Winners & Shortlists

FLANDERS FIELDS POST

TitleFLANDERS FIELDS POST
BrandVISIT FLANDERS
Product/ServiceTOURISM
Category A03. AMBIENT MEDIA: SMALL SCALE (INCL. PREMIUMS & GIVEAWAYS)
Entrant Company OGILVY GROUP Brussels, BELGIUM
Advertising Agency OGILVY GROUP Brussels, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Sam De Win Ogilvy Group Brussels Executive Creative Director
Marina Colleoni Ogilvy Group Brussels Designer
An Vande Velde Ogilvy Group Brussels Managing Director
Sofie Sermon Ogilvy Group Brussels Account Director
Tina Bielawska Ogilvy Group Brussels Project Manager

The Brief

In the period 2014 – 2018 it’s exactly 100 years ago that WWI took place. Visit Flanders wanted to commemorate this historical event to drive tourism to an important place during this war, Flanders Fields. A unique and differentiating campaign was necessary, because of the competition from other players and initiatives such as museums and WWI organizations. The target group was 40+ year-old people with an interest in traveling, culture, history, gastronomy, Europe and WWI from the UK, Ireland and Canada. We positioned Flanders Fields as the place in Europe where the story of WWI can be actively experienced.

Creative Execution

In 2014 WWI started 100 years ago, which means that a lot of media, press, and documentary makers will put the war back in the spotlight. We did not want to talk about WWI like others would, we wanted people to actively experience it. So we brought WWI back to life. After they received their “Flanders Fields Post” from a vintage dressed paperboy, people could read for themselves about what happened in Flanders Fields. Not only showing the misery, but also the hospitality, battlefields and friendships made in the Flemish trenches. Flanders Fields became a place to remember.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We wanted people to experience a little bit of WWI, so we brought The Great War back to life. For one day, paperboys in vintage costumes distributed over 100 000 free editions of The Flanders Fields Post in six cities in the UK, Ireland and Canada. A newspaper inspired by the historic Wiper Times produced by frontline soldiers during the Great War and named after the soldier's slang name for Ypres. With original content adapted to the different countries, the paper tells the story of WWI from multiple perspectives, but also gives information on events, expositions and museums.

Results

116 000 newspapers were distributed. A call to action lead the target group to www.flandersfields1418.com, where the conversion to tourism could go further. Online, the effect was multiplied, as people could read and share the newspaper on the website. Website traffic went up with 400% and visitors stayed longer on the site. Additionally, the newspaper distribution events created a lot of rumor and got a lot of media attention. In the UK only for a media value of 260 000 GBP and in Canada we got over 21 million media impressions in media coverage.