logo

A STREAM OF

GREAT STORIES

A STREAM
OF GREAT
STORIES

logo

SHOOTING

THE IMPOSSIBLE

SHOOTING
THE
IMPOSSIBLE

logo

HERITAGE MEETS

FUTURE

HERITAGE
MEETS
FUTURE

logo

LET THE
CITY TALK

LET THE
CITY TALK

logo

Cologne
Calling

Cologne
Calling

logo

A FATHER.
A SON. A CAR.

A FATHER.
A SON.
A CAR.

logo

SMALL BUDGET,

HUGE SUCCESS

SMALL
BUDGET,
HUGE
SUCCESS

logo

"I AM
HUMAN"

"I AM
HUMAN"

“LOOPING GROUP is a real success story in the fast-changing world of media and brands and everywhere they meet. With it, the former “SZ Magazin” and “Stern” Editor-in-Chief Dominik Wichmann has together with his co-founders created a prototype for tomorrow's publishing house.”
Stefan Winterbauer, Editor-in-chief Meedia
logo

SHARE THE
EMOTIONS

SHARE THE
EMOTIONS

logo

SHE’S ALL
OF US

SHE’S
ALL
OF US

logo

WE PROTECT

YOUR BRAND

WE
PROTECT
YOUR
BRAND

logo

War live
on TikTok

War live
on TikTok

SOUND
5 Minute read

BMW’s editorial content reaches out to customers worldwide

OUR CHALLENGE

To bring BMW.COM to life: a digital customer magazine and the centerpiece of the brand’s customer-facing communications eco-system. The site publishes editorial stories from all corners of the world, with a focus on automotive lifestyle, design, performance, innovation and sustainability, as experienced through the BMW lens.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

BMW Youtube (The 8 x Jeff Koons)

“Art is an amazing vehicle. It gives us an essence of our own potential, and I hope that’s what is captured in this car.”

Jeff Koons, Artist

No story can be told without thinking about where audiences prefer to consume them.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

Daniel Nguyen (Obsessed x BMW)

OUR APPROACH

The stories on BMW.COM are told by editors, art directors, graphic designers, and project managers from the LOOPING GROUP team. They serve a global audience with fresh, weekly content in five languages. LOOPING GROUP handles the entire project and production chain, from pitching and planning to production and publishing.

Daniel Nguyen (Obsessed x BMW)

More than 50 quality pieces in five languages each year

“One of the big things for me was, we can make the whole world sound differently”

Hans Zimmer, Film Score Composer and Music Producer

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

BMW ( BMW x Hans Zimmer)

THE RESULT

With the support from LOOPING GROUP, the BMW stories live simultaneously on multiple platforms. Our team hits the go-live button several times a week. They are publishing more than 50 quality pieces in five languages each year, supported by an ongoing stream of podcast episodes and in-app content. 

And there’s so much more to come …

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

BMW #WhatEverHappens

3 Minute read

An incredible artist with a unique craft.

OUR CHALLENGE

Asus were searching for a global campaign idea to relaunch their new range of Zenbooks. They wanted a storytelling approach that spoke to and about the customer, rather than only focusing on the product features and the brand.

Incredible comes from within

OUR APPROACH

We created a campaign idea built around the concept: „Incredible comes from within “. A line designed to tell two stories at once, one about the creativity that lives within us all, the other about the incredible Zenbook features that unlock this creativity.

A journey to the inner incredible

THE RESULT

An epic film launched the campaign which instantly attracted 1.3M Twitter viewers. Within the first 5 months it made more than 144 impressions by 448 published contents. The campaign video reached more than 2.1M views, while all video posts in total have achieved 24.25M views so far.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

„Make the viewer ask questions.“

Reuben Wu, artist and photographer

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE
5 Minute read

How do you use a brands glorious past to refresh its future?

OUR CHALLENGE

Our task: to help Garhammer celebrate their 125 year Jubilee while ensuring they are well prepared for the future. Modehaus Garhammer is one of the leading fashion retailers in Bavaria. By 2022, they wanted to sharpen their market positioning and develop an engaging narrative that could be translated into a jubilee magazine as well as a film, all designed to say „thank you“ to their customers and partners.

