Campaign details
Brand: Belgium
Brand owner: SPF Chancellery of the Prime Minister
Lead agency: Ogilvy Social.Lab
Contributing agencies: VO Europe, Wavemaker
Country: Europe
Industries: Destinations and locations
Media channels: Content marketing, Events & experiential, Online display, Online video, Outdoor, out-of-home, Public relations, Social media, Websites & microsites, Word of mouth, influencers
Budget: 1 - 3 million
Executive summary
Belgium was facing unprecedented challenges in 2017 following terror attacks and a tarnished country image. This paper describes a unique campaign that effectively leveraged Belgian humour to entice European visitors to visit the country again. The campaign leveraged 99 Uniquely Phenomenal Reasons to visit the country, each portrayed in a deliciously different, very Belgian, tone of voice. The limited budget drove a resourceful channel and content strategy in a unique creative way, maintaining campaign momentum over a long period of time.
- The challenge: repair the image of a nation and encourage visits to Belgium when terror attacks were driving visitors away.
- The idea: differentiate Belgium from other tourist destinations by promoting it in a way only a Belgian could do.
- Bring the idea to life: a tourism campaign with a Belgian twist, delivered through an innovative 360º marketing campaign.
- The results: visitor decline reversed and arrivals increased by 8%, resulting in positive awareness and strong engagement, delivering a ROMI of €23.84 for every €1 spent.