The first thing that passengers who have arrived at the station look for is the board. An ordinary board with trains, departure times, tracks. So yesterday I looked for this at the Odesa railway station and was stunned, because in addition to the Odesa – Kramatorsk train I needed, I saw the connections Odesa – Simferopol, Odesa – Luhansk, Odesa – Donetsk, Odesa – Mariupol… Trains to ghost towns from at the specified time and tracks. The heart was pinched by the vision of what was once so familiar, familiar, natural, when we traveled from the east to the south, went to the sea and, happy, returned back. And now these cities have become a symbol of loss and pain for us.
Tickets to win
Knowing that Ukrzaliznytsia is one of the leaders in situational marketing, I googled the project from the dashboard and learned about the carrier’s idea: to launch tickets to de-occupied cities. It started back in November 2022. The first was Kherson, which was released almost immediately after the flash mob started. The rest are still waiting to be released. Therefore, the railway officials promise to every passenger who bought a ticket to send a message about the resumption of traffic to Donetsk, Mariupol, and Simferopol and invite them to make a paid trip. Tickets became a symbol of faith in victory. Ukrzaliznytsia directed the funds received from their sale to the purchase of last-mile transport – cars that connect cities and towns in the de-occupied territories with the nearest railway hubs.
Situations from Ukrzaliznytsia
“Thank you for choosing to travel by rail! You made the same choice as Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau before you!
By the way, they have already appreciated the new tea menu of Ukrzaliznytsia, so don’t forget to order yourself fruit tea, like the President of Ukraine, or black tea with thyme, like the President of the USA. Our guides are already somewhat “tea sommeliers”, so they will be happy to show you the whole palette.
If you have already started reading, we would like to remind you that we have a mobile application – it contains the cheapest tickets, a convenient search for trains, as well as notifications about flights, the departure track and even route changes, if this already happens.”
Ukrzaliznytsia became the first company that quickly recovered from the beginning of the full-scale invasion and began to implement socially significant initiatives project by project.
Presidents, prime ministers, and influential politicians of partner countries arrived in Kyiv on the trains of the Ukrainian carrier. And this gave Ukrzaliznytsia both significant publicity capital and, at the same time, image resources to strengthen its brand.
It is enough to mention the excellent infomercial given to the company by Ukraine’s victory at Eurovision 2022. For a year, Ukrzaliznytsia renamed the Kyiv-Ivano-Frankivsk train in honor of Stefania, the mother of the Kalush Orchestra soloist. Train #43 was officially named “Stefania-Express”. Kyiv, Kalush, and Frankivsk railway stations greeted the renamed train with the song “Stephania”.
This flight became “the first train in the world named after my mother.” Also, the company was the first to add the business card of Oleg Psyuk, the frontman of the band, to its logo – a pink panama even before it became a widespread trend.
Get reputation bonuses
What Ukrzaliznytsia does, realizing its social position and acquiring reputational bonuses, is called “Situational marketing”. The practice is not new, but it is important and promising.
On the one hand, situational projects are about taking care of consumers, society, and the country. On the other hand, the loyalty of the target audience and ultimately economic growth.
It is worth mentioning that back during the Second World War, the president of Coca-Cola, Robert Woodruff, made an important reputational decision, according to which every US military member could get a bottle of cola for just 5 cents, wherever he was. And this despite the fact that gasoline was hard to come by at the time, which made it difficult to supply, and a special military tax forced Coca-Cola to increase the price of the drink by 20%.
It is known that in the period 1939-1945, the American military drank 5 billion bottles of cola. People remembered how the company had behaved in times of trouble, and this engendered loyalty that surpassed anything competitors could offer in peacetime.
According to the company IAB Ukraine, 64% of surveyed Ukrainians were in favor of changing the style of advertising.
What should have appeared in the advertising communications of companies during the war? Currently trending:
- assistance of the Armed Forces
- employee support
- resume work
- support of Ukrainians
- fulfillment of budget obligations
- stance on invasion
- support of volunteer organizations and foundations.
