КOZAЦЬКА РАDA

Since 2014, the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea has been occupied by Russia. Thousands of families are separated by kilometers and huge queues at the border.

Multiple attempts by government agencies and international organizations to simplify border crossing have not been crowned with success. Due to the lockdown, it became almost impossible to meet relatives.

On the Day of Unity of Ukraine, the Kozatska Rada brand set itself the goal of uniting Ukrainians in all corners of the country, despite the occupation and a tough lockdown. Thus, demonstrating the main brand positioning - courage, masculinity and force of character.

CREATIVE IDEA, STRATEGY:

There is a tradition on the Day of Unity - Ukrainians join hands and create living chains.

And although a living chain of unity is traditionally built from east to west, this year Ukraine has united where it is being divided - between Kyiv and Simferopol, the administrative center of Crimea.

To do this, we have combined tradition with new technologies, in a format where no one can stop it - neither a weapon nor a lockdown - in digital.

EXECUTION:

We developed a website where, using simple authorization via social networks or mail, the participant's avatar appeared on the satellite map of Ukraine. One after another, the avatars lined up in a chain, for 1058 kilometers, from Kyiv to Simferopol, symbolically connecting the banks of the Dnieper 5 times.

We have natively integrated the brand's style into the site to build awareness.

We launched an event announcement 2 weeks before the holiday to gather a core of active users who are ready to take up the initiative from the first minutes.

On the day of the project, we launched an advertising campaign on Facebook.

We strengthened the effect and connection with the brand by radio clips and neck hangers with a QR code placed on products at points of sale

It was an innovative project, which had no analogs either in Ukraine or in the world. Therefore, it was crucial to take into account all the risks: reputational and technical.

For this, separate teams were allocated: one provided security and technical support for the site around the clock, the second moderated social networks and communicated with users.

In just 2 days (!) of activity, the project became truly viral and received  thunderous results:

1. The project was supported by bloggers and celebrities.

2. More than 50 national and regional mass media outlets told about the initiative, it was shown by all the main country TV channels.

3. The embassies of Ukraine in different countries spoke about the project and articles were published in the foreign media.

4. The participants created their own flash mobs: they posted their photos in chains and even made independent mailings in the Viber chats of their housing complex, which ensured an exponential growth of the participants.

5. Delicate and native brand integration into a social project, due to the viral effect, allowed it to get millions of reach organically.