Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix

TBWA\RAAD, DUBAI, UAE, ‘Slow Trends’, Connect

This classic David and Goliath story reminds us that it’s not the size of the budget, but the quality of thinking and craft that goes into it, that determines a campaign’s impact. Sharp use of data and social listening helped uncover a genuine cultural insight, which not only created entertaining content, but drove tangible commercial results. Truly effective campaigns must do more than earn attention and engagement, they must change attitudes and behaviours. ‘Slow Trends’ did both, putting smiles on our faces and bringing in new subscribers for ‘Connect.’ Creative Effectiveness Jury President, Amanda Fève Partner, Chief Strategy Officer, Anomaly Amsterdam, The Netherlands

THE IDEA

People were sick of slow internet speed in Lebanon. Knowing that the internet landscape is dominated by a duopoly of Telcos: Alfa and Touch, both regulated by the state, it was practically impossible to go up against the big boys’ preferential treatment and media money. Connect, a small independent ISP that provided the only wireless internet solution outside the duopoly, at a lower price, dared to challenge the big boys. It came up with a strategy to create shareable content that exaggerates the perils of slow internet, cynically! The campaigns dramatized the fact that due to Lebanon’s slow internet, two of the world’s most viral phenomena (Harlem-shake & Ice-bucket-challenge) finally arrived in Lebanon…just a few years late. Live versions of the two viral trends were recreated. Without a script and a cast, real people that happened to be at the location of the shoot were invited to just jump on one of the two trends, because, well…they just arrived! Both videos ended up with the message “Don’t be the last to get it. Connect faster, wherever you are.” The films were seeded on Youtube as if they were uploaded by the “cast” themselves.