Typical product + trend = trendy product
Companies quickly adjusted and offered consumers relevant services and relevant messages.
“Nova Poshta” has launched the service of shipments through post machines – previously you could only receive orders with their help.
The producer of dairy products “Halychyna” has released packaging with the names of 14 historical regions of Ukraine: Kyiv region, Siver region, Volyn region, Poltava region, Bukovyna region, Slobozhan region, Transcarpathia, Donbas region, North Tavria region, Crimea and others. What did the idea of the company mean? The desire to convey the message of unity: “Now for Ukrainians there are no separate “I’s”, now everyone is one big “we”.
Ukrainian creative agency Banda launched a campaign in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine called “Every one of us”. The project tells about ordinary people who joined the Armed Forces: each of them could once be seen in the park, met in line at a store or bank. The key message of this communication campaign is that none of us was born for war, but we all have to defend our home today.
However, probably the most famous wartime situation was the “Russian Warship” stamp from Ukrposhta. People lined up in front of the branches, boasted about buying the stamp on social networks, discussed it, sold it at auctions and bombarded sales sites. The sale of the stamp started on April 12. The next day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces shot down the cruiser, and already on April 22, Ukrposhta announced a new stamp dedicated to the destruction of the Russian ship.
Many brands also reacted to the so-called “burning” news – the destruction of the Crimean bridge. Monobank even managed to quickly issue plastic cards with a burning bridge print.
The resignation of Boris Johnson also gave birth to witty situations. “In Britain, prominent citizens are knighted by the Queen. In Ukraine, we are ready to consecrate the prime minister from Tumanny Albion to the Cossacks and call him the Cossack name Boris Jonsonyuk!”, Varus said.
Nova Poshta was also noted: “Boris Johnson is just dreaming (and hinting): Nova Poshta plans to enter the market, and Great Britain is no exception. And since we value speed, determination and stress resistance, you are the perfect candidate for us.” The image of Johnson flying to meet the dangers on a bicycle confirmed the “reality of the intentions” of the postal operator.
Marketing specialists say for a reason: situation is the king of content, and content is the king of marketing. Hence the special attention of marketers to situations. His formula: typical product + trend = trendy product. At the same time, a trend can grow from a social, political, brand, personal event, post, performance, program, photo or video. Today, virtually anything can become a trend.
Do not overthink the situation
However, in the desire to be fast, unique, creative, it is very easy to overdo it and make an ambiguous project or a performance that fails from the point of view of the communication code.
As it happened with Banda Agency and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. They were ashamed of the fact that they mistakenly chose the wrong gesture with which all Ukrainians can congratulate each other on Independence Day. In August 2022, the flash mob #TRIZUBNEZALEZHNOSTI was supported by Nadia Dorofeeva, Dasha Astaf’eva, Alyona Alyona, Kilimmen from the Kalush Orchestra, as well as Oleksandr Tkachenko – the head of the Ministry of Culture.
However, the gesture chosen by the Banda creative agency for the All-Ukrainian flash mob was quickly criticized on social networks. Users noted that the finger configuration has sexual connotations. And also means an indication of superiority over someone or something. And this despite the fact that Ukraine already has a classic variation of the trident sign, which belongs to Vyacheslav Chornovol. With such a gesture, he is depicted on a monument in Lviv.
And of course, war is not the kind of reality that forgives the speculations on the army theme, which literally flooded the information space in the spring of 2022 – it is about numerous posters, billboards, and leaflets. “Bayraktar” sushi set, “Javelina” underwear, camouflage on sausages, advertisement of a dress against the background of buildings destroyed by the occupiers… It is clear that all this distorts the presentation of the war, reduces the value of the victims. Not to mention that such creativity does not help the brand at all.
Therefore, you should not hype the topics of historical memory, military uniforms and choose such topics that can be painfully perceived by the audience in the conditions of a full-scale war.
Brands should carry values that are close and important to every Ukrainian: popularize Ukrainian, in particular, our culture, history, sports, art, and increase loyalty to Ukrainian specialists.