The new narrative came straight from the heart – Garhammer is truly the perfect host

OUR APPROACH

We updated their positioning and developed a brand narrative: Garhammer is the perfect host. We identified Original Garhammer stories to be featured in the magazine and transferred the new company image into an emotional movie.

A narrative that sets the tone for all the festive communication

THE RESULT

The magazine got rave reviews. It was considered a great success by both the client and their customers.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE
5 Minute read

Münster is beloved by its people – but communication is complex

OUR CHALLENGE

Münster with its 320,000 inhabitants is an attractive town with a rich cultural life. The city administration faced communication challenges: How can digitalization create efficient structures? How does leadership have to change? How does the newly established newsroom best fit into the complex communication landscape?

Can a city be diverse and act united at the same time?

Münster Press Office / Angelika Klauser.

OUR APPROACH

As always, our approach has been holistic. We supported the city of Münster in the systematization and target-group-oriented management of its communication. And we defined the necessary goals, roles, core messages and processes together with the city and across all departments and offices in the form of a communication strategy.

Now within reach: A communication that is really aligned between all stakeholders

THE RESULT

The communication strategy has just been presented to the city's board of directors. However, with its recommendations on key topics, it already provides the Lord Mayor and the departments an important basis for discussion. Ways have been worked out, too, on how cooperation across all stakeholders can be achieved much easier.

Münster / MünsterView Press Office.

5 Minute read

The city needed to reinvent its whole communication structure

OUR CHALLENGE

Cologne, a cultural and economical center for the Rhineland, is the fourth-most populous city of Germany. The communication processes and synchronisation of the communicating departments needed complete modernization in the course of a greater administrative reform. A hugely complex task. Where to start?

Photo by Kai Pilger

The perfect pair: a holistic communication strategy implemented by a newsroom

OUR APPROACH

To enable the City of Cologne to communicate in a modern way we chose a three-step approach: We made a comprehensive analysis of the municipal communication processes. We developed a modern communication strategy for the entire city. And finally we implemented a physical newsroom.

Today, Cologne communicates quickly, efficiently and without silos

THE RESULT

Our approach was tailored exactly to the needs of the City of Cologne and allows them to act quickly, digitally and without silos. This has brought significant increases in effectiveness and efficiency. The press officer of the Mayor affirms: "Looping Group has brought us an enormous step forward in our communication."

Photo by Patrick Reichboth

3 Minute read

This was never just a story about the AMG GT R.

Portrait of Bart Hickey, a blind mechanic, hugging someone. Mercedes-AMG crafted story.

© New Step Media, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

OUR CHALLENGE

Although established customers and ‘petrol head’ fans of Mercedes-Benz respond to the raw power of its vehicles, especially those with the AMG marque, the company wanted to add a deeper, more emotional resonance to the brand through storytelling.

Mercedes-AMG car driving in the desert. Sand clouds in desert.Mercedes-AMG car driving in the desert. Sand clouds in desert.

© Jeremy Hill, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

It’s a story about Bart Hickey and his imagination.

Hands reading braille. Bart Hickey's hands reading braille
Portrait of Bart Hickey, a blind mechanic, smiling. Mercedes-AMG crafted story
Hand of Bart Hickey, a blind mechanic, touching a Mercedes-AMG car.

OUR APPROACH

Brendan Hickey wrote to Mercedes-Benz asking if they could make his father’s dream ‘to drive a Mercedes’ come true. We crafted a moving story of how Bart, who is blind, could get behind the wheel of an AMG GT R. We added the science of data to every step of the creation of the story to optimize each relevant channel.

A father, a son and a car. Two hands touching a Mercedes-AMG motorA father, a son and a car. Two hands touching a Mercedes-AMG motor

© New Step Media, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

Mercedes’ most loved film ever.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

THE RESULT

My Father’s Dream was the most viewed and liked film that Mercedes-Benz/AMG have ever published on their YouTube channels. It attracted more than seven million views and 300,000 likes. It has generated more comments than any other film in Mercedes’ YouTube history. The media value of this spot alone was worth €1m.

