2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Branded entertainment is growing slowly but surely in Lebanon. Traditional media is still leading the way in this part of the world and while social media is growing, slowly taking over the print medium, branded entertainment still has a long way to go. You will mostly find typical branded live events, online films and a few flash-mobs here and there. Realizing there is a gap in this field, some new companies as well as existing agencies are trying to exploit this opportunity and have started specializing and promoting branded entertainment and content but there’s a long way to go.

Results

Audio Kultur, the only non-commercial music magazine in the region was created to give underground DJ’s and musicians a voice. The magazine wasn’t really picking up and needed a bigger audience and advertisers to keep going. Since it claims to be ‘the voice of the underground’, that’s exactly where we went. We literally went under the streets of Beirut and created a stunt, using a unique piece of light and sound technology. Using a motion sensor, music and flashing lights were activated as soon as someone approached the device. The light and sound were then transferred to a magazine stand where baffled people were asked to take a free copy of the magazine. We then released an online film entitled ‘Something strange is happening under the streets of Beirut'.

Partygoers were taken by surprise as they walked past the installation, discovering the sound and light coming from under the ground and being led to the Magazine stand where they took a free copy of the magazine. When the film was released online, it quickly spread virally generating a lot of buzz on social media, encouraging others to watch it.

The results far exceeded our expectations especially for such a niche crowd, in a small country. We reached 20,000 views in a couple of weeks and many more in the weeks that followed. Local and international DJ’s posted the video on their Facebook pages. Even LBC International, the leading television and online news network in the regionpicked it up. The biggest Lebanese rock band, the Wanton Bishops, personally approached the magazine and asked them to sponsor and organize their Beirut concert. The demand for the magazine tripled. AK magazine stands are now available in most trendy bars, cafés and restaurants across the city. And yes, you’ll now also find advertising inside the magazine.