| Title | DINING FOR BRUSSELS |
| Brand | DE TIJD |
| Product/Service | #DININGFORBRUSSELS |
| Category |
E02. Social Purpose |
|
Entrant
|
FAMOUSGREY, BELGIUM
|
|
Idea Creation
|
FAMOUSGREY, BELGIUM
|
|
Media Placement
|
FAMOUSGREY, BELGIUM
|
|
PR
|
FAMOUSGREY, BELGIUM
|
|
Production
|
FAMOUSGREY, BELGIUM
|
Credits
| Katrien Bottez |
FamousGrey |
Executive Creative Director |
| Laurent Dochy |
FamousGrey |
Creative Director |
| Anne-Cécile Collignon |
FamousGrey |
PR Manager |
| David Viaene |
FamousGrey |
Web Development |
| Jonas Sprengers |
FamousGrey |
Conversation Manager |
| Loes Fierens |
FamousGrey |
RTV Producer |
| Emilie Boudart |
FamousGrey |
Desktop Publisher |
| Natacha Nève de Mévergnies |
FamousRelations |
PR Manager |
| Frederik Delaplace |
Mediafin |
CEO |
| Katleen Mertens |
Mediafin |
Product Manager |
| Iwein Vandevyver |
FamousGrey |
Creative director |
| Manon Penné |
FamousGrey |
Art director |
| Vivienne Mak |
FamousGrey |
Copywriter |
| Janpieter Mels |
FamousGrey |
Business Director |
| Katrien Crabbe |
FamousGrey |
Project Manager |
| Elisabeth Roelandt |
FamousGrey |
Strategic Director |
| Coppelia De Crane D'Heysselaer |
FamousGrey |
Strategic Planner |
| Liesbeth Pyck |
FamousRelations |
PR Director |
| Laurens Groven |
FamousGrey |
Web designer |
| Geraldine Poncelet |
FamousGrey |
Project Leader |
| Liedewij Verbiest |
FamousRelations |
PR Manager |
| Herman Mercelis |
FamousGrey |
Desktop Publisher |
The Campaign
Belgians are famous for their dining culture. We are happy to live in a country where food is truly important. To prove that no one will ever be able to change this, even when we were still living the strong post attack emotions, we called out to all Belgians to come and dine in one of Brussels’ 12.000 restaurants and share their support. Fighting terror and economic downturn the Belgian way, became a fight without prayers or big words, but with knife and fork.
We turned around the idea of foodstagram: instead of taking a picture of your mouth-watering food, we asked people to share a picture of their empty plate, with a peace-symbol made out of cutlery. And share it on social media with #DiningForBrussels.
Belgian social feeds were not showing pretty pictures but a bold statement about the importance of continuing to go out and dine these days.
Creative Execution
The campaign was kicked off by a newspaper ad and got amplified by the Belgian social media community. Their pictures of empty plates became trending topic the very moment our newspaper ad was published – and one week after the launch, they still were.
TIMELINE:
Tuesday 26th of May (1 month after the attacks) = editorial news about the fast declining Brussels’ restaurant industry.
Wednesday 27th of May
- Newspaper ad with call to action to participate in our campaign #DiningForBrussels
- Kick off campaign on social media by the editors in chief & journalists
- PR push of all communication: 1-on-1 pitching to key journalists of competitive media and Belgian influencers and foodbloggers.
June, Summer 2016: Support came from different angles: competitive news brands, politicians, famous restaurant owners, national and international brands as Eurostar & Uber, Brussels lovers and foodies from all over the country.
Our campaign became nr 1 trending topic within the hour after the launch. On day one, we reached 1 out of 3 Belgians via social media. More than 6600 messages including #DiningForBrussels were posted on social media, with more than 1200 shared pictures. Total reach > 6.8 million.
The media value of our PR impact was 734.865€ & bigger than the annual media budget of both news brands. Famous Belgians and restaurant ambassadors were invited to talk about the problem in other media. It was the start of many discussions and opinion programs on radio and television. While a lot of people were talking about the suicide bomber that got arrested even more people were talking about #DiningForBrussels.
#DiningForBrussels was used as an example to launch other initiatives to boost the economy. And also politicians showed their support. The government increased their support for the restaurant industry with 60 million€.
De Tijd & L’Echo readers’ communities were our primary target. As leading business newspapers we reach Belgian opinion leaders & business communities: People who have the financial means to go out and spend more. People who can make a true difference for a suffering industry. Business lunches are common practice so we inspired our target to get out of meeting rooms and have lunch at a Brussels restaurant. We asked to show their support for our cause by offering them a social media voice to inspire even more people all over the country and abroad. The only CTA was to take a picture of your empty plate with a peace-symbol made with your cutlery and share it on social media with #DiningForBrussels. A small gesture making a strong statement. This way they became part of the solution and an ambassador. And inspired others to go dine in Brussels.