Bart Hickey, a blind mechanic, driving in a Mercedes-AMG car in the desertBart Hickey, a blind mechanic, driving in a Mercedes-AMG car in the desert

© New Step Media, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

5 Minute read

What is the best way to promote a certification for digital skills?

OUR CHALLENGE

To create a holistic launch campaign to increase awareness for the newly created certificate Deutschland sicher im Netz e.V. – a registered association funded by the German Ministry of the Interior. In March 2022, they launched the “Digitalführerschein” (digital license): the first official certification for digital skills in Germany.

A humorous 360° campaign tailor-made for the core target audience

OUR APPROACH

The Digitalführerschein’s core target audience are middle-aged employees and young adults, who want to increase their job chances, as well as make their internet experience smoother. Based on a target group analysis and strategic insights, we’ve developed a humorous 360° campaign, including TVC, DOOH, online ads and social media.

More than five million views within two weeks across TikTok, YouTube and Twitter

THE RESULT

According to the client, the campaign set “new standards for the communication of publicly funded projects“. With a small budget, we achieved more than five million views within two weeks across TikTok, YouTube and Twitter. The TVC was seen by 11.3 million people within the target group (14-49 years), a 20% net reach.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE
5 MINUTE READ

"I am human, politicians are human": What we can learn from Jacinda Ardern's resignation

  • Jacinda Ardern was the youngest female head of government in the world when she took office in 2017. Her resignation is dignified, it shows integrity, courage.
  • The New Zealander's style of communicating is exemplary of a new understanding of leadership shaped by the younger generation.
  • How does authentic communication succeed? Three lessons from Ardern's resignation

At first glance, five years in office do not seem like a long time. If we look at the years from 2017 to 2022, it becomes clear that time is relative. 

During these five years, Jacinda Ardern was above all a crisis manager. A pandemic with painful social and economic consequences. A terrorist attack in Christchurch. The consequences of climate change in a country already affected by natural disasters such as the volcanic eruption on White Island. These were just some of the disasters Jacinda Ardern had to deal with as prime minister. 
When she took office in 2017 at the age of 37, she was the youngest female head of government in the world. Now, surprisingly, she is stepping down. 

Why? Out of responsibility and respect for an office that demands more than ever. Jacinda Ardern knows what it means to hold a country together in difficult times. And she decided she could no longer do the job. She no longer has the energy to do the job, the 42-year-old said in her resignation speech. "My tank is empty."

Her resignation statement is sincere, self-reflective, and shows great strength. "I hope that New Zealanders will be left with the conviction that you can be kind yet strong, empathetic yet determined, optimistic yet determined," she said.


The power of humanity

What remains is already a paradigm shift in the way politicians and leaders communicate. The authenticity and integrity that characterize Ardern's communication is in many ways unprecedented.

As the Harvard Political Review writes, "Throughout the 20th century, politicians rose to power by displaying traditionally masculine traits like aggression and stubbornness to dominate their opposition." It's high time that other values applied in the political sphere. Ardern's understanding of her role impressively shows that she has understood the democratic idea: Leadership is not a right that belongs to certain personalities. It is a responsibility to the people you lead. 

Not only politicians can learn from Jacinda Ardern. Anyone who heads a group, a company, a country or an institution should be able to take responsibility – for their actions, their communication and the consequences thereof. 

What sounds simple is difficult for many leaders. Showing vulnerability and empathy? Or even admit that they don't know the answer to everything? Absolutely not! That could be interpreted as weakness. In fact, the opposite is true: Being aware of the complexity of the world and your own role in it is strong. Vulnerability creates trust.

It also includes knowing when it is time to leave. Resignations have an undeservedly bad reputation in our society. Once you've been promoted, whether to an office or a job, you can't go back. On the career ladder, the only way is up. 

But a promotion often turns out to be a mistake – because the new position doesn't fit after all, because the strength isn't enough (anymore). In that case, it would be better to leave. Jacinda Ardern has shown how such a resignation can be done with dignity. 

Showing poise, weighing things up, admitting uncertainties – all this is part of the repertoire of a credible person. A stable compass of values points north. Even if you can't see the horizon.

What characterizes
an authentic person?

