A Heartfelt Holiday Video, Created with Little Time & Resources

A new president was finally elected in Lebanon. A lot of positive media buzz was taking place. The Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night-clubs & Pastries in Lebanon, a national brand, wanted to weigh in on this important milestone for the country, not in a political way but in a way that touches people and reminds them of the Lebanon that they love.

So, one day, we were sitting with the Syndicate’s board members, brainstorming on how to remind Lebanese that the best holiday vacation can be in Lebanon. The brief: create a campaign that will remind Lebanese living abroad about the wonderful food, sweets & nightlife diversity Lebanon has to offer. The deadline: Yesterday!

Challenge accepted.

We were nearing the end of the year, so both time and financial resources were scarce. We believed that the best way to put a strong message out there was to create a video, but we all know that video production doesn’t come cheap. Nonetheless, we drafted a couple of scripts, based on the idea of a montage of testimonials. But, this would entail actors, producers, VOs, and time we didn’t have. We didn’t even venture into discussing this with a production house.

While reviewing our options at length internally, along came: EUREKA! One of our lead designers suggested that we source real footage from actual Lebanese expats. It was perfect. No need for a 'mise en scène', this will actually be the most genuine approach.

We, along with the Syndicate, reached out to those we know abroad, living anywhere from Dubai to New York and simply asked them to tell us what they miss most about Lebanon (and yes, we hinted that they can emphasize the food). And to our delight, the videos started pouring in. We didn’t even have room to use all the footage we received! The video was edited and put together in a matter of days.

The participation we got was so sincere and fun that it was pure pleasure reviewing all the videos we received. These expats truly missed Lebanon!

The best part of all of this was the response the video got on social media. Within a couple of hours, the views shot up and the shares started pouring in, in the hundreds. Check it out for yourself here: