2012 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

On the day of launch, before Nadine was even done with her speech, Beirut Night Life had posted the news online. The campaign received free PR worth more than $470,000 and free media worth over $1,840,000. The percentage of female interaction with the brand doubled to 49% versus just 24% last year. In less than 3 months, the Johnnie Walker Lebanon Facebook page reached 1,629,575 people in a country with a Facebook population of around 1.4 million, giving our campaign significant traction. Market share by volume for the Johnnie Walker brand grew from an already dominant 60.7% to an impressive 64.5% in a declining market.

Creative Execution

The solution was to reveal the campaign and all the different channels simultaneously to achieve wide exposure and leverage brand recognition. A call to action with a website address on the TVC, video podcasts, outdoor, and print channels directed all viewers to the microsite, where they had the freedom to interact with the different campaign elements and even discuss how they would “Keep Lebanon Walking.” By keeping Nadine’s identity a secret prior to the launch of the campaign, we managed to generate tremendous hype around the campaign up until the launch event, attended by key media influencers, VIPs, and online influencers. Once Nadine was revealed to be the new face of Johnnie Walker, Twitteraties at the event instantly broke the news online, creating massive buzz that quickly spread across the country.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In a country where the Lebanese youth continues to emigrate looking for bigger opportunities, we launched a National Cause, “Keep Walking Lebanon,” that would be represented by key Lebanese talent with an inspiring story of overcoming the odds and achieving profound success. The face of the campaign is Nadine Labaki, the fearless and multi-talented Lebanese director, started her career in advertising, and later directed two feature films which garnered awards in major film festivals around the world, placing Lebanon on the international map and making her a role model for the Lebanese. Nadine’s life represents a true story of progress that puts her at the heart of the country and the heart of the Johnnie Walker philosophy.