2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

2020 was a tough year worldwide and the Lebanese felt it more because of the atrocities that they were living every day, and the pandemic that kept people imprisoned at home. We decided to raise the spirits of the country by using music as a healer and hosted the first audience-less COVID concert in Baalbeck that was broadcast live on TV, radio and social media platforms, inviting 100 million people to join by raising the volume from their homes. A front row experience inviting the world to attend a concert with one purpose in mind: Reviving the spirit of Lebanon.

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 organize the first COVID cultural event on a global scale without any audience and to shed light on the uniting power of music and how it poses as the sound of positivity, hope, and solidarity. The concert that was doomed to have 0 audience involved 43 million performers worldwide.

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. We then projected the content on outdoors and on the National Museum facade bringing the glory of Baalbeck to the capital in solidarity to the people of Lebanon. The 0-audience concert had a worldwide attendance and rippled messages of hope and strength from a country on its knees to empower spirits in these difficult times.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The Lebanese are known to be resilient as they have witnessed multiple atrocities across the recent years. They’ve been living in the toughest times with political corruption, inflation, the pandemic and have been victims to the biggest non-nuclear explosion. Being a culture that strives on entertainment, people needed something that would touch their hearts and empower their souls in times of crisis, so we used music to unlock their strength. Therefore, we revived the Baalbeck International Festival that was doomed to have zero audience and wanted the concert to resonate in every Lebanese household inside and beyond its borders to relay a message that reveals the strength of a country that is falling apart.

Describe the execution (30% 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 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, 100 million people were asked to perform by raising the volume from their homes. The concert was 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. The COVID concert engaged millions of people from around the world simultaneously for one solid hour, when it usually would be restrained to a limited number of ticket buyers.

List the results (30% of vote)

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. Coverage in over 150 international publications (Including The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN and Euronews). Live broadcast for free on LBCI, MBC4, MTV, TL, OTV, NBN, and SHAHED VIP. 43 million viewers attended the show versus a full-house Baalbeck concert that doesn’t fit more that 3000 attendees. We built awareness and brand love for Baalbeck International Festival brand. Fans grew 26% on their social media pages, and a massive 160% growth in subscribers on YouTube. People’s engagements flooded these platforms with 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.