Work we are
proud of

The super-premium beer brand Kronenbourg has been building its attributes in the fashion territory for several years. This required large investments, but by differentiating from the main competitors, the brand gained growth in premium attributes year after year. 

In 2022, the brand showed a decline in sales for the first time ever. Therefore, in 2023, it was crucial to resume the communication of premium attributes to deliver its added value to consumers who prefer cheaper brands in times of economy. 

Understanding the irrelevance of fashion in the war, Publicis Groupe Content team with the Zenith Ukraine team helped Kronenbourg find its renewed meaning. The brand’s communication was based on supporting Ukrainian designers who continue creating and responding to the needs of society. In partnership with Vogue.ua, we created the Resilience & Social Impact nomination and provided real help to the laureates. 

Five Ukrainian brands received awards. Among the summer months, sales in August 2023 exceeded the 2021 level and showed a peak for the entire year. We maintained leading positions in key attributes, significantly surpassing competitors as “premium” and “modern.” And, of course, we reached a target audience of 7 500 000.

As a result of the campaign, we achieved more than reversing the downward trend in sales. We solved the Brand’s strategic task and found a new meaning in the fashion communication platform that meets the needs of society during the war.

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.

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.

Selling OTC pharmaceuticals online is one of the most challenging ventures in performance marketing. However, with the advent of Covid-19, we identified a potential opportunity. Specifically, we anticipated a surge in online sales and a transition of users from offline to online platforms.

We took the initiative to become market pioneers, establishing the most transparent and effective collaboration with online retailers. We successfully launched Performance Marketing for Sandoz drugs, transforming the Black Box Pharma eRetail Media market into a clear, comprehensible, real-time analytical system. This allows for clear tracking of our advertising campaigns’ business results and boosts sales by attracting new users.

Kyivstar 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.

Pa-pa-pa pa-pam pa-pa-pam pa-pa-pam… Where did it come from? This music fills the city… This music fills with sense!..

To refresh the citizens’ view of classical music, we have created a slogan, logo, and identity for a series of open-air concerts — Classic Picnic. There are enough seats for everyone and admission is free!

Get inspired with us and sound with the city!

Challenge

COVID-19 and the introduction of strict quarantine restrictions are events that have greatly affected all of us and forced us to change our usual way of life. Now people had to get used to living in self-isolation and connect with the world (work, friends, relatives) by various devices and messengers. The situation contributed to the surge in popularity of the video conferencing format.

Many not only locked themselves at home but in themselves too. This influenced a lot of the beauty industry. After all, people began to pay much less attention to their appearance.

 Solution

We decided to utilize this trend – and encourage people who have become hostages of their homes to be more open and “see” each other online more often. Yes, see each other! And start turning on cameras. And with the help of Garnier Fructis Superfood people who could look like whatever looked super.

We 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.