2015 Winners & Shortlists

KEEP THE FLAME ALIVE

Silver
BrandJOHNNIE WALKER
Product/ServiceJOHNNIE WALKER "KEEP WALKING LEBANON"
EntrantLEO BURNETT BEIRUT, LEBANON
Entrant Company LEO BURNETT BEIRUT, LEBANON
Advertising Agency LEO BURNETT BEIRUT, LEBANON
Media Agency STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Beirut, LEBANON
Production Company STOKED Beirut, LEBANON

The Campaign

A nation’s biggest failure is when it forgets what it’s capable of. In 2014, a dark cloud loomed over Lebanon once more. Media outlets competed to paint a dark vision of the future, and the people followed suit. The Lebanese were forgetting what they’re truly capable of, and we made it our mission to remind them. Through an experiential launch event and TV/online film, we reignited a spark in the dormant flames. It was a month long digital activation, generating thousands of crowd sourced messages of hope paired with a real time on the ground activation that fully awoke the Lebanese Flames and transformed the conversations of despair into hope. On January 1st 2015, the most viewed social/political talk show dedicated an entire episode to the brand, articulated around 5 of the campaign’s most powerful content.

Success of the Campaign

14,189,000 users reached in Lebanon and 20 other countries 38,400,000 impressions Over 440,000 Actions 306,022 Total Video Views $766,000 in earned media Over 2,500 user messages of hope generated. Hundreds where transformed into campaign visuals used across media. On January 1st, Lebanon’s main TV talk show dedicated an entire episode to the brand, with its content articulated around 5 key campaign visuals, which also branded the entire show. The show’s name was also changed from the ‘The Republic of Failure’ to the ‘Republic of Hope’. 4 publications changed their editorial content to promote hope in the country. In a saturated market (source AC Nielsen): - JW market share (Nov/Dec 2014), from leader position, grew by 19.99% vs. last year’s 2,2% growth, +6.54 ppts ahead of category - Black label: value share grew 31%, 10ppt faster than category - Red label volume share grew by 4% since campaign launch

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

We started with an event where media and influencers experienced a menacing audio-visual storm only to get introduced to the campaign film: A fable about a flame that defies a storm. Triumphant, the flame finally says, “Storms shall always pass, but the fire inside burns on”. We launched on the same night a month long digital activation encouraging for crowd source messages of hope through the usage of #KeepWalkingLebanon. In parallel, a fire calligrapher roamed Lebanon for 20 nights and transformed the strongest statements into pieces of art rewarding users online in real time. The art pieces were daily set up across the main OOH networks in the country and on TV news segments. Finally, on January 1st, we partnered up with Lebanon’s main TV talk show and dedicated a 2-hour episode revolving on the campaign’s content changing the show’s from the ‘Republic of Failure’ to the ‘Republic of Hope’.

Credits

Name Company Role
Bechara Mouzannar Leo Burnett Beirut Chief Creative Officer
Malek Ghorayeb Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Executive Creative Director
Kamil Kuran Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Managing Director Levant
Nada Abi Saleh Leo Burnett Beirut Managing Director
Samer Shoueiry Leo Burnett Beirut Regional Digital Strategies/Innovation Director Director Levant
Jo Chemali Leo Comm Managing Director Pr Levant
Areej Mahmoud Leo Burnett Beirut Creative Director
Peter Mouracade Leo Burnett Beirut Head Of Communication
Tony Kayouka Leo Burnett Beirut Director Of Innovation/Delivery
Davina Atallah Leo Burnett Beirut Creative Director
Nada Deghaily Leo Burnett Beirut Art Director
Lama Bawadi Leo Burnett Beirut Copywriter
Tina Sioufi Leo Burnett Beirut Junior Digital Planner
Hisham Kekhia Leo Burnett Beirut Communications Director
Diego De Aristegui Leo Burnett Communication Supervisor
Misbah Natour Leo Burnett Beirut Communication Executive
Raphael Jadaa Leo Burnett Beirut Communication Executive
Ghassan Jawhar Leo Comm Pr Executive
Rita El Hashem Stoked Executive Producer
Charbel Awad Stoked Executive Producer