2015 Winners & Shortlists

TOUCH- TEXT IF YOU CAN

Short List
BrandTOUCH
Product/ServiceTOUCH
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON BEIRUT, LEBANON
CategorySpecial Events And Stunt/Live Advertising
Entrant Company J. WALTER THOMPSON BEIRUT, LEBANON
Advertising Agency J. WALTER THOMPSON BEIRUT, LEBANON
Media Agency MINDSHARE LEBANON Beirut, LEBANON
Production Company ZOÉ PRODUCTION Beirut, LEBANON

Results and Effectiveness

The campaign received 352,293 online views (to date), 4,376,967 million impressions (to date), and more than $2.6 million dollars in earned media, and over $2 million in PR value. But more importantly, Touch and Yasa delivered a serious message in an entertaining way that effectively reached 70% of the population (2,836,177 from a population of 4 million).

Creative Execution

We introduced TEXT IF YOU CAN a live game show that proves that when you text, you can’t focus on anything else. We produced 8 episodes challenging celebrities from various fields to text and do what they do best…If they stopped either task…they lost. And at the end of every episode, each celebrity related back their failure to the dangers of texting and driving in a personal message to their fans. Over 3 weeks, the game show aired on primetime across all TV stations. As a result Lebanon’s most popular news anchor took it upon herself to do a stunt, by opening primetime news while texting…and dedicated a documentary to it. Even, the top-rated social program took the “text if you can!” challenge to the ground. Inviting people to play a car game while texting. And recently Al Arabiya (a pan arab network) picked up on it.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In general, people are immune to the dramatics of public safety messages. And this is no different in Lebanon. So when Touch, Lebanon’s leading mobile operator and YASA, an NGO for road safety came to us to communicate their annual “Don’t text and drive” campaign, we knew we couldn’t go forth with a regular campaign. In order to effectively reach an unconcerned audience we had to speak their language. So, we sent the message across through their favorite celebrities. We created entertaining content based on the scientific fact that MULTI-TASKING IS A MYTH.

Credits

Name Company Role
Nicolas Geahchan J. Walter Thompson Beirut Executive Creative Director
Laila Agassi J. Walter Thompson Beirut Associate Creative Director
Maya Mohtar J. Walter Thompson Beirut Senior Art Director
Georges El Ten J. Walter Thompson Beirut Art Director
Omar Sadek J. Walter Thompson Beirut Managing Director
Jad Hindi J. Walter Thompson Beirut Account Director
Nadim Lahoud J. Walter Thompson Beirut Account Manager
Gilbert Nahas J. Walter Thompson Beirut Tv Producer
Suzanne Talhouk J. Walter Thompson Beirut PR Director