2017 Winners & Shortlists

THE WORLD HAS GONE NUTS

BrandAL RIFAI ROASTERY
Product/ServiceAL RIFAI NUTS
EntrantRÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON
CategoryFast Moving Consumer Goods
Idea Creation RÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON
Media Placement RÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON
PR RÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON

The Campaign

There was general confusion around the world leading up to the inauguration of Donald Trump. Most people outside the US thought it was a scene from a movie and it wasn't going to happen. Reacting to this, We designed a press ad with a simple headline that read "The World has gone nuts" with a pack shot from AL Rifai under it. The idea was to place this ad as close as possible to the news of Donald Trump's inauguration headline.

Creative Execution

On the 20th of January, Donald Trump was set to be sworn in as President of the United States. Our campaign was thought of, approved, executed and published in a span of 24 hours. We saw an opportunity for Al Rifai to say something no other brand could. We predicted the headline of the next morning's newspaper and booked a front page ad as close as possible to it, without ever mentioning anything about Donald Trump or the elections. Simply, The World has Gone Nuts, next to a picture of Donald Trump being sworn in as president. The next morning we uploaded a picture of the front page on social media.

Our press ad became the most shared news stories in Lebanon instantly. It spread around the world and had gathered 100,000 shares and tweets by the end of the first day. By Sunday it became global news with mentions and articles by leading industry and news sites around the world. Al Rifai went from being known in the Middle East to becoming familiar around the world. Our website saw a 300% increase in visits that week and the brand saw major increase in awareness with people from all over the world sending messages to our Facebook page asking where they can find our products. Most importantly, Al Rifai locally solidified it's position as the leading Nut Maker in the region with it's bold statement. All from one single Press Ad.

This work is relevant for Media Lynx because our idea is solely based on media placement. Our advertising relies on the newspaper headline and the proximity to it for it to work.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

We wanted our message to spread around the world and reach as many people as possible, naturally social media would be first place to go for that. Instead we opted for Print. We felt that we needed to make a big statement. With the controversy around fake news online, printed newspapers are still perceived as more credible and shows that Al Rifai is putting their money with their mouth is.

Credits

Name Company Role
Fadi Mroue Republique Creative Director
Fadi Mroue Republique Creative Director
Jihad Harmoush Republique Account Director
Ihab Koussa Republique Art Director
Maguy Nakad Republique Account Handler