  • Awareness: An authentic person is aware of his or her own values, motives for action, feelings, desires and attitudes. This includes awareness of one's own strengths and weaknesses as well as aspects of personality. 
  • Unbiased processing: An authentic person shows no signs of denial, distortion, exaggeration or ignoring of opinions, experiences and external feedback. He is able to accept and objectively evaluate his own strengths and weaknesses. 
  • Consequence: An authentic person acts in accordance with his values – even if this causes him disadvantages.  
  • Cooperative attitude: An authentic person strives for openness and truthfulness in dealing with others. He is willing to accept and show the positive and negative aspects of his personality. 

Communication is leadership - especially in times of crisis

Authenticity is especially crucial in today's editorial society, where democracies are more participatory than ever through social media, where companies and politicians face an increasingly critical public. How can leaders communicate authentically and live up to their responsibilities?

Three lessons from Jacinda Ardern's leadership communication:

  1. People are authentic if they can realistically assess their abilities and resources and know how to communicate them. Taking responsibility also means knowing when to hand it over. Humanity is not a weakness. Neither is vulnerability. Ignorance, on the other hand, is. 
  2. Awareness and consistency: Both in politics and in the corporate world, it is important to define clear values and pursue them consistently – against the odds. Even if it means losing sales or having to defend an unpopular decision. 
  3. Acting instead of waiting: A well-considered and value-driven decision that turns out to be wrong in retrospect is better than not having made one. Those who are authentic move forward courageously – even and especially in uncertain times.

About the author

As Editorial Director at LOOPING GROUP in Munich, Verena Beck is responsible for the global external and internal communications of the BMW Group. Previously, she worked as a speechwriter for board members of Siemens and Siemens Energy AG. As a communications and political scientist, Verena is particularly interested in the political communications of internationally active companies.

 

In an interview with MEEDIA, our co-founder and CPO Dominik Wichmann talks about the early days and the development of our company. Starting with only a few employees and the production of Mercedes-Benz customer magazines, he shares how we have developed into an agency that not only handles editorial work, but also develops PR and Social Media strategies and creates international campaigns.

3 minute Read

Sometimes our stories are built around shared emotions and powerful ideas, sometimes we build them the other way round. Take a look: 

Portrait of Virgil Abloh, fashion designer

VIRGIL

ABLOH’S
CERAMIC
BLOCK

In 2019, Vitra and Virgil Abloh presented the installation TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE, a vision of a future home, in the Fire Station on the Vitra Campus. Three products were developed and launched in a limited edition as spin-offs of the exhibition. Vitra and Virgil Abloh made editions of limited pieces available online.

Vitra and Virgil Abloh presented the installation TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE, a vision of a future home, in the Fire Station on the Vitra CampusVitra and Virgil Abloh presented the installation TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE, a vision of a future home, in the Fire Station on the Vitra Campus

“I loved the idea of introducing some Prouvé classics to a generation today that might not know the importance of his work.”

Virgil Abloh

Limited to just 999 pieces worldwide, the Vitra x Virgil Abloh Ceramic Block is a powerful statement piece. Each Ceramic Block is individually numbered 1 to 999.

Vitra and Virgil Abloh presented the installation TWENTYTHIRTYFIVE, a vision of a future home, in the Fire Station on the Vitra Campus
Black and white portrait of Tina Turner smiling

TINA TURNER’S

GOLD RING

Tina Turner once strolled through a flea market where she discovered a golden thumb ring. The moment she put it on her thumb, she felt stronger, more confident. In this ring, she saw a symbol for the inner strength she was just beginning to discover in herself. A Limited Edition, 14 Carat Rose Gold replica of this ring, handcrafted by Tina Turner’s personal Swiss jeweller is included in the book Tina Turner: That's My Life.

Close up of the Tina Turner RingClose up of the Tina Turner Ring

“It was a magic moment.”

Tina Turner

Close up of the red and sparkly Tina Turner Dress

TINA TURNER’S

DRESS

Georgio Armani designed this stunning red dress for Tina, and she wore it on her sell out 50th Anniversary Tour in 2009, which was seen by over one million enraptured fans. This dress is a famous piece of Tina’s history and a piece of it is included in the book Tina Turner: That's My Life.

