“Monnem Bike – Wo alles begann” Anniversary Campaign

The bicycle was invented in 1817 by Karl Drais in Mannheim. In 2017, this invention had its 200th anniversary, which the city of Mannheim wanted to celebrate with a final show and various activities surrounding the theme. For this occasion, Ottomisu developed not only a show but an overarching campaign that incorporated the Mannheim citizens and drew attention to the bicycle as a regional invention. The communicative starting point was a newly developed brand with a regional reference: “Monnem Bike”.

The activities were begun by a project and ideas competition. Citizens and local initiatives, societies and companies could submit projects and ideas on the topic of bicycles. The winners were selected by public voting, given awards and supported with prize money between 1000 and 4000 euros. Small and large projects were thus initiated that infused the brand “Monnem Bike” with life and helped to draw attention to the anniversary.

Over the course of the anniversary year, various events and activities took place – including a bicycle cinema driven by pedals, an international specialist congress, many exhibitions, a gala with political VIPs and a big municipal festival on the actual anniversary day. The finale was a show with all those involved. In terms of content, the multimedia staging referred to the past 200 years but was mostly dedicated to future facets and potential of the bicycle. A landing page pooled all the activities, offered information and interaction possibilities and spread the campaign with the help of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.