In October 2011, Thailand suffered severe flooding in the centre of the country. Flood pictures swamped the international news media and online, giving the impression that the whole country was affected. The tourist authority issued press releases to counter these pictures but the words had little effect.ChallengeCounter the negative news media and show that only certain areas in Thailand are affected.

StrategyUse the same medium that had caused the problem, photographs, to be a part of the solution.Idea'Thailand at 5cm' We invited tourists living in Thailand to snap a rarely seen angle of the country: Pictures taken from just 5cm above the ground, an angle that would let everyone know that this area wasn’t flooded.Visitors from all over the world joined in and showed their 'Thailand at 5cm' shots to their friends and social connections via our Fan Page. People everywhere could then see the truth of where the floods were happening and where the country was perfectly dry.

These pictures were then mapped to Google Map so that potential visitors could see for themselves the conditions in the area that they wanted to visit. Real pictures, of a real place, in real time, told more than a thousand words of explanation could ever do.Result• A new, more accurate picture of Thailand emerged very quickly.

• Tourists became the voice of Thailand by sharing photos and generating over 1.45m impressions.

• Non-flooded tourist areas saw an increase in visitor numbers.

'Thailand at 5cm'We invited tourists and people living in Thailand to snap and share a rarely seen angle of the country: Pictures taken from just 5cm above the ground, an angle that would let everyone know that this area wasn’t flooded.Visitors from all over the world joined in and showed their 'Thailand at 5cm' shots to their friends and social connections via our Fan Page. People everywhere could then see the truth of where the floods were happening and where the country was perfectly dry. These pictures were then mapped to Google Earth so that potential visitors could see for themselves the conditions in the area that they wanted to visit.Real pictures, of a real place, in real time, told more than a thousand words of explanation could ever do.

• A new, more accurate picture of Thailand emerged very quickly.

• Tourists became the voice of Thailand by sharing photos of the country and generating over 1.45m impressions.

• Non-flooded tourist areas saw an increase in visitor numbers.