SCREEN2SAVE
Initiative Vermisste Kinder & Free2move (Germany)
Agency: MEDIAPLUS Germany
Award Recognition
Grand Prix — The Internationalist Awards for Innovative Digital Marketing Solutions 2025
Grand Prix — 18th Annual Internationalist Awards for Innovation in Media (2026)
CASE STUDY SUMMARY
Germany reports more than 18,000 missing children each year, yet unlike many countries, it lacks a nationwide alert system comparable to Amber Alert. Strict privacy regulations have historically limited the ability to distribute urgent alerts at scale, creating a critical gap when every minute matters.
Screen2Save was created to help close that gap.
Developed by Initiative Vermisste Kinder, Free2move, and MEDIAPLUS Germany, the initiative transformed existing media infrastructure into a real-time emergency network. Once a missing-child report is verified by police, alerts are automatically distributed across a growing ecosystem that includes Free2move’s in-car digital screens, retail media networks, and social platforms.
Using geo-targeting, alerts first appear where they are most relevant and expand dynamically if the child remains missing. Rather than requiring new public infrastructure, Screen2Save repurposes media channels already woven into everyday life.
The result is Germany’s first media-powered missing-child alert system—one designed to mobilize communities instantly and help reunite families faster.
KEY INSIGHT
If a nationwide alert system could not be built through traditional channels, perhaps the media infrastructure people already interact with every day could become the alert system itself.
WHAT IT REVEALS
Screen2Save reflects a broader evolution in marketing: the shift from communication to utility.
Rather than simply raising awareness, the initiative transformed media into infrastructure. Advertising networks became emergency networks. Screens became community alert systems. The result demonstrates how marketing can create value not only by informing people, but by helping society function more effectively.
WHAT MADE IT EXCEPTIONAL
Screen2Save reimagined digital media as public-safety infrastructure.
By combining automation, geo-targeting, mobility networks, retail media, and social platforms, the initiative created a scalable alert system without requiring a traditional media budget or new government infrastructure. It transformed existing media assets into a coordinated national response mechanism.
KEY RESULTS
Screen2Save generated more than 137 million impressions across media channels and attracted 1.5 million website visits within its first two weeks. The system created the ability to reach more than 9.5 million people within 24 hours and contributed to multiple successful reunifications between missing children and their families.
WINNING DETAILS
Organization(s):
Initiative Vermisste Kinder & Free2move
Agency:
MEDIAPLUS Germany
Country:
Germany
Category:
Digital Innovation / Media Innovation
Year:
2025–2026
CREDITS
Initiative Vermisste Kinder
Free2move
MEDIAPLUS Germany