Picture of Tina Turner in her red sparkly dressPicture of Tina Turner in her red sparkly dress

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Tina Turner

Portrait of young Tina Turner, licking her red lips

TINA TURNER’S

KISS

Tina Turner is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She has received 12 Grammy Awards and is the first Black artist and female to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. She has sold over 100 million records worldwide, A serviette with a special lipstick kiss from Tina is included in the book Tina Turner: That's My Life.

Napkin kissed and signed by Tina TurnerNapkin kissed and signed by Tina Turner

“My legacy is that I stayed on course from the beginning to the end, because I believed in something inside of me.”

Tina Turner

Telekom Electronic Beat's Cube

TELEKOM

ELECTRONIC

BEAT’S CUBE

The Cube consists of a 360° video collage covering the most memorable cornerstones of the last two decades, combined with a series of six films showcasing and celebrating the platform’s legacy in the fields of music, innovation, fashion, culture, and community.

“We hope it’s a way to get closer to topics that are physical and tactile in nature—club culture, fashion, music production—make them literally touchable.”

Telekom Electronic Beats

With club culture organically dovetailing into the digital realm, the design studio’s collaboration with Telekom Electronic Beats acts as a testament to the web’s reflective and still under-explored potential.

Telekom Electronic Beat's Cube
3 Minute read

“We don't have to accept what's always been. We can write, create, dream, the future.”

Alicia Keys, She’s Mercedes guest Editor-in-Chief

Portrait picture of Alicia Keys in tropical surrounding.

Alicia Keys © Kennedi Carter, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

THE CHALLENGE

Mercedes-Benz connects and empowers women through editorial content. Their flagship is She’s Mercedes magazine. Sustaining attention in a branded environment requires constant reinvention. She’s Mercedes needed to evolve into a 360-degree ecosystem.

Red and pink flowers.
Side picture of a Mercedes-Benz black car.
Picture of trees in the desert.
Picture of Alicia Keys in the desert next to Mercedes-Benz.

A roadtrip to an inner landscape.

Shot outside of a Mercedes-Benz on the street.

© Kennedi Carter, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

OUR APPROACH

Picture of Alicia Keys photographing herself in a Mercedes-Benz.

We invited 15-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, producer and accomplished actress Alicia Keys to be the guest Editor-in-Chief. We then connected her to Kennedi Carter, the youngest-ever cover photographer for British Vogue, to capture photographic essay on a road trip through Joshua Tree Park.

Picture of Alicia Keys walking through the desert.
Abstract picture of a Mercedes-Benz.

‘Top Coat’ © Johanna Jaskowska & Manuel Bueno, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group

A platform for women who choose to lead.

Pages of She's Magazine by Mercedes-Benz.

Crypto artists Serwah Attafua, Krista Kim and Johanna Jaskowska

THE RESULT

She's Mercedes now lives online and offline. It is published in 25 markets in 27 languages and has over 42m account followers across all channels. Alicia proudly shared her story with her 22m Instagram followers. She's Mercedes inspired over 62m people.

Abstract picture of a Mercedes-Benz.

‘Continuum’ © Krista Kim, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group 

Abstract design of Mercedes-Benz case She's Magazine.

‘Top Coat’ © Johanna Jaskowska & Manuel Bueno, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group 

Alicia Keys She's Magazine Mercedes-Benz.

‘Antheia 2021’ © Serwah Attafuah, Mercedes-Benz AG, Looping Group 

5 Minute read

Ever wondered how to be quick and great with social while avoiding all the risks?

OUR CHALLENGE

Social communication needs to be fast, but speed can be risky. Brands want to ride the zeitgeist yet avoid getting any scratches on their image or reputation. Some brands would rather take their time, or not communicate at all. They risk fading into the background. What’s the best way round this dilemma?

With our support, you can have all the speed with none of the risk

OUR APPROACH

Brand Protection checks all content before it is published. It gives recommendations on how to minimise the risk of critical comments and forecast potential shitstorms. Brand Protection is your company consultant. It ensures a safe social media strategy, provides you with background checks and integrates seamlessly with your campaigns and co-operations.

