Le blog de Chanty

Remember the days when you used to take part in a competition on the Radio to win free tickets or goody bags, when you had to wait for hours on the phone and keep trying your luck, well now Winning progressed to Social Media and became much more easier, all you have to do is Comment, Like, Tweet or Retweet at the right time.

With the Booming of Social Media and brands want to expose their products to their online community, Brands are attracting more public by throwing online competitions where you can win nice stuff with just one click.

One of the first to throw such competitions was @BurgerNation where Tweeps had to RT to win a Free 4oz burger with fries and coleslaw.  

Then came @RagMagLebanon, a Lebanese magasine where Tweeps had to tweet with a special hashtag (#) to win, they also have to write the same thing on their Facebook page.

With @RagMagLebanon there's also a reversed way to Win. In each issue, there are several products to win, all you have to do is to read well, see how you can take part and be quick 

And the newest to throw on-line competitions is @Lady_Nails a Nail lounge by Ani.

I visited @Lady_Nails and Met Ani in person, she is really cute and works in a professional way. She has Free WiFi in her shop and what's more interesting is that you can tweet her for an apointment 

Ladies, how easier can it get?!?!

I am Lucky to be winning with Social Media, online Brands you are doing a great job, Keep it up!!

And for those who don't believe yet in Social Media's magic, START TO!! 

Do you remember the "Fake it all" campaign in March, where some Facebook profiles were duplicated, you can check my previous post here.

Well this campaign done by Leo Burnett Beirut for the Lebanese Brand Protection Group has earned a Lion at Cannes. 

Leo Burnett Beirut’s innovative “Fake it all” campaign for the Lebanese Brand Protection Group (BPG) has earned a Lion at Cannes, the most prestigious award in advertising. “Fake it all” bagged silver in the “Best integrated campaign led by PR” category.

The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is the largest and most reputed worldwide gathering of advertising professionals. This year marked its 58^th edition.

Commenting on the award, Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett MENA Bechara Mouzannar said, “Cannesfirst, and foremost celebrates fresh ideas. Big fresh ideas. Simple big fresh ideas. Cannesalso celebrates crafting as well as every invention of a simple big fresh channel that relevantly engages with human beings. I am very proud of the Lions we have been able to tame at Leo Burnett MENA and I am sure that next year all the Burnetters in the region will reach for gold.”

This is a great achievement for Leo Burnett Beirut and this coveted award is recognition of the agency’s dedication to creativity and Human Kind approach, according to Managing Director of Leo Burnett Levant Kamil Kuran. “Whenever we tackle a big campaign we don’t focus on brand propositions or selling products, we try and tell a story about people, purpose, and changing behavior. This is what the BPG campaign did, it served true human needs,” explains Kuran.

At the root of the “Fake it all” campaign was the idea that “the closest things to you can be fake.”

On March 15^th the international anti-counterfeit day, for 48 hours, Lebanonwitnessed the biggest orchestrated stunt in the history of the Middle East’s traditional and unconventional media: the most circulated newspaper in the country agreed to fake itself, slightly altering its front-page logo for a day.

Mr. Marcel Ghanem himself agreed to be impersonated on his own TV talk show, Kalam El Nas, as were the hosts of Radio One, Interadio, Sawt El Ghad and Nostalgie, and then impressionists were sent into the Beirut city mall to mimic shoppers every move before revealing the campaign idea. The campaign even targeted Facebook, which 250 Lebanese profiles were duplicated, with only very slight changes in the names and pictures.

Commenting on the media’s role in the campaign, Deputy Managing Director Nada Abi Saleh of the Beirut office said, “The campaign needed to be big, simple, and personal. In the end it ticked all those boxes thanks in a large part to BPG’s and Leo Burnett’s strategy of building solid relations with the media over the years. The innovative concept needed a daring media, and thankfully they were taken by the project and agreed to perform stunts beyond our wildest dreams. Last but not least, once again and after winning a Gold Lion for its Hariri Foundation Campaign in 2009, Leo Burnett Beirut proves that the local creative talent pool is at par with international creative standards and can compete and win in the international creative arena."

Beirut June 2011

Congratulations to the team

You did a great job!! 

SHANKABOOT PRESS CONFERENCE

UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF H.E. THE MINISTER OF CULTURE

H.E. the Minister of Culture, Salim Wardeh, will be attending  a press conference at 11am on Wednesday April 27^th, 2011, to commemorate Lebanon’s first ever International Emmy® Award which was won by Batoota Films for its work on “Shankaboot”, the pioneering Arabic-language web series. Exclusive footage from the award ceremony – held in Cannes, on April 4^th – will be screened during the press event which will take place at the UNESCO Palace, Beirut.

The series beat off stiff competition in the Digital Program (Fiction) categoryfrom cutting-edge multi-media productions from the UK, the Netherlands and Brazil. The prestigious accolade is considered to be the television equivalent of the Oscars and the Grammy Awards (www.iemmys.tv).

“Most people associate Lebanon with war and sectarian conflict, but Shankaboot has nothing to do with politics. It's about the spirit of Beirut and the love of its people. This award is another testimony to the growing power of social media and youth in the Arab world”, said the producer of “Shankaboot” and director of Batoota Films, Katia Saleh, who collected the Emmy® statuette together with Bass Breish, the lead scriptwriter.

His Excellency Salim Wardeh commented, “This is a significant achievement and a great honour for the Lebanese cultural scene. The Emmy® Award proves that there are opportunities for the Lebanese youth to gain international recognition in their respective creative industries.”

Launched in March 2010, “Shankaboot” is a drama tinged with comedy. It combines witty social observations with an edgy shooting style and naturalistic acting. The gripping storylines capture the mood and spirit of Beirut. The heroes of “Shankaboot” are ordinary people who are confronted by familiar dilemmas.  The series is conceived as a vehicle for exploring various social problems, which are often overlooked by mainstream media in the Arab world. The aim of the project is to present these issues from a fresh perspective and to prompt an exchange of opinions between young audiences across the region.

“Shankaboot” is published on an interactive website (www.shankaboot.com) as well as on Facebook and YouTube. Over the past 12 months, its episodes have been viewed nearly 700,000 times and the series has almost 23,000 fans on Facebook. The production represents a collaboration between Batoota Films and the BBC World Service Trust, the educational arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation. In November 2010, “Shankaboot” won the Reflet d’Or for Best Web Series at the Cinema Tous Ecrans festival in Geneva.

I want to thank all my readers for being faithful and keep visiting my Blog, because of you my Blog is growing 

• On the Local level,

My Blog appeared in the March issue of Communicate magazine - Levant Edition 

Along with Letting Loose , Lebanon News: Under Rug Swept, Ivy Says, Lebanese Voices and Blog Baladi.   

• On the international level:

With my two blog posts Totally Tally  and Tally Weijl Spring 2011 Collection, my Blog appeared among the International Bloggers who Blog about Tally Weijl

You can check all the other bloggers on their Facebook page.

I also finally created a Facebook page for my Blog that you can Like