| Title | THE NATIONAL DEBATE |
| Brand | LEFFE |
| Product/Service | LEFFE |
| Category |
F03. Single Market Campaign |
|
Entrant
|
BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
|
|
Idea Creation
|
BBDO BELGIUM Brussels, BELGIUM
|
|
Media Placement
|
VIZEUM Brussels, BELGIUM
|
|
PR
|
OONA BENELUX Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
|
Production
|
DEMONSTR8 Brussels, BELGIUM
|
Credits
| Jan Dejonghe |
BBDO Belgium |
Creative Director |
| Gilles André |
BBDO Belgium |
Creative |
| Ariane Floderer |
BBDO Belgium |
Creative |
| Daniel Schots |
BBDO Belgium |
Chief Commercial Officer |
| Antoine Bouvy |
BBDO Belgium |
Account Director |
| Ward Braeckevelt |
BBDO Belgium |
Account Manager |
| Jan Van Brakel |
BBDO Belgium |
Strategic planner |
| Kim Leunen |
BBDO Belgium |
Performance & experience planning lead |
| Michiel Dirickx |
BBDO Belgium |
Digital Campaign Executive |
| Jorrit Michiels |
BBDO Belgium |
Graphic Designer |
| Patricia Van De Kerckhove |
BBDO Belgium |
Head of RTV |
| Renée Vermeire |
BBDO Belgium |
RTV Producer & Art Buyer |
| Silke Ricour |
BBDO Belgium |
RTV Producer |
| Dejvi Vandeveire |
BBDO Belgium |
Videographer |
| Jasper Vanhauwaert |
BBDO Belgium |
Videographer |
| Valentin Taminiau |
BBDO Belgium |
Editor & Motion Designer |
| Jonas Van Gestel |
theblackbox |
Motion & video producer |
| Nicolas Van Poeck |
BBDO Belgium |
Sound Producer |
| Mathieu Schots |
BBDO Belgium |
Sound Engineer |
| Andy Vandeborne |
BBDO Belgium |
Copywriter |
| Siglinda Paquay |
BBDO Belgium |
Copywriter |
| David Vanderbiest |
BBDO Belgium |
Final Art |
| Glenn Rongé |
BBDO Belgium |
Director of Data |
| Karlien Fabré |
BBDO Belgium |
Digital Project Manager |
| Jonathan Pardon |
BBDO Belgium |
Digital Development Director |
| Orry Van Den Abbeele |
BBDO Belgium |
Content Manager |
| Jérôme De Boysère |
BBDO Belgium |
Front-end developer |
| Karine Uytterhoeven |
BBDO Belgium |
Traffic Director |
| Monique Van Moer |
BBDO Belgium |
Traffic Manager |
| Sven Rosius |
Demonstr8 |
Director of Strategy & Client Services |
| Arno Geets |
Demonstr8 |
Strategic Planner |
| Stein Watteeuw |
Demonstr8 |
Project Director |
| Sara Holbrecht |
Demonstr8 |
Senior Project Manager |
| Zaja Ketels |
Demonstr8 |
Account Executive |
| Melwin Koopmans |
Oona Antwerp |
Managing Director |
| Audrey Verhulst |
Oona Antwerp |
Senior Account Manager |
| Amélie Waterschoot |
Oona Antwerp |
Account Manager |
| Mathijs Vanduffel |
Vizeum |
Account Manager |
| Laurent Massart |
Vizeum |
Account Manager |
| Elise Fonck |
Vizeum |
Digital Planner |
| Virginie Verleysen |
Vizeum |
Social Expert |
| Arnaud Hanset |
AB Inbev |
Marketing Director |
| Mauranne Temot |
AB Inbev |
High-End Marketing Manager |
| Alexis Meeus |
AB Inbev |
Senior Brand Manager Leffe |
| Olivier De Pooter |
AB Inbev |
Digital Manager BU Central |
| Laure Stuyck |
AB Inbev |
External Communication Manager |
Why is this work relevant for PR?
Following the latest Belgian national elections, the complex political landscape dividing the Dutch-speaking North and the French-speaking South of the country was dominating the news during summer, particularly when it came to the impasse on forming a government and the inability of political parties to sort out their differences. Leffe put 1000 tables on the language border between the North and the South, and asked Belgians to come together and debate over a Leffe at the longest ever terrace. The stunt was covered by almost every Belgian news outlet, establishing the brand as the beer that brings the country together.
Background
Leffe is the No. 1 "tasting-beer" in Belgium in terms of volume and penetration. Yet the beer is perceived as being too intense for summer occasions. Consumers often choose a lager beer instead of a Leffe. This causes Leffe sales to drop during summer, while sales of lagers rise.
