Title	CAN'T SKIP HOPE
Brand	VISIT PORTUGAL
Product/Service	TOURISM OF PORTUGAL
Category	D01. Social Video
Entrant	PARTNERS Lisbon, PORTUGAL
Idea Creation	PARTNERS Lisbon, PORTUGAL
Production	PARTNERS Lisbon, PORTUGAL
Post Production	PARTNERS Lisbon, PORTUGAL

Name	Company	Position
Ivo Purvis	Partners	Executive Creative Director
Gil Correia	Partners	Digital Creative Director
João Moura	Partners	Copywriter
Patrick Stilwell	Partners	Planner
Filipa Vasconcelos	Partners	Account Executive
Pedro Jarnac	Partners	Film Director

Background

The year 2020 was marked by the pandemic and the beginning of a reality that was strange and above all frightening. With the world closing its doors, all sectors and companies were looking for light at every opportunity. Few found a positive environment in the context of the pandemic, but many, with the necessary changes, were able to continue to maintain active businesses. Tourism was a sector that was forced to stop its activity completely. In Portugal, with Tourism representing 50% of service exports, more than 20% of total exports, 14% of GDP and 10% of the workforce, this situation was of extreme concern at all levels and for countless stakeholders along the value chain. Turismo de Portugal, as an entity with social responsibility, had to show its support to the Portuguese and transmit a positive message, of unity and strength.

Describe the strategy

The challenge was to determine which would be the position of the Visit Portugal brand, when the main issue was precisely the fact that you could not visit Portugal. Faced with the challenge, Turismo de Portugal decided to serve as a lighthouse of positive thinking for the future and to move forward with a national movement, with notes of inspiration for international reference. Exceptional times required exceptional measures. While the strategy to mitigate and, later, counteract the effects of the pandemic, was not entirely outlined, the funds to invest in communication would be captive and affected by a future plan. Nevertheless, the decision was to communicate with boldness and strength. Since this campaign would be launched and run organically, the weight was all on the creativity. And hope was the message.

Describe the execution

#CAN’TSKIPHOPE - This is the time to stop, refocus and join forces so that we can move forward. In order to remind us of what was waiting for us in the future, Turismo de Portugal transformed the communication from #CantSkipPortugal to #CantSkipHope, with a message of hope for everyone, which adjusted to the moment of uncertainty under which we were all going through, giving support to the people and giving birth to an organic movement of hope. Through a film designed and produced with all teams working from home, with images from the Tourism archive, which reflected the best of Portugal, all the landscapes, moments, all the people and all the monuments and using only a smartphone for recording the voiceover, the country traveled the world.

List the results

More than one million views without one single euro spent on media. With the national video generating a performance 25.4x higher than the average of the YouTube channel and the international version 35.6x higher than the average of the YouTube channel (180.9x more shares, 77.5x more comments and 81.6x more reactions) ). The result was surprising at all levels. But more than numbers, we were responsible for sharing a message of hope with all stakeholders of Turismo de Portugal and the most amazing thing was the national and international adhesion that the campaign achieved, with such a positive reception, that it stood out as a global example of what to say at the right time. A hashtag that was appropriated by the community and elevated to a true mantra of hope for the entire tourism sector.