Telecommunications: "THE HIJACK" Promo / PR Ad

Category: Best Launch or Re-launch
Advertiser: ALFA, MANAGED BY ORASCOM
Product/Service: TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Chief Communications Officer: Farid Chehab (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Executive Creative Director: Bechara Mouzannar (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Creative Director: Bechara Mouzannar (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Creative Director: Ghida Younes (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Copywriter: Rana Najjar (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Copywriter: Rana Khoury (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Art Director: Tania Saleh (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Art Director: Wissam Matar (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Art Director: Nayla Baaklini (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Digital Planner: Michael Chaftari (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Deputy Managing Director: Nada Abi Saleh (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Media Manager: Tarek Hourany (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Communication Supervisor: Peter Mouracade (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Communication Manager: Fatima Merhe (Leo Burnett Beirut)
Media placement: Radio - Radio One - 19/02/2010 @ 9:40 AM
Media placement: Radio - Sawt El Mada - 19/02/2010 @ 9:30 AM
Media placement: Radio - Sawt El Ghad - 19/02/2010 @ 7:15 AM
Media placement: Radio - NRJ - 19/02/2010 @ 6:30 PM
Media placement: Radio - Nostalgie - 19/02/2010 @ 8:30 AM
Media placement: Radio - RLL - 19/02/2010 @ 9:10 AM

Summary of the Campaign
Our client “Alfa” a telecom provider in Lebanon wanted to create a buzz around a recently launched service “Ehkineh” in English “Call me” True to its name, this service allows the users to send "Please call me back" messages for free, whenever they are out of credit. We opted for guerilla communication choosing to interrupt 6 prime time programs on 6 main radio stations on the same day. It all happened live, where each time a different character will interrupt a presenter to convey a message to someone simply because he has no more credits on his phone to call him. The stunt immediately got people to talk and became a hit on the net through bloggers on Twitter, Facebook and other social medias, as word of mouth spread the message to a much bigger audience. 30% of the Lebanese society either heard the live stunts or read about them.

The Goal
The goal of the campaign was to create a buzz in town about the recently launched service “Ehkineh” The main users of the pre-paid lines who will benefit from this service are the youth. They already perceive the brand as being vivid, young and risk taking. View the fact that both client and the target (youth) like risk-taking, we opted for guerilla communication through a unique approach that was never done in Lebanon or the region.

Results
218,000 heard it live on the radio Bloggers heard it live and tracked it on blogs. 412,000 shared it online. It created a great buzz that generated free media coverage It made it to the front page of leading local newspapers 658,000 read about it in the press In a country with a population of 4 million: 1,288,000 heard, read or shared the story of the stunt (Xplan Stat Ipsos) The campaign was valued at:$120,000 the actual cost:$0 2 weeks after the campaign: Additional “Ehkineh” transaction is 14% Distinct additional users 12.3% Variation of Distinct users added by almost 20%

Execution
We started with a research about the presenters whose shows we were about to hijack. We studied their backgrounds, their families. We studied how they normally react in the studio whenever anything goes wrong. We prepared scripts and worked on them with actors. Those scripts were to serve as a base for the improvisations. We did some visits to the stations to see how feasible it is to enter directly to the studio uninvited. We made sure each group could enter with a camera to the station to shoot the acts. And we had a plan B ready in case a station would not let us in. Plan B was to call that station and for that too we had scripts ready. After the news started to spread in town, stations did heighten security and we did proceed to using Plan B.

The Situation
The Lebanese Telecom industry has been frozen for a very long time. No new services were launched for nearly 4 years. There are 2 Telecom companies in Lebanon and both are owned by the government so they face no competition. This year, Alfa, one of those telecom companies was subleased to Orascom Telecom. Orascom wanted to show the Lebanese that there is a change in the industry and in order to do so, we opted to revamp the image of the brand completely by changing the way it deals with communication.

The Strategy
We opted for guerilla communication choosing to interrupt 6 prime time programs on 6 main radio stations on the same day. It all happened live, where each time a different character will interrupt a presenter to convey a message to someone simply because he has no more credits on his phone to call him. The stunt immediately got people to talk and became a hit on the net through bloggers on Twitter, Facebook and other social medias, as word of mouth spread the message to a much bigger audience. Plus961.com, one of Lebanon’s most popular blogs picked up on the story early on in the morning, and the twiterrati kept the idea alive throughout the day, sparking laughter and discussions. It also got its share in major local newspapers in Lebanon. The initial response was overwhelmingly positive, and impromptu interruptions have been reported in various places.