2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

In Arabic, "I Declare" means at the same time "I Advertise". "I Declare" was a creative initiative to revive immediately the advertising and media sector by inviting all kinds of advertisers to advertise again after a long status quo period due to economical and political crisis and Covid-19 lockdowns. "I Declare" campaign created an interesting need to advertise collectively. Every brand was invited to enter the challenge by participating and contributing in celebrating the centennial of Lebanon and claiming creatively a special declaration towards the country.

Background

The media and advertising sector were directly hit by the tough situation Lebanon was going through. No campaigns, no media, no bookings, empty billboards everywhere... The media scene was in total silence. The scenery of emptiness was depressing. The change of the status quo was needed by any means. How can we refill again the media?

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

"I declare" in Arabic means "I advertise" at the same time. 100 years ago, in 1920, Lebanon was declared a state. In 2020, instead of celebrating the 100 years' declaration, we thought why not celebrating our centennial with a creative nation wide idea by launching hundreds of positive declarations on all media to revive the sector during the toughest times we are going through because of the economical and political crisis in addition to Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. We decided to turn the AD into A DECLARATION. We invited all institutions, agencies, brands, media and individuals to Declare / Advertise again during the month of August 2020, with special and affordable packages under one message “I DECLARE”. Each brand, institution, agency or media had to complete “I DECLARE” message by announcing and claiming its specific creative and twisted declaration for Lebanon.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We proposed to the AA the (Advertising Association in Lebanon) to endorse and to launch the "I DECLARE" Advertising Festival. 60 Media Companies/Agencies, 97 Brands and Hundreds of individuals, participations and contributions made the biggest collective and national advertising festival in only 4 days. "I Declare" Initiative was urgently needed to: 01 - Celebrate the centennial of Lebanon that was declared as a state in 1920. 02 - Revive immediately the media and advertising industry by filling the deadly emptiness with creativity hope colors and positivity.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

"I Declare" Campaign was planned to refill all the empty media by different advertisers during the whole month of August. But only in 4 days, the whole media scene in Lebanon was heavily filled by a huge number of participants. More than 2000 Billboards, unipoles and rooftops, 3666 TV spots on all local TV stations, 37944 radio spots on all local radio stations, 27M website impressions on all local websites, thousands of social media posts, 760 press insertions in all local press; all were charged with hundreds of positive declarations across the whole country.

List the results (30% of vote)

"I DECLARE" was the biggest national campaign ever done in Lebanon and the region. It endorsed 60 media companies, 97 brands and hundreds of individuals contributions and participations in only 4 days. This campaign helped in a very short period to pump life in the veins of the media sector after being silent for so long. Unfortunately, few days after the launch, the biggest explosion in the world hit Beirut, destroyed the capital, killed hundreds of people, 6000 were injured and 300,000 left homeless and in need. "I Declare" momentum was also hit. Immediately we tuned our campaign to help all NGOs and associations using "I Declare" platform to ask for support and rescue. With "I Declare": 01 - We celebrated the centennial of Lebanon 02 - We refilled the emptiness of the media with hope and positivity 03 - We put forward our initiative to ask for humanitarian support

Please tell us how disruption in your market place inspired the work

Lebanon has been going through a dark long tunnel for the past couple of years. Starting with the revolution, the economical collapse and lately the Covid-19 pandemic and its continuous lockdowns. Negativity was destroying the country and each one of us. A disruptive national idea was needed to change instantly the desperate status quo. We desperately needed one single positive sparkle to breathe in the darkness. We decided to launch #أنا_أعلن (I Declare / I Advertise) Festival to create a powerful collective momentum to change the national negative scene immediately. In only 4 days we filled all the media of Lebanon by hundreds of hopeful, colored, positive and creative declarations/advertisements.