2015 Winners & Shortlists

THE CHEER

BrandQATAR2015
Product/ServiceMEN'S HANDBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
EntrantLEO BURNETT DOHA Doha, QATAR
CategoryUse or integration of music
Entrant Company LEO BURNETT DOHA Doha, QATAR
Contributing Company LEO BURNETT DOHA Doha, QATAR
Production Company STOKED Beirut, LEBANON

The Campaign

For the first time in the region, the 2015 Men's Handball World Championship was hosted in Qatar. However, there were two major challenges/problems that needed to be addressed drastically. Handball isn't a popular sport in Qatar, and Qataris don't like attending live sports games in general. Moreover, the hosting country through the Qatari Organizing Committee cannot promote for its national team because that would be against the handball championship regulations! So how can we make Qataris get interested in the Handball, and go watch the games live at the stadium!?

Results

We launched our patriotic song on The National Day through radio, online videos, social media, and print ads. All channels drove people to our website where we posted the tune and lyrics of the song. We also created a competition by asking people to film themselves singing the song and submit it in order to win prizes (iPhone6). Our catchy tune and lyrics rocked the nation. BUT THAT WASN'T OUR MAIN GOAL. As planned, our song turned into a national cheer, pumping up Qataris and driving them to the stadium.

Qatar National Day, a time of passion and pride, was just 3 weeks before the championship. So we took advantage of that and used The National Day to launch our own patriotic song to fuel Qatari's pride while packaging it under the Handball theme.

The stadiums got filled with people. Sold out tickets to Qatar matches. The Cheer/song was used by Qataris to cheer live for their national team in every match they played. It was an obvious newly born love for handball by Qataris. Our cheer also helped boost Qatar National Team all the way to the final game, for the first time in history.

Credits

Name Company Role
Bechara Mouzannar Leo Burnett Chief Creative Officer
Sami Saleh Leo Burnett Managing Director
Munah Zahr Leo Burnett Executive Creative Director
Samer Lahoud Leo Burnett Creative Director
Tala Alali Leo Burnett Senior Art Director
Thiago Gouveia Leo Burnett Art Director
Felipe Menezes Leo Burnett Art Director
Michael Habre Leo Burnett Associate Creative Director
Tala Alali Leo Burnett Copywriter
Anas Alabsi Leo Burnett Designer
Fawzia Jamal Leo Burnett Communication Director
Ameer Zeitouni Leo Burnett Communication Manager
Lara Traboulsi Leo Burnett Communication Manager
Natalie Chahine Leo Burnett Communication Manager
Jasmina Matic Leo Burnett Planning Director
Rita El Hachem Stoked Producer
Mirna Estephan Stoked Producer