Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Incas was the first region to host the new festival format for the Luum Awards: a festival that rewards the best of purpose-driven creative and strategic communications. This new festival format proposes traveling to a new destination for each edition of the festival, and volunteering to support environmental and/or social efforts.
The leader of the Luum Awards’ initiative in Peru, Mauricio Rodríguez Vargas, says: “At Luum, we firmly believe that advertising and marketing professionals can be agents of change. Sometimes, I think that professionals in these fields are still unaware of the transformative power they have. Successful creative actions could influence millions, and maybe even billions of people. I have seen cases that reach these figures. So now, let’s imagine what could happen if we manage to have influence on some issue beyond a commercial objective.”
In regards to the event, Rodríguez added: “We had winners and volunteers from Colombia, Chile, the United States, Guatemala, Sweden, Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, and Thailand. We highlight Peru as the country with the most volunteers.”
Regarding the final figures for its activities, Rodríguez noted: “A direct investment of USD $12,648 was made in the Sacred Valley region, and thanks to foreign visitors, based on the MICE average, another USD $48,000 would have entered the region, for a total flow of USD $60,000 into the region.”
In regards to the activities carried out in the region, Rodríguez states that: “the activities, investments, and volunteering directly and indirectly benefited 180 children at the ´Niños del Arco Iris´ foundation and 38 Andean mothers that are heads of household from the Q’ewar Project. This investment from the event also served to help hundreds of children in the region benefit from the completion of a room for complex surgeries at VidaWasi, and we also highlight the participation of the private sector, with the training of almost a hundred independent workers in the region in plumbing carried out by Vainsa.”
Something to highlight is the tangible benefit to the local economy, Rodríguez says: “Our investments were made 100% in Peruvian talent and companies. And it went very well! We did not hire multinational companies, and for the first time one of our events was held in an auditorium that does not belong to an internationally recognized chain, such as a Hilton, Sheraton, Grand Hyatt, etc. Of course, the judges’ gathering in Switzerland was successfully held at the Hilton Geneva.”
In addition, the Luum organization held its first zero print-out event. Not even the posters at the airport were printed. Rodríguez concludes by saying that: “It is curious to see events with this initiative, Luum is definitely consistent with its DNA, recognizing the best creative works that promot a better world.”