2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

We wanted to create an album launch that would for the first time united Mashrou’Leila’s Arab and non-Arab fans and reach an audience beyond their typical fan-base. Our objectives were to reach an audience wider than their biggest previous concert performances and to place the album at the top of social conversations. Knowing that their launch concert was set to happen at Barbican Center in London a first to their previously Arab-country launches, we wanted to ensure that their regional fans would still have an active role.

Creative Execution

We chose the night of the Album launch concert at Barbican London to celebrate this new cult. - Promotional Stunt/ traditional-media coverage: we hosted a decadent party in Beirut at Behind the Green Door where the Deity of the Night made his first appearance, that was broadcasted through a live-feed onto the stage-screens hijacking the Barbican concert that was being covered live by MTV Lebanon, bringing the hidden, unedited, uncensored “Cult of the Night” into the forefront of mainstream media. - Influencers: as every cult needs its founding members, we reached out to select artists to collaborate submitting raw footage interpreting the night to serve as graphics for the stage-screens during the band’s performance live - Engagement: interlinking the 3 live experiences starting in London and spreading across Arab and non-Arab regions: the concert, the party, the audience watching live on TV/Online, through a social-media conversation #ibnelleil

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

• 140k experienced the London Barbican Launch Concert from Lebanon, an audience 28x larger than their biggest Beirut concert • Over 1Million experienced, live, the Barbican Launch Concert in the world, an audience 66x larger than their biggest concert ever. • Ranked #1 album on iTunes MENA (beating Adele’s Album release) • #1 Album at Virgin Megastores MENA • First Arab Pop band to be ranked #13 on US Billboard Charts

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

A live-stunt broadcasted from Beirut to Barbican, live VJ-ing of artist collaboration footage, a full live-coverage on MTV-Lebanon brought forward “The Cult of the Night”