2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

With minimal media budget, The Ministry of Tourism Lebanon overachieved its target of 40,000 visitors for the season by 10 times or more - in a gloomy travel landscape, by counting on the synergy created between touchpoints. The initiative made optimal use of owned assets and channel partners in the travel industry and connected them with the potential customers, through a call for action that was sharabale enough for people to make it their own. The launch generated handsome coverage and talk value. Before the end of December, over 400,000 visitors had booked their flights to Lebanon.

Background

Lebanon is in a turmoil that has been grinding on for years. Political tensions, the biggest man-made explosion, non-stop fuel and power shortages, Lebanon is suffering. What was once a vacation spot, a tourist mecca, home to a thriving middle class, is now a country in one of the worst economic crises anywhere in the world, likely since the 1800s, says The World Bank. Lebanese are emigrating. Other countries are advising their citizens to stay away. Despite all this, the tourism sector contributes over USD 10 billion to the economy and it is essential to the survival of the country. Tourism brings critical “fresh currency” to the country. And so amidst all this chaos, the Ministry of Tourism had to launch a tourism campaign to boost the number of visitors that were in decline to at least 40k visitors for the winter season. With zero budget. Ze-ro. But how?

Describe the creative idea

Whether they decided to stay or leave the country, Lebanon has a hold on its people. It feels almost irrational to Lebanese to still love this chaotic country, a country that has hurt them but that is still a deep and fundamental part of who they are. Dr Brene Brown’s research talks a lot about the courage to be imperfect, truly authentic. This love is complicated. But sometimes all you can do is to accept something for what it is, with all of its imperfections. And so we did just that. To get our idea picked up by the media, we had to be provocative and get everyone talking about it. And so we launched the most honest love declaration in its simplest execution. “Crazy Love.” Lebanon, we love you in your madness. Bi jnounak bhebak.” That was the idea. A headline. A heart-felt message. A callout to the world.

Describe the strategy

Lebanon has been assailed by compounded crises over the past few years. More and more Lebanese people leave the country; now, more than 4 million Lebanese live outside of Lebanon and slightly less than that still reside there. The Lebanese diaspora represents the biggest opportunity to bring in fresh cash to the country. And while many send money home to their families still residing in Lebanon, they can do even more good by going back to Lebanon for holidays. Problem is, Lebanon’s reputation had been tainted – especially for those who knew it best. How could Lebanon position itself as a travel destination amidst many setbacks, and especially reconnect with its diaspora? Our strategy was simple, be honest and authentic, connect with true emotions and do it in a way that would get the world talking - because we needed reach and we couldn’t pay for it.

Describe the execution

We leveraged all our resources to accelerate reach and exposure without having to spend a budget we didn’t have. First we made a film bringing to life the idea leveraging only existing tourism archive footage and content shared by Lebanese people online. We held a press conference with journalists to announce the new tagline and posted the video on all of the Ministry of Tourism channels, across twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. The Lebanon Airport has government-media advertising space that we leveraged with out-of-home communication to promote the campaign to travelers. The Minister of Tourism himself announced the campaign in the media in order to try hijacking a news cycle. He told Reuters the slogan was “bold, because Lebanese go to extremes a lot.” “We are extreme in everything,” he said. ”In love, in hate, in patriotism. We take everything to the extreme.” “We love you in your madness” was everywhere.

List the results

And the headline got picked up over 110 articles and reached over $2,400,000 in earned media. Regional and global publications: Reuters, Arab News, The Guardian, Sydney News, US News, Gulf News, Middle East Monitor, Alrabiya, Arab Times, Christian News, Travel Trade, Vice and more. Politicians and cultural leaders shared the film. The campaign and its talk value started multiplying across traditional media and everywhere from What’sApp groups, Twitter replies to Reddit. Making it to Lebanese groups in Sweden and Belarus. Even better, a Lebanese singer Gebran basil actually recorded a song about the crazy love that Lebanese have for Lebanon. And The Weather of Lebanon channel picked up and used it several times as a way to announce the weather forecast!! The Ministry of Tourism’s projected number was 40,000 visitors during the winter season. Before the end of December, over 400,000 visitors had booked their flights.