2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The country is overflowing with political programs. Every day you have different politicians screaming at each other on TV. Explosions are also on the topic de jour, as they are frequent and violent. When the October 2012 explosion happened, TV stations were overflowing with different politicians blaming each other. And as usual, no one was talking about the victims, the damages, and the road ahead of the country. We needed to not only change what people were seeing on their screens, more importantly we needed to change the conversation. We needed people to stop throwing blame and dividing the country, but rather focus on helping the victims. So by taking over the country’s most popular socio-political program, we managed to not only shift the nation’s attention to Offre Joie and the victims it helped, but we changed the conversation from political turmoil to that of national solidarity.

Results

In October 2012, there was a massive car bomb explosion in a crowded residential area in Achrafieh (Beirut, Lebanon). It not only took lives, but damaged 4 big buildings and left their residents homeless. Without any governmental support for these victims, Offre Joie, a non-partisan NGO, stepped in to help them. Armed with a small amount of their own volunteers, they approached us to help them increase awareness and encourage more people to join. The insight was inspired by the volunteers: they just want to help, without seeking any recognition. Making the campaign idea Volunteers Do Not Seek Recognition. The campaign kicked off with a TVC that shows the diversity of people helping on site, with their backs turned to keep the volunteers anonymous. We launched a Facebook Activation that asked people to change their profile pictures to pictures of people with their backs turned, labeled as “citizens” – to show their solidarity with the volunteers and the anonymity they are promoting. The campaign attracted one of Lebanon’s popular socio-political talk shows that dedicated a 2 hour special to the NGO. To everyone’s surprise, the Lebanese President honored Offre Joie with one of the nation’s highest distinctions: National Order of the Cedar.

For once, the most political program was not used for politics. It was used to tell the victim’s stories of despair in the time of chaos, how the volunteers helped them, and how they regained hope in Lebanon’s people thanks to Offre Joie. Viewers were left touched, inspired, and hopeful. For once, people were talking about what unites them versus what divides them.

We got Offre Joie’s volunteers to increase from 1,400 to 2,000. They rebuilt 80 homes, uniting families. The campaign earned more than $1Million in earned media, and engaged with 45% of the population. Predominantly, we managed to change the conversation from political turmoil, into an act of national solidarity.