Finding Juliette: When Strategic Thinking Saves a Life

A Jay Chiat Award winner that not only caught our eye—but touched our heart.

The Jay Chiat Awards have long celebrated the best in strategic thinking—work that pushes boundaries, challenges conventions, and redefines how creativity delivers real-world results. Yet this year, one Gold-winning campaign from Belgium did more than inspire the marketing community. It saved a life.

VML Belgium’s “Finding Juliette” for Child Focus, the Belgian Center for Missing Children, was recognized with Gold in the Nonprofit/Social Cause Strategy category—and went on to win the 2025 Jay Chiat Grand Prix. It’s rare for strategy to be this moving, or this effective.

A year and a half after Juliette Goormans went missing, public attention had waned. To reignite the search, VML and Child Focus worked with her family to legally change Juliette’s name to Nafi Thiam, Belgium’s three-time Olympic champion and the nation’s most-searched woman online.

Then came a bold digital activation: anyone who Googled “Nafi Thiam” or searched for her on YouTube saw Juliette’s missing poster appear at the top of their results, leading to a campaign site explaining the initiative and inviting tips.

The approach was both provocative and profoundly human—using search behavior, celebrity, and data for a cause that transcends advertising. The results were extraordinary:

• Over 2 million active searches, a 104,900% increase in online attention
• €625,000 in earned media on a budget of just €5,000
• Global press coverage and endorsements from both Nafi Thiam and Thibaut Courtois
• And most importantly: Juliette was found alive and well just three weeks later.

In a year celebrating strategic brilliance, “Finding Juliette” proved that the right idea—executed with empathy, courage, and precision—can change far more than brand perception. It can change lives.

Now, Missing Children Europe is exploring how to expand this idea across other countries, ensuring that the innovation born in Belgium continues to bring children home.

This Jay Chiat winner didn’t just make marketing smarter—it made the world a little more whole.