation.
The concept itself is a clever play on words and expectations (Easter bunnies as athletes), and the supporting content (rabbit profiles, quotes) extends this humor and narrative effectively.
The true genius of this campaign lies in the seamless synergy between whimsical concept, high-quality live event production, and deeply integrated commerce mechanics, which together amplified engagement and delivered measurable business results.
