N26 and Swipe Back bring festive cheer to the holidays with Animal Crossing Digital Christmas Experience

Berlin - As people around the world prepare for a different kind of holiday season this year with fewer and more restricted celebrations, Europe’s leading digital bank N26 and creative studio Swipe Back are offering a unique digital Christmas experience with their festive campaign: “N26 saves Christmas”. N26 will become one of the world’s first banks to appear within 2020’s best-selling video game; Animal Crossing®. As part of an innovative brand campaign to bring back the spirit of Christmas, the bank will host a festive competition, launched by famous French gamer and influencer Leila on Twitter to distribute fun gifts to the Animal Crossing® community. IMAGE ANIMAL CROSSING. From 11th to 18th December, players will be able to access codes to create festive outfits and Christmas decorations for their islands. They then simply need to share their creations on their own Twitter accounts, tagging in N26, to enter the competition. Leila and the N26 team will select three winners, who will be announced on December 19th via the popular influencer’s Twitter account. The winners will each receive an exclusive, rare collectible gift delivered directly to their islands by a specially created N26 avatar on 21st and 22nd December, just in time for Christmas. As part of the campaign, a dedicated, and permanent, pop-up N26 corner has been created within the platform. Decked in Christmas decorations, this is also where the N26 Christmas gifts will be kept. Additional prizes will also be given to at least ten other participants in the competition.
It’s been a really tough year, and one that will see a holiday season where many people may not be able to celebrate with friends and family as they would normally. We wanted to end 2020 on a positive note while giving people some of the fun and sparkle of Christmas back. This year has seen a huge rise in gaming as part of a trend towards more digital services, and the integration of N26’s brand within a unifying and heartwarming game like Animal Crossing® felt like a great natural fit and a perfect way to spread the spirit of Christmas”, explains Kelly McConville, Marketing Director at N26.
Swipe Back creative studio supported N26 in the production of the “N26 saves Christmas” activation through consulting, production and development, as well as influencer relations. “Video games are now social platforms in their own right. Helping an innovative brand like N26 gain a foothold there is a challenge that we were excited to take on”, says Max Vedel, Co-founder and Creative Director at Swipe Back. “Creating in-game content to help players celebrate the holidays and deliver gifts to them in this difficult time is an idea that came naturally to us and we can't wait to see what they do with our creations! The “N26 saves Christmas” Twitter contest has been launched by influencer Leila on December 11, and in-game giveaways will take place from December 21th to 22nd, 2020.

About N26 N26 is building the first mobile bank the world loves to use. Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal founded N26 in 2013 and launched the initial product in early 2015. Today N26 has more than 5 million customers in 25 markets. The company employs more than 1.500 employees across 5 office locations: Berlin, New York Barcelona, Vienna and São Paulo. With a full German banking license, state-of-the-art technology and no branch network, N26 has redesigned banking for the 21st century and is available on Android, iOS, and desktop. N26 has raised close to $800 million from the world’s most established investors, including Insight Venture Partners, GIC, Tencent, Allianz X, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital, Greyhound Capital, Battery Ventures, in addition to members of the Zalando management board, and Redalpine Ventures. N26 currently operates in: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the US, where it operates via its wholly-owned subsidiary, N26 Inc., based in New York. Banking services in the US are offered by N26 Inc. in partnership with Axos® Bank, Member FDIC. About Swipe Back Swipe Back is an independent social creative studio - founded in 2019 by two creatives that bonded over their love of video games and augmented reality - that images, designs and produces immersive and connected experiences on 📱 or 💻! Swipe Back also helps advertisers with creating brand platforms, social media strategy, and content production with their in house studio that specializes in digital and cutting edge formats. This year the studio has created over 50 branded AR experiences that generated over 100 000 000 impressions. Swipe Back main clients: PSG, American Express, N26, Carrefour, Paris 2024 and Gecina. http://swipeback.studio