2012 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Lebanese coffee is a popular social experience that follows a certain ritual of reading fortunes from the coffee residue. Fortunetellers use special terminology that’s interpreted differently depending on what the reader sees. Cafe Super Brasil wanted to raise awareness around their coffee brand in popular areas in Beirut. After 9 months of political crisis, we created a character; Abou Nazih a butler in the government headquarters that predicts the country’s fate by reading politicians’ coffee cups. Abou Nazih became the Lebanese people's guide to predicting the country’s future. The campaign ran on TV, radio, & online. On New Year’s, the CSB activation purpose was to invite the Lebanese society to put their thumbprint in coffee residue and make one united wish: a bright destiny for their country, this year. To push the cause further, inspirational Lebanese figures and celebrities also participated in sharing a positive wish on the stand.

Success of the Campaign

By putting the country's fate in people's hands, the campaign reached more than 2,500,000 people (more than half of the Lebanese population), sales increased by 28.8% in key areas, and the tradition of fortune telling in coffee cups was revived. 10,000 visitors had their fortune read and 3,500 thumbprints were collected in less than 4 days, including from top celebrities. The act was covered on TV stations and blogs, and a Facebook page followed the progress on location and linked fans of the brand to the event allowing them to make a positive wish online. Our TVC character, Abu Nazih was spoofed by the leading comedy show and referenced by the country's top cartoonist. A parliament deputy even used Café Super Brasil to make a point about “reading the fortune of the country".

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We created a character, a butler in the government headquarters who has access to all the ministers' coffee cups. Abu Nazih became the Lebanese people's guide to predicting the future. The campaign ran on TV & online a few weeks before the government crisis was resolved. Two months later, a new government was formed, but the fate of Lebanon was not clear yet. We regularly picked up news headlines and decisions made by the new government to create parodies on radio spots. We created an installation in an area with a lot of traffic during the holiday season to engage with the people enticing them to try the coffee, and have a fortuneteller read their cup, and then imprint their thumb in the coffee to make a positive wish for Lebanon for the new year to come.