Belgians are famous for their dining culture. We are happy to live in a country where food is truly important. To prove that no one will ever be able to change this, even when we were still living the strong post attack emotions, we called out to all Belgians to come and dine in one of Brussels’ 12.000 restaurants and share their support. Fighting terror and economic downturn the Belgian way, became a fight without prayers or big words, but with knife and fork.

It was a twist on the #foodstagram. Instead of photographing their mouth-watering food, we asked people to take pictures of their empty plates, displaying a peace-symbol made from cutlery, and share them on #DiningForBrussels.

Belgian social feeds were not showing pretty pictures but a bold statement about the importance of continuing to go out and dine these days.

The campaign was kicked off by a newspaper ad and got amplified by the Belgian social media community. Their pictures of empty plates became trending topic the very moment our newspaper ad was published – and one week after the launch, they still were.

TIMELINE:

Tuesday 26th of May (1 month after the attacks) = editorial news about the fast declining Brussels’ restaurant industry.

Wednesday 27th of May

- Newspaper ad with call to action to participate in our campaign #DiningForBrussels

- Kick off campaign in social media by the editors in chief & journalists

- PR push of all communication in 1-on-1 pitching to key journalists of competitive media and Belgian influencers & foodbloggers.

June, Summer 2016: Support came from different angles: competitive news brands, politicians, famous restaurant owners, national and international brands as Eurostar & Uber, Brussels lovers and foodies from all over the country.

#DiningForBrussels became no. 1 trending topic within hours of the launch. On day one, we reached 1 out of 3 Belgians via social media. More than 6600 messages including #DiningForBrussels were posted on social media. The total reach was more than 6.8 million.

The media value of our PR campaign was € 734.865 which is more than the annual media budget of both brands put together. Famous Belgians and restaurant ambassadors were invited to talk about the problem in other media. The subject received attention on various opinion programs on radio and television. And while a lot of people were talking about the suicide bomber that got arrested, even more people were talking about #DiningForBrussels

In the end, we fought terror and economic downturn, not with prayers or big words, but in a way only Belgians can, with a knife, a fork and a spoon.

De Tijd & L’Echo readers’ communities were our primary target. As leading business newspapers we reach Belgian opinion leaders & business communities: People who have the financial means to go out and spend more. People who can make a true difference for a suffering industry. Business lunches are common practice so we inspired our target to get out of meeting rooms and have lunch at a Brussels restaurant.

We asked to show their support for our cause by offering them a social media voice to inspire even more people all over the country and abroad. The only call to action was to take a picture of your empty plate with a peace-symbol made with your cutlery and share it on social media with #DiningForBrussels. A small gesture making a strong statement.

SITUATION:

April 2016, Brussels was still recovering from the terrorist attacks of March 22nd. Terror threat level went up; the moral went down. The international press called Belgium a ‘failed state’. Tourists stayed away, and even Belgians avoided their infamous capital. One month later, the impact on Brussels’ economy was enormous, especially the restaurant industry was heavily impacted. In April 2016 the number of bankruptcies increased from 40 (April 2015) to 600 (April 2016) and 50% of the Brussels’ restaurants were facing serious financial problems.

BRIEF:

Deliver proof of the engagement of Brussels based business newspapers De Tijd/L’Echo with the Belgian economy and Brussels’ based entrepreneurs. Not just by reporting the news, but by offering solutions to support the restaurant’s industry.

OBJECTIVES:

Create awareness for the suffering restaurant industry & engage people to support the Brussels economy.

Position De Tijd/L’Echo as an active partner of entrepreneurs & the Belgian economy.