2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The year started with a drop in weekly ticket sales for Loto Libanais. People would play more, if we could make them feel luckier. In Lebanon, people believe black cats bring bad luck. So, Loto decided to fly them out of the country, launching a PR focused campaign that would stir up audience conversation on the subject. Starting with nationwide Press, Outdoor and Radio, the campaign followed with a video showing the black cats flying out of Lebanon to New Zealand, where they’re actually considered to bring good luck. After we had a winner, we revealed one tiny detail: The black cats never left Lebanon. During the live televised weekly Loto draw, we addressed the nation and launched our video. In the video, we see how Loto collected the cats and flew them to a 5-Star Hotel & Resort in New Zealand, where they had the time of their lives getting pampered by top chefs and masseuses. The response was immediate. In a population of 4 million people, our video had over 1.5 million views on its first week, making over 56 million impressions from social media and PR alone; becoming the most shared video on Facebook on the day of its launch and the most trending topic in Lebanon. Loto had a 21% sales increase by convincing an entire nation that they could win.

The Brief

Our goal was to make people in Lebanon feel luckier. This way, they would play more Loto, free of any bad luck. Our campaign would have to be effective enough so that people would engage, share and talk about it across different media platforms.

Execution

Starting with nationwide Press, Outdoor and Radio, the campaign followed with a video showing the black cats flying out of Lebanon to New Zealand, where they’re actually considered to bring good luck. In the video, we see how Loto collected the cats and flew them to a 5-Star Hotel & Resort in New Zealand, where they had the time of their lives getting pampered by top chefs and masseuses.

The response was immediate. In a population of 4 million people, our video had over 1.5 million views on its first week, making over 56 million impressions from social media and PR alone; becoming the most shared video on Facebook on the day of its launch and the most trending topic in Lebanon. Loto had a 21% sales increase by convincing an entire nation that they could win.

The Strategy

Our campaign not only directly grabbed the attention of our target but started a whole conversation on the concepts of luck and superstition. Consequently, the brand’s social media platforms became a hub for conversation and engagement around our campaign. The concept of luck was heavily trending across the media as Loto sales increased within a short time frame.