Deutsche Telekom: Knowledge Changes Everything

Objective

Deutsche Telekom sought to attract high school students (eighth-graders) to its apprenticeship and trainee programs by creating an engaging interactive experience rather than relying on traditional corporate recruitment messaging. The campaign aimed to demonstrate the company as innovative and interesting while identifying talented young people through gamification.

Solution

An interactive puzzle-solving adventure game deployed on YouTube and a dedicated microsite (wissen-veraendert-alles.de) where players were guided by a mysterious puzzle master character through a virtual tour of Deutsche Telekom's headquarters in Bonn. Players solved riddles, discovered company information, and completed challenges presented throughout the experience. The best performers were invited to recruitment workshops with potential apprenticeship contracts. Built with HTML5 and produced by Kubikfoto, Elbkind, and Digitage, the campaign launched as a YouTube channel that appeared normal until a pixelated distortion effect introduced the puzzle master character, creating a viral hook.

Results

Over 300,000 school students participated in the campaign within the first four weeks, with daily growth in engagement. The project won the IF Design Award for Communication Design.