Flowers, a perfume bottle and an attached fragrance sample are part of the familiar repertoire of beauty advertising. For readers of German magazines, that visual language currently presents something quite different: opening the sample releases the smell of disinfectant. This departure from expectations is the basis of Fragrance Without Borders, a campaign developed by Doctors Without Borders and Mediaplus to draw attention to humanitarian medical aid.
The familiarity of the format does some of the communication work here. The ad first invites audiences to do what they are already accustomed to doing with a perfume sample, then uses scent to change the meaning of what is shown. Disinfectant, essential to protecting patients and medical teams in crisis regions, takes the place of a product usually associated with luxury in this type of advertisement. The slogan “This Fragrance Knows No Borders” connects that substitution with the organisation’s work.
For Nicole Huwendiek, Senior Advisor Integrated Fundraising Campaigns at Doctors Without Borders, the choice of scent stems from a problem that humanitarian communication increasingly faces.
“Today, many people no longer listen to NGOs. That’s why this time we decided not to communicate through words, but through another sense: smell. Using disinfectant as a fragrance sample disrupts a familiar context and draws attention to something truly life-changing: access to basic medical care. The campaign highlights the important work of Doctors Without Borders and the fact that support remains urgently needed,” says Huwendiek.
The choice of locations where audiences encounter the ad follows the same logic. The campaign appears in premium beauty, lifestyle and news media, while postcards with samples are distributed through online fragrance retailer Flaconi and selected beauty salons. Digital out-of-home advertising also includes placements near perfume stores, among them Douglas on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm. The idea thus appears precisely in settings that reinforce the initial expectation of a perfume advertisement.
Elke Reibetanz, Managing Partner at Mediaplus Berlin, explains that reach alone is not enough to generate the attention they want to achieve. Context gives the idea meaning, while the familiar advertising format offers an opportunity for audiences to pause briefly and engage with a message about the organisation’s work. She ties the campaign’s success to a specific goal: contributing to an increase in donations for humanitarian aid.
Since 2021, Mediaplus has supported Doctors Without Borders’ fundraising campaigns in Germany through media strategy and planning. On this campaign, the Berlin team collaborated with the Mediaplus Creative Collective, led by Global Chief Creative Officer Maximilian Schöngen, which was also responsible for the creative execution. The core concept for the print ad with a fragrance sample was developed together with REPUBLIC Marketing & Media Solutions.
