2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Unlike other banks in Lebanon, Jamal Trust Bank has always been the bank of the people – a bank with a down-to-earth, human identity that speaks to the masses. But with no online or social media presence and an outdated logo, it was struggling to live up to its identity. For its 50th Anniversary, the bank launched a rebranding campaign that used this mass appeal to bring its image up to date, into popular culture, and onto social networks. The fresh new logo, which reflected the line ‘We Speak Your Language’, was supported by a campaign which understands that as much as they love to talk, the Lebanese are often misunderstood. This series of TV and cinema ads plays on everyday situations where comic misunderstandings arise because the speaker can’t think of the right word. Each ad also revolves around its own unique cultural insight.

Success of the Campaign

In three months Jamal Trust Bank’s Facebook likes surged from 290 to 11,683 and counting. With over 215,000 interactions, the digital campaign’s CTR was 330% over the projected rate, generating over 73 million impressions. Views on the bank’s youtube page rose by 2,000%. The commercials have even been parodied on prime time TV by Lebanon’s leading sketch show, while the ads' everyday lingo is being parroted in the streets. As the Lebanese continue to embrace the campaign online and on the street, Jamal Trust Bank can genuinely claim to be speaking their language in the modern age.

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

Push down banner on major Arab online media allowed people to watch the ads within banners, or directed them to the bank’s youtube channel. Meanwhile Online banners lead people to an interactive Facebook page where viewers can determine the advert’s outcome. Each available option compounds the misunderstanding, with hilarious results. A print and outdoor campaign offered several correct, but very different, words for the same image. These word games were reinforced by a Facebook game which gave players one minute to find three synonyms for as many objects as possible. A hat-trick of correct answers triggered happy sounds from the TV commercials, while mistakes triggered negative ones. Daily prizes of $100 were awarded to top scorers. The commercials’ everyday lingo is being downloaded as ringtones from the Bank's Facebook page.