2016 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Every protest movement needs a song. A song helps generate strong feelings and gather people behind a cause. As Sakker El Dekkene needed help in refocusing the cause of the demonstrations to corruption, we decided to use a popular tool among demonstrators: an anti-corruption song.

Results and Effectiveness

Instantly, the song was widely shared online by demonstrators, influencers, artists and the public, totaling over 1 Million impressions, more than 300.000 views and 2,223 shares. The song was played at every meeting occasion becoming the anthem of the movement. The song even made it to the demonstrations that expat Lebanese were holding all over the world. Mainstream media picked it up: Tania Saleh and Stop the Shop’s team were invited to the top shows. The two biggest TV channels in the country started playing the song 20-40 times a day. Coverage reached the phenomenal figure of $8,578,136 earned media.

Creative Execution

There was no media team per se in this campaign. What we did is create a piece of content that can be used in many different ways: on the ground in demonstrations, on TV, on Radio and online. We decided to place the video on Facebook first as this was where the activists were expressing themselves the most intensely and were inviting people to join the protests. All we did was put the song online and wait for the movement to pick it up.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In 2014, the Launch of Stop the Shop – an anti-corruption NGO in Lebanon – was a great success. It managed to rally the young energetic Lebanese around the cause of corruption. For the NGO’s second year, our aim was to reach a wider audience. We wanted to create a piece of content that would touch the hearts of the masses. The song was purposely written in an engaging and revolutionary tonality - without being too intellectual - to make sure it appeals to the masses and has the power to serve as a street song during the demonstrations.