Title	CALL BRUSSELS
Brand	VISIT BRUSSELS
Product/Service	VISIT BRUSSELS
Category	B03. Crisis Communication & Issue Management
Entrant	AIR PARTNER OF MCCANN Brussels, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	AIR PARTNER OF MCCANN Brussels, BELGIUM
PR	WHYTE CORPORATE AFFAIRS Brussels, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Eric Hollander	Air Partner of McCann	Executive Creative Director
Dieter De Ridder	Air Partner of McCann	Creative Director
Joeri Van Den Broeck	Air Partner of McCann	Creative Director
Julien Scouze Riviezzo	Air Partner of McCann	Creative
Sébastien Stronghead Verliefde	Air Partner of McCann	Creative
Greg Pin	Air Partner of McCann	Head of Digital Production
Maxime Van Santen	Air Partner of McCann	Digital Project Manager
Maxime Douillet	Air Partner of McCann	Graphic Designer
Daphné de le Vingne	Air Partner of McCann	Account Manager
Bérengère Lurquin	Air Partner of McCann	Agency Producer
Jan Boon	Lovo Films	Director
Juliette Stinglhamber	Lovo Films	Producer
Niki Michiels	Lovo Films	Producer
Zoé Hutchinson	Visit Brussels	Communication Manager
Globule Bleu	Globule Bleu	Web Agency
Whyte	Whyte	PR

The Campaign

The idea was to create a connection between people in Brussels and the people outside of Belgium. We gave people in Brussels the chance to express themselves and tell what life is really like in Brussels. Potential visitors had an opportunity to get unfiltered answers to any question related to the city. People from Brussels might pick up the phone and could rectify misconceptions about their city by giving their point of view.

Execution

From 7 January to 11 January, we placed different billboards with integrated phones in Brussels: one at the Mont des Arts, one at Place Flagey, and one at the Place Communale in Molenbeek (where some of the Paris attackers lived, including Salah Abdeslam). A bannering campaign was launched on travel websites all over Europe. From a website people from abroad could choose one of the billboards and make free calls to ask people in Brussels an honest answer about what life was really like in the city. Via livestreams people could view the person answering the phone as well as the surrounding area.

In 5 days, 12,688 phone calls were made from 154 countries. The hashtag #CallBrussels was used all over the world. The campaign was massively spread by the press and social media (more than 32.8 million impressions) and was tested -and approved- by The Washington Post. In todays context, the movie became a statement against terrorism. Against the attacks on our values. Against the attack on our freedom.

The Situation

In November 2015, after Brussels was linked to the terrorist attacks in Paris, the international media portrayed Brussels as ‘the capital of terrorism’ and many tourists cancelled their trip. visit.brussels, the Brussels tourism board, wanted to change this negative perception. We asked locals to tell LIVE to the entire world how life really was in the city at that time.

The Strategy

We targeted potential visitors with banners on travel websites in Europe, inviting them to call Brussels for free and ask locals in Brussels how life really is. The best people to accurately describe what a city is like and promote its qualities are the locals. How is life in Brussels? Ask someone in Brussels.