EWE / osnatel: Giving fibre a face.

The campaign addressed households in areas where fibre had already been rolled out. EWE and osnatel wanted to win them as customers. The same audience had recently seen a DSL promotion with a similar offer built around the FRITZ!Box.

The creative task was to give the fibre upgrade its own identity. The audience still considered its existing connection sufficient and was reluctant to deal with the effort of switching.

We developed a distinctive visual world to set the fibre campaign apart from the previous DSL communication. The idea: a friendly, energetic character moves into a familiar home and embodies the new offer.

The German headline “Achtung Glasraser” combines Glasfaser, meaning fibre, with Raser, a word suggesting speed. The character gives the wordplay a physical form. This creates an invitation to switch that can be expressed through personality, movement and everyday situations.

The Glasraser’s goggles give it a gaze and an attitude. The glowing Wi-Fi symbol on its belly connects it with the internet offer. It replaced a lightning bolt in the design: in the context of an energy provider, that symbol could first suggest electricity.

The tail was also developed into a directional stream of data. Together with the movement poses, it makes speed part of the character. A familiar home setting connects it with the product’s use: watching films, making video calls and using other digital services.

The gallery presents character studies and applications. It shows how proportions, materials, expressions and surroundings contribute to a shared visual identity.

Character, family, home setting and offer panels form the campaign’s shared components. Perspective and composition were adapted for different media. Portrait formats received their own arrangement of elements.

Rules for displaying the FRITZ!Box and positioning the logo connect the creative idea with each advertising format’s requirements. Here, Creative Engineering means carrying strategy and character development through to the execution of the formats.

The campaign was designed to win fibre contracts, supported by leads, landing-page visits and contacts in shops and retail partners. The work shown here documents the concept and design.

Three decisions illustrate an approach that can inform other campaigns:

• Check the meaning of a symbol in its brand context: a lightning bolt and a Wi-Fi symbol can create different expectations for an energy provider.
• Build recognition through shared components: character, setting and offer panels connect the formats.
• Treat each format as a design task in its own right: perspective, composition and placement need a solution suited to the medium.