For this summer campaign we had a double objective:
- from a business point of view we needed to increase the sales of Leffe during the summer months by stealing market share from lager beers.
- our marketing objective was to increase the awareness and consideration of Leffe in the summer months.
To do so, we needed to create a relevant and unique summer positioning for Leffe, starting from its warm and welcoming DNA (the monks in the Leffe Abbey welcomed pilgrims from around the world).
Besides selling beer, the higher purpose was to stimulate politicians to form a national government.
Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)
Leffe stands for meaningful conversations. This was translated to the summer positioning for Leffe as a beer to support in-depth conversations on the Belgian terraces. During the summer of 2019, the results of the national elections were the hottest topic on those terraces. Belgium, a highly politically-divided country, broke the world record for longest time without a government in 2011 (541 days) and the current discussions proved to become even more difficult. Leffe decided to encourage dialogue between the regions by launching a national debate: we organized the longest ever terrace along the 400km of the language border, bringing together 1000 Flemings and 1000 Walloons to debate on 10 highly topical topics and showing politicians that they too should considering compromising, over a Leffe.
Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)
The purpose of the PR strategy was to create awareness for the event via earned media. The key was to highlight the objective of the stunt: namely to bring the two language communities of Belgium together at the language border and discover their differences and similarities. Leffe was announced as the initiator of the event, but the focus was on the social relevance and the role of Dave Sinardet (a well-known Belgian political scientist who endorsed the stunt). The target audience for this project was very broad: we wanted to reach a large and diverse audience of both Flemish and Walloon people. This made news media (print, online and audio-visual) our main target. In addition, we also addressed lifestyle media (print and online). Communication with the press occurred through several press releases, personal e-mails and calls, as well as a national press conference as the kick-off of the stunt.
Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)
Two weeks before the kick-off we delivered crates of Leffe and sent out a press release with a short introduction about the overall marketing campaign and a presentation of the stunt. The objective was to announce the stunt and to attract and raise media awareness.
One week before the kick-off, we sent out a second press release to give an update about the number of inscriptions and to invite the press to the kick-off of the event, which also served as a press conference. The objective was to raise media interest and consideration. A press invitation reminder was sent on the morning of the event. We also undertook personal calls during the entire period.
Media coverage of the first day of the stunt, raised (inter)national awareness for the Leffe initiative and additionally generated extra subscriptions for the remaining days of the event.
List the results (30% of vote)
The initiative was covered both nationally and internationally in print, online and audio-visual media. 4 print titles, 16 online titles, 2 radio channels and 2 TV channels released the news. With a total of 23 clippings, we reached 6,086,597 people and secured a media value of €188,266. Highlights in earned media were a cover article in the daily newspaper, Het Laatste Nieuws (media value: €38.277) and a feature on the RTBF news (media value: €13.001). National news media (e.g. Het Laatste Nieuws, De Standaard, 7 sur 7, RTBF) covered the news online; this generated a large online reach: 3,924,173. Some coverage in international media like ZDF and Euronews could not be measured.
The main message of the articles was the uniqueness and originality of the stunt. Political scientist Dave Sinardet was often quoted and the number of inscriptions or the topicality with the political situation were a regular starting point for the articles.
We increased total awareness with +1.6%, and top of mind awareness by +1.5% compared to the previous period.
The Belgian consumer changed their behaviour, consuming +3% more Leffe in August 2019 compared to the same period the year before.
Also, the consideration of Leffe as first choice beer increased by +1.5%.
A positive trend compared to previous years.
A +21,9% volume increase in the month following the stunt generated +13,2% average revenue increase. Leffe’s value market share augmented with +0,9% in a total decreasing beer market. The Meaningfulness of the brand also augmented with +5%.
Please tell us how you designed / adapted your campaign for the single country / region / market where it aired.
Belgium is unlike any other country. It consists of 2 large communities, the Flemings (speaking Dutch) and the Walloons (speaking French), as well as a smaller German-speaking community. Over the past decades, the country has become more and more divided, with politicians polarizing and focusing on the differences between Flemings and Walloons for their own political gain. But when you put a Fleming and a Walloon together, you soon notice there’s more that unites them than divides them and that they can put their differences aside more easily than Belgian politicians can. So when recent elections fragmented the political landscape even further (with the North of the country voting mainly for right-wing parties and the South for left-wing parties) and politicians refusing to work with each other, we decided to unite Flemings and Walloons in a National Debate, showing politicians the way forward.