Lebanon has a population of 4million people. Since the war began in Syria, Lebanon has absorbed more than 2 million Syrian refugees, drastically increasing the number of children begging on the streets to survive. Lebanon lacks the social infrastructure and governance capabilities to meet the needs of its own citizens. As a result, there are no formal channels to help the refugee population. Some street children were exploited by gangs who used the money to buy illicit items. Unsure of where their money was going, the Lebanese stopped giving. How do we get the Lebanese to trust and help again?

The Lebanese note can buy anything. So we introduced a new note that can only buy good things. The Good Note.

The Good Note costs 1000 Lebanese pound (about $1) and is worth the same amount, but can only be spent at Bou Khalil supermarket branches spread across Lebanon and its affiliated pharmacy (with restrictions on alcohol and tobacco, medicine can only be bought with a doctor's prescription). All profits from the Good Note benefit an organization that cares for street children.

Our strategy was to target all different levels of society as well as Syrian refugees through a targeted cross communication campaign. In-store communication placed in all the supermarket branches targeted Bou Khalil shoppers. Outdoor and print communication targeted the public at large, raising awareness on giving responsibly. An online film depicted the country losing faith in children, calling for change. On social media we engaged a younger Lebanese target audience of online users with stories from the streets, via the Good Note Instagram account. On-ground, we educated the refugee children on the note, where to spend it and what best to buy with it. To maximize reach, we put Bou Khalil supermarket on wheels by creating the Good Truck.

To make sure all the Lebanese population was reached, we targeted them by interest and activity, and partnered up with different genres of shops, such as local bars, restaurants, bookshops, gyms, renowned jewelers, cafes. These partner shops are all selling Good Notes to their customers. At every point of the campaign, we involved digital influencers, opinion leaders and local and international media who spread the initiative online and across the world.

The initiative resonated across Lebanon and the world. The Good Note was covered by local media and international media including Voice of America, Sky News Arabia, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Shots magazine, Yahoo News and Arabic Economic forum. In less than one month, public interest generated $4.2 million in earned media and PR and reached an estimated 20 million social media users. The buzz caused local businesses to pour in to partner with the Good Note, with cafes, bookstores, chocolatiers, pubs, gyms and even renowned jewelers now selling Good Notes to their customers. As a result of this interest, we are now ready for a reprint. With more than 25 million Lebanese pounds worth of Good Notes circulating around the country in less than a month, we got the Lebanese to give again and turned a supermarket chain into a social service network.

The Good Note was born from a social data driven insight. Lebanon has a population of 4million people. Since the war began in Syria, Lebanon has absorbed more than 2 million Syrian refugees, drastically increasing the number of children begging on the streets to survive. Lebanon lacks the social infrastructure and governance capabilities to meet the needs of its own citizens. As a result, there are no formal channels to help the refugee population. Some street children were exploited by gangs who used the money to buy illicit items. Unsure of where their money was going, the Lebanese stopped giving.

We wanted the 4million Lebanese to trust and give street children again and we wanted the street children to learn, understand and embrace the new note. So we set off to target the whole Lebanese population as well as the street children. To do that, we created a cross platform communication campaign, integrating 9 communication channels. Each channel targeted a specific audience and each channel carried a specific message. All channels worked together to introduce the new note to both the Lebanese and the street children, in a seamless and effective manner, following steps:

1) raise general awareness around the problem.

2) introduce the new note.

3) educate the Lebanese on buying it and giving it instead of cash.

4) educate the street children on the new note, where to spend it and what necessities to buy with it.

5) keep both parties engaged and ready to embrace the Good Note as a permanent initiative.

Lebanon has absorbed more than 2 million Syrian refugees. More than half are children, drastically increasing the number of children begging on the streets. The country lacks the social infrastructure and governance capabilities to meet the needs of its own citizens. As a result, there are no formal channels to help the refugee population.

Thus, as a leading brand since 1935, Bou Khalil supermarkets felt compelled to step in on ground to re-establish trust between the Lebanese public and street children, aiming to enable the Lebanese to help the devastating situation on-ground and give street children access to desperately needed necessities such as food, personal hygiene items, clothing and medicine.