In November 2023, Ukraine celebrated the 10th anniversary of the start of the Revolution of Dignity – an event that significantly influenced the country’s development trajectory.
However, even after 10 years and a full-scale invasion there is still a barrier of misunderstanding between Ukrainians and Europeans. On one hand, most EU citizens agree with the statement that “Ukraine should join the EU when ready.” At the same time, russian propaganda portrays Ukraine as an incapable state and works to sow division within the EU.
A step towards overcoming this barrier of mutual understanding was to be a joint symbolic communication campaign that through the example of the Revolution of Dignity would demonstrate that Ukrainians feel and share European values. Given the tendency to avoid news about Ukraine in Germany, especially negative ones, the campaign aimed to facilitate the publication of quality materials that would reveal context and convey embedded messages.
Since Europeans do not completely believe that they are similar with Ukrainians, perhaps it is worth communicating our common values through the universal language of humanity. It sounds “right” and is understood in various social contexts worldwide. And that language is music.
During the Revolution of Dignity music united, supported, and inspired. Blue and yellow piano “Ukraine” not only served as a musical instrument but also became a physical and symbolic barrier between forces and peaceful protesters. Considering the deep symbolism of the piano the Publicis Ukraine and MSL Ukraine team proposed to create a cultural event alongside another symbolic monument, but for Germans, the iconic Brandenburg Gate.
The culmination of the event was the performance of the EU anthem “Ode to Joy,” in a four-hand rendition as a poignant symbol of Ukraine’s inevitable accession to the European family.
The campaign generated over 50 publications in leading German media, including online, print, and 11 features on major TV channels. The total non-unique publication coverage exceeded 486,100,000, with unique coverage reaching 40,500,000 — all without any media investments. Additionally, the event served as a platform for conveying important messages by official figures.
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53% of Ukraine’s economy depends on food and agricultural exports. Today, landmines occupy 30% of our land, which is twice the size of Portugal. Without global assistance, it will take decades to make it safe. Countless agricultural fields remain dangerous. People can’t work there.
The Minefields Honey Project ‒ the mix of nature and tech helps us to create a product that was never meant to exist by turning unsafe areas into flourishing gardens for symbolic honeymaking.
Personnel limited edition jars with details about our issue became a diplomatic tool and were given directly to influential people. The harvested honey became an invitation to fundraising events for Ukraine’s demining. The first 55 personnel jars were presented at special economic events such as World Economic Forum (Davos) and, USA-Ukraine Partnership Forum (Washington D.C.).
For now, the project has resulted in 175 000 000 impressions and numerous headlines with zero budget investments. It also received awards in huge international festivals such as Cannes Lions, KIAF, and others.
In 2024, Saatchi & Saatchi Ukraine, Kernel Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and the Union of Beekeepers of Ukraine gathered the new honey harvest to ensure the project’s continuation.
read moreThe celebration of Kyivstar’s 25th anniversary was supposed to be the highlight of 2022. However, due to the war, traditional approaches to business and media planning no longer worked.
In the realities of full-scale war, Kyivstar reduced its media budgets by 30%. Consumer behavior changed, but the positioning of the brand “Human Connection” became even more relevant. The campaign for a new tariff for the 25th anniversary with the option of donations for the army was launched as a special crisis solution in wartime to save the lives of Ukrainian defenders and literally restore human connections in the de-occupied cities. The key challenge was optimizing the media support of the campaign.
The basis of the planning was Big Data from previous campaigns. Based on this, we created a new approach to planning, using econometric attribution modeling of users’ actual actions. Our data-driven strategy led to a significant shift in the TV and digital media split from 70/30 to a more effective 35/65. We managed to identify the most influential communication methods, thus increasing the amount of direct communication (SMS, push notifications, etc.) and additionally the share of display components in digital tools due to its economic efficiency and higher conversion rates in donation activations.
For continuous tracking of results and accuracy, we created live dashboards.
Results:
x2.5 Activation of the superpower “Helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine”
+20 p.p. Contribution to the restoration of Ukraine
+4 p.p. Brand connection
+4 p.p. Market leadership in mobile communications
read moreKyivstar gain first place in the fragmented market of the fixed Internet and become “visible” for the non-beneficial algorithms of the search algorithm. Instead of classic SEO-approaches the brand left the template and optimized the landing page for each city and town, where there is a physical possibility of Kyivstar to provide the fixed Internet.
Experimental “local” tactics in SEO increased the visibility of Kyivstar’s fixed Internet in the first positions of organic search results by 3.5 times. Brand №1 has now caught up with itself in the search.
This case received Bronze Award in E-Commerce category at Effie Awards Ukraine.
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There are problems too uncomfortable and embarrassing to talk about. It is unpleasant even to think about them, nor to say out loud that you have constipation. Even in the circle of close ones, you’d rather hide somewhere than talk. But you can’t hide from it.
Guttalax picosulfate is a drug created specifically to solve this delicate problem of constipation. And Publicis Ukraine team with Sanofi Ukraine has had to create a concise communication for it.
The team faced a task to carefully uncover the problem and at the same time work with the stereotype that digestive problems arise solely from an unbalanced diet. The truth is that constipation can rise because of several factors such as stress, traveling, climate change, lack of physical activity, and after the course of specific medications.
The team chose plasticine and animation. And the whole process was made by a team in-house. They composed the plasticine, wrinkled and shooted everything ?
read moreEvery year, before the Children’s Day, the Tabletochki Charity Foundation, together with Leo Burnett, launches fundraising campaigns for the treatment of children with cancer. These actions are so periodic that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach people.
For 2020, the fund has set a MEGAGOAL in general: to shoot a video for a digital campaign that will raise a million hryvnias! And this at a time when people, in addition to the fate of cancer patients, were also worried about the virus, lockdown, uncertainty, unemployment… Additional condition: the foundation wanted to show in the video a real child who beat cancer thanks to philanthropists.
We have developed a script for the video. The main role was played by a former ward of the foundation – 9-year-old Artem. He became proof of the effectiveness of care and a symbol of a possible happy ending.
read moreAgainst the backdrop of a difficult situation in the hair care category, we faced an ambitious task: to bring Fructis out of the prolonged period of stagnation thanks to consumer rejuvenation. To achieve the goal, we worked with the most difficult audience for communication – Millenials.
Thanks to the insight developed on the basis of the specially conducted research, we brilliantly coped with the task set before us, which affected the results of the rebranding: the growth of the Fructis market share, the attraction of a new audience, most of which are girls under 35 years old.
Fructis relaunch is an example of a successful strategy built on the interaction of deep insights, vivid creativity, and exciting implementation.
tvlab – creative partner of the project.
read moreWe faced a challenge to break into the everyday life of people with a new product Kabanosy – long, thin sausages made from natural meat, positioned in between the meat-sausage and snack category. Until 2019 the product was unknown to both Ukrainian customers and distributors. Retail shops didn’t understand in which division the product should be sold, customers were puzzled whether to make sandwiches or eat Kabanosy with beer.
New product inspired us for a new approach for mixing media channels. We turned the classical media mix upside down and developed “DigiVision”, where digital plays a leading role in generating reach and TV is playing a secondary role. Non-standard and effective usage of media allowed Kabanosy to become a leader of the category of Snack and Meat products with minimal investment and significantly grew monthly sales.
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