Oliver, Senior Brand Manager, ProSieben Marketing
“In this day and age, it’s important to make a statement and give socially relevant topics a platform.”
Diversity, acceptance, and respect. At the World Cup in Qatar, the major European soccer associations wanted to make a statement with the “One Love” captain’s armband. Then, at the start of the tournament, they decided against it. Just three hours after the news broke, ProSieben began displaying the “One Love” logo permanently at the top left-hand corner of the TV screen. A strong statement. “When the German Football Federation gave way in Qatar, as many other European football associations did simultaneously, it was instantly clear to us that we had to do something and take a stance. In the end, we were the first and the fastest to do so. That was much appreciated – by our employees as well as by viewers and advertising customers,” says Oliver Jahn, Senior Brand Manager in ProSieben’s Marketing department. Over the past year in particular, he and his team have implemented a number of key values-based campaigns for the broadcaster’s brand. These campaigns typically arise in the course of day-to-day events, which makes them difficult to plan for. “Issues suddenly come up that we as people have never had to deal with before,” Oliver says. So what do Oliver and his team set store by in their work? “You can’t go into this finger wagging,” he explains. “We’re not here to tell the world what’s good or what’s bad. We want to show what we stand for and what we don’t.”
ProSieben repeatedly took a stance on socially relevant topics, underscoring the importance of Responsibility as a value: For example, as part of “Zervakis & Opdenhövel. Live.” (#ZOL), the broadcaster launched its own fundraising campaign for war refugees from Ukraine and, at the end of the year 2022, casted a spotlight on the fight for freedom in Iran in front of an audience of millions. Videos aired on TV and online offer striking evidence of how the people there – especially women – have risked their lives to protest against the Iranian regime’s brutal oppression.
“We run these campaigns because we embrace these values ourselves. ProSieben is open-minded. ProSieben is tolerant and empathetic. Especially in this day and age, it’s important to make a statement and give socially relevant issues a platform,” Oliver says. He himself drove an ambulance for four years, both as a community service worker and as a part-time job. That made him realize the deeper meaning of social responsibility. “We’re in a pretty privileged position in this country. We can do a lot in support of good causes. And that’s exactly what motivates me personally to keep doing these campaigns,” he says.
