2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for PR?

Baalbeck temples have witnessed the glory of Lebanon across centuries. they became the symbol of the Lebanese resilience along with its timeless cedar tree. 2020 is the worst year on Lebanon. The country is living a downfall of all its institutions and the COVID pandemic is crippling its will to survive. Using music as a catalyst, we revived the experience of the Baalbeck Festival, doomed to be canceled, with a live broadcast audience-less concert and a unique scenography, engaging millions of people from around the world and making it the number one topic on international media, twitter and Instagram.

Background

“Lebanon’s collapse is like the Titanic’s sinking, only without the music” Jean-Yves Le Drian – French Foreign Minister 2020 was the worst year on Lebanon. The country has been suffering economically and financially and the pandemic tipped the scale. The COVID situation forbade various events from taking place. We wanted to persist with the #SoundofResilience without breaking any lockdown regulations. The challenge was to promote the first COVID cultural event on a global scale without any audience and make it resonate positively in every house. We wanted to shed light on the uniting power of music and how it poses as the sound of positivity, hope, and solidarity across the globe, mirroring a cultural and progressive image of a country that it seizing to exist.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The Baalbeck International Festival hosted the COVID concert in its historical temple to witness the resilience of its audience with zero attendance. The National Philharmonic Orchestra played and 43 million people from around the world joined in by raising the volume from their homes. We collaborated with 10 radio and TV stations nationally and regionally to live broadcast the concert. It was also live streamed on Youtube and social media channels. The 0-audience concert captured and entertained an audience of global scale and rippled message of hope and strength from a country on its knees to empower spirits in these difficult times. The COVID concert not only highlighted the uniting power of music but also shed light of the collectivist nature of the Lebanese worldwide.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Baalback temples mirror the glory of Lebanon. These majestic pillars reveal the essence of resilience and strength as they have withstood the toughest of times, just like the Lebanese people, as they have witnessed multiple atrocities across the recent years. They’ve been living in political corruption, inflation, a pandemic and have been victims to the biggest non-nuclear explosion. We needed something that would touch their hearts and empower their souls in times of crisis, so we used music to unlock their strength. We revived the Baalbeck International Festival that was doomed to have zero audience and asked the Lebanese to join the Philharmonic Orchestra in symphony by raising the volume in their homes, to relay a message that reveals the strength of a country that is falling apart. The aim was for this concert to resonate and breathe hope in every Lebanese home inside and beyond its borders.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

We launched a music festival during the toughest and most restricting times and hosted it in a 3,000-year-old- ruin, the Baalbeck temple, the "Temple of the Sun”, the most preserved and grandest Roman temple in the world. A series of awareness and promotional posts, announcements and informative communication material were published online and on television to announce the event. The main national TV channel had a counter, counting down to the most awaited event of the summer. On the day of the audience-less concert, the anticipation was high, on-ground and online and 100 million people were asked to raise the volume from their homes. We collaborated with 10 TV stations nationally and regionally to live broadcast the concert. it was also live streamed online, projected on outdoors, and on the Lebanese National Museum’s façade. Spectators flooded online platforms from all over the world as the #SoundOfResilience beamed from Baalbeck.

List the results (30% of vote)

Coverage in over 150 international publications (Including The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, Euronews) The concert was live broadcast on LBCI, MBC4, MTV, TL, OTV, NBN, and SHAHED VIP. With an accumulated value of 10 million Dollars in earned media, the #SoundOfResilience was #1 most watched concert of all time, making it the #1 topic on international media, Twitter and Instagram with over 650 million impressions in just 3 days. Fans grew 26% on Baalbeck International Festival’s Facebook page, and a massive 160% growth in subscribers on YouTube. Usually, a regular concert in Baalbeck entertains 3,000 people, with the audience-less COVID concert, in addition to the Philharmonic Orchestra, 43 million performers worldwide joined in by raising the volume of their TVs and channeling their emotions using the #SoundOfResilience on our social media platforms, revealing positive sentiments and openly expressing their hopeful thoughts and opinions towards a country they long for and more importantly raising its spirit when it had lost all hope.