 

 

 

All shitstorms were avoided, thanks to Brand Protection.

THE RESULT

In the last 12 months Brand Protection has:

  • Checked over 6500 social media posts
  • Performed over 130 background checks
  • Verified over 30 campaigns and co-operations
  • Provided ongoing consultations for multiple companies

NOT A SHITSTORM IN SIGHT!

8 MINUTE READ

In the battle for the global attention and sympathy, Ukraine has won one battle after another, proving that the editorial society cannot be silenced.

No war is fought only with weapons. The war against Ukraine also has several secondary battlegrounds. Particularly remarkable for the editorial society are the battles on different social media fronts: For the support of other states and politicians, the favour of the economy, the sovereignty over the flow of information and ultimately the question of who can keep the morale of its soldiers and citizens high.

On all these fronts, Putin has decisively lost influence in recent days. Why? Three reasons that speak for a strengthened editorial society.

Tanks Live on TikTok: The Role of Ukrainian citizens.

"You should put sunflower seeds in your pockets so that they will grow on Ukrainian soil after you die." – This sentence will go down in the history of this war. It was said by a previously unknown Ukrainian woman who confronted Russian soldiers – but the whole world could hear it, via a viral video on social media.

Thousands of Ukrainians have already volunteered for service on the fronts, the queues in front of the recruitment offices are proverbial blockbusters. But most Ukrainian citizens are armed with nothing but their smartphones – a simple tool that is proving impressively effective.

 

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

In the first hours of the invasion, the movement of Russian tanks can already be followed live on Google Maps, Ukrainians post footage of battles on TikTok and Reddit – while they are happening! – and document on Twitter which Russian helicopters have crashed and how one can defend oneself against tanks with cardboard boxes.

Ukrainians and supporters around the world share information on all channels about relief supplies and entry regulations for refugees, escape routes, translation assistance and call for donations. IT experts, programmers and copywriters are organizing themselves as a volunteer cyber army via Telegram. And a 19-year-old from Florida tweets live where the Russian oligarchs' planes are flying to.

More important than the content of some messages, however, is the fact that the speed at which posts travel around the world has increased dramatically. This increase in speed signifies nothing less than a turning point in history.

"When I was a reporter stationed in Iraq for the US Army in 2016, same-day information sharing was considered fast by Department of Defence standards," writes journalist Daniel Johnson. "What is happening in Ukraine is only possible on this scale if citizens and soldiers across the country have easy access to mobile phones, the internet and therefore social media apps. A large-scale modern war is being broadcast live to the world minute by minute, battle by battle, death by death."

Not only the speed, but also the variety of sources is new. While in the Arab Spring – the first live broadcast revolution – most of the information on the web spread fragmentarily and comparatively slowly via large social networks and established media, Ukrainians are resorting to all real-time messengers, small and large networks as well as other info apps. Never before has the global editorial society been able to get such a comprehensive picture of a war within such a short period of time.

A Muzzle for the Propaganda Machine: The Role of Social Media Platforms

No wonder, then, that Russia immediately tried to control the major social platforms – with moderate success. One by one, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others announced in the past few days that they would by no means give up fact-checking Russian posts. On the contrary, they are all tightening their controls.

  • Twitter flags tweets with links to Russian state media and reduces the visibility of posts.
  • Facebook, Instagram and TikTok restrict access to the state channels Russia Today and Sputnik.
  • YouTube blocks state-sponsored advertising for Russian channels.
  • Google and Meta currently exclude Russian state media from selling ads on their platforms.  
  • All platforms are strengthening their controls against fake news.

Of course, the Russian government did not hesitate for long and retaliated by banning the platforms in Russia.

But this development is astonishing when one considers the seemingly endless debates of recent years: From Brexit to the US elections, Russia's propaganda empire seemed to be pulling the strings in the background yet unabashedly, while the major social media platforms talked down their responsibility. But the war of aggression against Ukraine is now forcing the platforms to take a clear stand. And this is having an effect: even a rich, influential and experienced cyberwar power like the government of Russia cannot omnipotently switch lies for truth.

