Outbox, the international short film festival, plays rare short films you can’t find anywhere else. The festival has only managed to attract film students so far. We were asked to create a campaign to increase attendance this year & transform Outbox into an event for everyone. The problem is Lebanese are not exposed to short films and the general perception is that short films are more “artsy” than entertaining. So we wanted to make them feel they are missing out on a rare occasion to see something different.
Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation
TVCs showed scenarios caricaturing people who missed out on an extraordinary sighting. We took the message to a crowded street in Beirut. When traffic lights turned red we engaged people with a rare sighting. We gave people an app to transform their facebook posts into rare sightings. You just pick a rare sighting you want to show like a pic, video, or statement, set a showing time, and share it on your wall. Friends that caught it on their news feed during the showing time were in for a treat. The ones that missed it, tough luck!
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
We turned outbox from a small festival into a national event. Outbox received free PR coverage worth $411,262 and free media worth $213,700 (verified by Starcom MediaVest group). Attendance went beyond expectations and increased from 1,000 people to reach 5,000 despite the films showing at the same time as the very popular euro 2012 tournament.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
Outbox plays short films. Because not many people in this country watch short films, and the perception of them are ‘artsy’ and not ‘entertaining’, our idea was to create a feeling that people are missing out on a rare piece of entertainment. The TVCs focused on people missing out on something entertaining happening in front of their face. The ambient created a stunt that even some people on the street didn’t see because it happened so quickly. And by creating rare posts on facebook with a limited viewing time, the people unable to open the post felt they missed out on something rare.