Raiffeisen Bank: The Font Against Illiteracy

Credits & Description:

Client: Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken BVR e.V., Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken
Agency (& City): HEIMAT, Berlin
CEO: Matthias von Bechtolsheim
Account Director: Mark Hassan, Volker Jensen
CCO: Guido Heffels
ECD: Myles Lord
Creative Director(s): Tim Schneider, Ralf Reinsberg, Johannes Heldrich
Copywriter(s): Lukasz Ciszewski
Art Director(s): Benedikt Wisbauer
Graphic Design: Philipp Bertisch
Photographer(s): Lex Brand
Production Company (& City): Trigger Happy Productions, Berlin
Film Director(s): Johan Kramer
Production Company Producer(s): Stephan Vens, Miliane Nani Meimeth
Agency Producer(s): Kerstin Heffels
Editor: Hannes Andresen
Typographer(s): Ernst Lorenzen
Digital Artwork: Fried Onions, Font Shop
Programmer(s): Fried Onions, Font Shop
Short explanation
Ernst, a member of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, is learning to read and write at the age of 55. We made his original handwriting to his very own font, the “Ernst_55” and shared his story with the entire nation, to inspire others to beat illiteracy.
After introducing Ernst´s story on TV, we launched the “Ernst_55” in cooperation with fontshop online. On world literacy day we shared Ernst´s first handwritten words with the entire nation via online banners and a printed supplement and on www.was-uns-antreibt.de
On this website people could step deeper into the life and dreams of Ernst and show solidarity with him by downloading his font. For each download we donated 1 € for a national literacy project.
Description
As cooperative banks the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken draw their strength from their 17 million members, who are more than just clients. They own their bank and support each other. And this is what sets them apart from all other banks.
We translated the banks cooperative model into real life in order to prove the power of cooperative support. Simply by letting the people become part of this power.