We all sing, and listen to, Silent Night, around Christmas throughout the world. Today, Silent Night is the most recorded song in the world, with over 130,000 versions in more than 300 languages.
It gives hearts a hug. But it also has a powerful story to tell, one that is particularly pertinent this year and is largely unknown. Until now. Financial services company, Erste Group, and Jung von Matt Donau, are telling that story in a 3-minute film that reminds audiences that anyone and everyone can be the spark that changes the world.
The story of Silent Night begins in the Austrian village of Oberndorf in the winter of 1818, the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Spirits are broken as Europe struggles to rebuild. A young man sees his neighbours struggling with poverty and hunger and is inspired to find a way of bringing them some warmth and hope. That man is Joseph Mohr, the little town’s priest who, along with his friend, the music teacher, Franz Xaver Gruber, composes a song on Christmas Eve 1818. They called it Silent Night and performed it on the same evening at the Christmas mass. The humble gesture not only touched the hearts of people in the small village, but around the world for decades, even centuries to come.
Jung von Matt’s film explores with great historical accuracy how, from its very first performance by Mohr and Gruber in a small rural church, Silent Night has been passed down through generations and reached every corner of the earth, to become the world’s most recorded song.
Filled with historic detail, like a replica of Mohr’s guitar and his small room on the first floor, the film truthfully depicts the major milestones of the song from Oberndorf that travelled around the world. In 1822, a Tyrolean choir performed it in front of the Austrian Emperor Franz I. In 1906, Silent Night was played on the violin by Reginald Fessenden during the first-ever radio entertainment broadcast in America. In 1914, the song brought a brief but powerful moment of peace during World War I. On the Western Front, German and English soldiers sang it together, bridging the enemy trenches. The song even reached space – in 1973, Silent Night was broadcast to the crew of the Skylab 4 Space Station.
Erste Group and Jung von Matt have been working in partnership for 10 years, and introduced the Believe in Yourself platform, known as #glaubandich in German, in 2017. The brand’s Christmas campaigns have become an annual tradition after the viral success of their inaugural effort, the 2018 animated film Henry Hedgehog. Silent Night is a new era for this tradition, both because it introduces the first live-action Christmas film and also by telling a true historical story.
Mike Nagy, ECD and partner at Jung von Matt Donau, stated, “We’re thrilled to share the remarkable story of Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr with the world this Christmas. Their journey is a testament to the power of two individuals who believed that a simple song could inspire hope and change the world for the better.”
Erste’s Silent Night film was developed in collaboration with the Silent Night Society, that provided valuable insights and milestones of the song’s history. It was directed by Daniel & Szymon through Arts & Sciences.
The campaign launched on November 19, running across key Erste markets of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia and Romania, on TV, in print and digital/social channels.
Credits
Client: Erste Group Bank AG
Group Brand & Innovation: Martin Radjaby-Rasset
Group Brand Management: Daniel Ratzenböck, Juraj Flimel
Agency: Jung von Matt/Donau
Creative Director: Mike Nagy
Art Directors: Szymon Rose, Katharina Bleimuth
Copywriters: Daniel Schäfer, Johanna Philipp
Account Director: Anamarija Stojic
Senior Account Manager: Michael Draxler
Production: Arts & Sciences London
Directors: Daniel & Szymon
Executive Producer: James Bland
Producer: Ewen Brown
Production Manager: Mareketa Husecka
Post Producer (A&S): Pete Thornton
DoP: Nik Summerer
First Assistant Director: Jim Cole
Photographer: Ole Westermann
Post-Production & VFX: Black Kite Studios
VFX Shoot Supervisor: Tito Fernandes
VFX Supervisor: James Belch
DMP Artist: Lino Khay
CG FX Artist: Chan Ah-Hong
Senior Producer: Tamara Mennell
Colourist: George K
Edit House: Work Editorial
Editor: Neil Smith
Edit Assistant: Jack Moore
Edit Producer: Frankie elster
Audio Post Production: Factory Studios
Sound Design & Mix: James Utting & Anthony Moore
Audio Producer: Olivia Endersby
Music Company: KO Music
Composers: Matteo Pagamici & Michael Künstle
Producers: Andy Oskwarek & Philip Kay
Sound Design & Mix: James Utting & Anthony Moore
Audio Producer: Olivia Endersby
Production Service: Grandma
Producer: Linas Martinkenas
