2012 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

In carrying out an anti-counterfeit campaign, we wanted our message to be felt: “The closest things to you can be fake”. So we unconventionally used different forms of media, adapting our communication for each one. A lot of negotiating was involved in order to secure the different media channels. But with the resulting level of awareness, counterfeit can no longer go unnoticed.

The Brief

Our objective was to create an anti-counterfeit awareness campaign and promote the client’s call center to the Lebanese masses.

Results

In a country of 4.5 million... Across media, our awareness campaign reached 3,680,000. Newspaper stunt reached 490,560 readers. TV&Radio stunts reached 720,000 and created massive conversation on youtube and major blogs. Mall stunt seen by 27,000. Facebook stunt reached 250 major influencers and subsequent coverage reached more than 40,000. In total, our campaign reached 92% of the population and received free media coverage worth $375,000. In a month’s time, the Call Center witnessed 850% increase in number of callers. It’s being used at universities in Lebanon as a successful case study.

Execution

We set up supermarket ambient in-store “fake” products and launched the TVC, radio spots, and outdoor billboards. We used International Counterfeit Day to launch the biggest orchestrated stunt in the history of the Middle East: We sent out an imitation mob in the biggest mall in town to impersonate people. The highest nationally circulated newspaper agreed to fake its front page logo for a joint experiment, in which people were asked to spot the difference and report it. The most popular Radio and TV show hosts had a fake presenter fill in for them on air during prime time. In Beirut’s biggest shopping mall, dozens of people in branded t-shirts were released amongst shoppers to imitate their every gesture. On Facebook, we faked profiles of 250 major influencers who received a Facebook friend request from their personal imposter.

The Situation

After 15 years of Lebanese civil war and 20 years of instability, resulting in poorly controlled borders, it’s no surprise that counterfeit products are so widespread here. Despite strict laws against it, counterfeit is still part of the culture - everywhere to be seen, yet barely noticed. Almost any brand has a fake equivalent in stores. Using the fact that in Arabic the words Imitation /counterfeit/fake all mean the same thing, our idea stemmed from our reality: "The closest things to you can be fake"

The Strategy

With minimal monetary costs, we wanted to reach people from every demographic. So we chose to do so unconventionally through diverse marketing channels, using the most popular media they consume. We went after their favorite newspapers, TV and radio shows. For each type of media, we carried out a different stunt to grab their attention with the same message of anti-counterfeit and call to action.