2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Branded entertainment is allowed in Lebanon, several TV shows such as The Voice foster people participation. While there are some restrictions on user content on TV, i.e. religious censorship, there are no legal restrictions to content communicated online.

Results

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 so we didn’t simply want to reassert the iconic Johnnie Walker whisky as a produce of choice, we needed to remind the Lebanese to Keep Walking despite the troubled times they faced. 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”. Our message sparked the flame within the Lebanese. We had set up a digital ecosystem, with Facebook at its core supported by Instagram and Twitter, encouraging crowd source messages through our trending #keepwalkinglebanon. On the ground a fire calligrapher roamed the country for 20 nights and rewarded users online in real time by transforming key statements into campaign visuals. Hundreds of visuals were created each day and used in major publications, OOH networks and as branding for major talk shows. A ripple effect was born. With each image shared, more people posted their own positive messages gradually transforming the country’s conversations’ from negative to positive online and offline. 4 major publications changed their end of year editorial contents to join in the popular movement of reigniting hope in the country. Finally, on January 1st, Lebanon’s main TV talk show dedicated an entire 2-hour episode to the JW campaign, with its content articulated around 5 key campaign visuals, which also branded the entire show. Our #keepwalkinglebanon was used to communicate with viewers live.

The Lebanese constantly look for platforms to express either their frustrations or their joys. We wanted to give the Lebanese a platform where they would become the architects of the campaign’s content. We created a participative platform on social media where people could express positive thoughts about the country and why they believed in staying. To encourage them further, we transformed their messages, in real time, on a daily basis into art pieces and used them as content for the campaign across various media.

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 the digital spaces, the mainstream TV channels, and the major print publications, as well as the major outdoors networks. 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