77% of German entrepreneurs still use fax machines, that relic of 1980s office culture, according to BitKom research.

Creative agency, Talent, and European digital small business banking company, FINOM, saw an opportunity. Their campaign, Faxvertising, began by faxing German SMEs directly, each message delivered by a weary fax machine pleading for retirement, complete with a satirical note and a QR code linking to a free trial of FINOM’s platform.

“German businesses waste hundreds of hours annually on paperwork that could be automated,” stated Roman Bukh, brand director at FINOM. “By having fax machines deliver their own retirement notices, we’re highlighting this absurdity in a way that resonates with our audience.”

The campaign then held a street marketing event in Berlin where fax machines took to the streets to speak out against bureaucracy. In some of the city’s most popular locations, dozens of fax machines appeared on branded pedestals, printing out their personal pleas to be retired and calling for a switch to smarter solutions like FINOM.

Credits
Creative Agency: Talent
Executive Creative Director: Anna Migaleva 
Associate Creative Directors: Lucy Kulibaba & Roman Vydashenko 
COO: Ksenia Luzhnova
Account Director: Alexandra Boettcher
Influence Manager: Zinaida Viushkova 
Strategy Director: Roman Kostuchenko 
Executive Producer: Alisa Smirnova
Designer: Elizaveta Korotaeva

Production Service: Kunst für alle 
Producer: Michael Kulikov
Production Assistant: Tamara Kulikova
Set Designers: Arina Topoleva & Olha Sharafanenko 
Location Manager: Vladislav Konyshev
Production Assistants: Slava PTRK & Alex Pavlov

Client: Finom
Brand Director: Roman Bukh
SMM Manager: Aglaia Dvornikova