Fake news are checked in real time by the global community, and sometimes even made absurd by Ukrainian citizens with smartphones. For example, the Russian military's claim not to attack civilian targets – while everyone on social media can see Russian bombs hitting the "Freedom Square" of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city.

Screenshot of a Twitter post.Screenshot of a Twitter post.
Screenshot: Twitter Public Policy (@Policy)

The most important platform – because it is the most widely used in Russia and Ukraine – is still holding back: Telegram, a company founded by the Russian brothers Durov. Telegram has threatened to close down war-related channels because fake news is spreading rapidly and unchecked. So far, however, they only threatened.

Many Ukrainians and Russians have therefore already switched to alternatives: Cloudflare recorded a massive increase in the use of Signal since shortly after midnight on 24 February – at the same time as the Russian invasion began. Signal is considered the most secure private messaging app by cyber security experts.

Whether Telegram will follow suit with stricter controls will become clear in the coming days. But the other big platforms seem to have realised that they cannot claim a monopoly on global communication and networking without taking responsibility for it at the same time.

As German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in her speech to the UN General Assembly: "In a situation where war and peace are at stake, you have to decide whether you are on the side of the aggressor or on the side of families, of children hiding in underground shafts from bomb and missile attacks." The major social media platforms have now chosen sides.

From Comedian to Hero: The Role of the Ukrainian Government

The Russian government spread rumours at the beginning of the attack that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had fled – and was immediately refuted by his video series directly from Kiev.

Vladimir Putin claimed that the Ukrainian government was led by "a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis" – on social networks everyone could make up their own minds.

One thing is certain: The Ukrainian government uses social media with a speed and virtuosity that makes Putin's pompous propaganda spectacle with its bizarrely large panels and rehearsed pseudo-debates appear old-fashioned.

Zelensky in particular has risen in record time from politically inexperienced comedian to war hero in social media. His experience and charisma as an actor and director clearly work to his advantage: he gave his first speech in a suit, but since then he has swapped his tie for a green military shirt. He shoots his videos in Ukrainian, Russian and English, with clear announcements in Twitter-suitable precision. Every day he gains hundreds of thousands of followers, and 4.40 million people now follow him on Twitter.

When the US offered him the chance to leave the country with their help, Zelensky replied: "I need ammunition, not a ride." It was this sentence that cemented his hero status for all Ukrainians.

PLAY

PLAYPAUSE

Video: Twitter Account of Ukraine's President Selenskyji (ZelenskyyUa)

But there is one thing in particular that is decisive: without truthfulness, Zelensky's production would be nothing. Because Zelensky actually stayed in Kiev and did not flee, because he actually stands by his soldiers and volunteer fighters, because Russia is actually the aggressor and Ukraine has to defend itself – only because Zelensky also does what he says and says what he does, his communication on social media works. He has bet on the two most important social media currencies and won: Authenticity and credibility. 

The Editorial Society Writes History

"History is written by the winners" is a well-known saying. And in times of information monopolies it certainly had its justification. In the editorial society, however, news or information monopolies no longer exist. Therefore, this sentence can no longer apply. It belongs to the past.
 
Never before have so many people had such immediate access to so much information, sources and channels. Never before has a war been documented so extensively. Even his own population cannot be completely cut off from the stream of news by Putin, as proven by the courageous anti-war demonstrators in Moscow who take to the streets despite threats of imprisonment and violence.

Whoever wins this war – the whole world can watch it live. Because the editorial society cannot be switched off. It is always-on.

About the author

Bernadette Mittermeier, Editor-in-Chief Ping LOOPING GROUP.

Bernadette Mittermeier is editor-in-chief of the newsletter P!NG. As Senior Editor at LOOPING GROUP, she is also responsible for the Science & Tech cluster as well as for the conception and implementation of books, podcast, live and serial formats. Previously, she worked as a freelance journalist, primarily for ZEIT Online and the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

logo

A STREAM OF

GREAT STORIES

logo

SHOOTING

THE IMPOSSIBLE

logo

HERITAGE MEETS

FUTURE

logo

LET THE
CITY TALK

BACK TO TOP

PREVIOUSREAD HERENEXTSTART HERE