China Unlimited Creative Contest

The Mission of China to the EU wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic ties in an artistic way. For this, we set up and managed the China Unlimited Creative Contest, open to participants of all EU member states who could send in any type of art that symbolised China or the China-EU relations. The 15 winners got a free trip to China!

How did we achieve this?
Atlas Hiseas designed the concept, including the original contest structure and its visual identity, the production of promotion videos with local personalities, the communication management along the contest, the organisation of an exhibition at Maasmechelen Village (active sponsor of the project), the sponsorship management, the daily management of the contest and applications, the awarding ceremony and the organisation of the trip to China for the 15 winners! We gathered two juries made up of artists, journalists, MEP’s, ministers and other high officials. Mrs. LIU Yandong, China’s Vice-Premier in 2015, handed out the prices for the winners.

The contest was supported by an extensive communication campaign to spread the message, which included a promotion video starring Didier Reynders, then Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs. European outreach was an essential element in this campaign. We considered the different cultures and languages of the EU member states to successfully include the whole EU and spread the campaign as widely as possible.

Outcome
• 500 contributions by 350 participants from almost every EU member state.
• 1200 comments and 40 000 likes on social media in support of people’s favourite artworks.
• 15 happy winners from many different countries who went on a wonderful trip to China.
• Presence of high officials and Chinese and European journalists during the award ceremony and art exhibition.
• The communication campaign reached all corners of Europe and engaged participants from all ages and cultures.