HOW "STEPAN RAZIN" HELPED FANS BE WITH THE TEAM!

TitleHOW "STEPAN RAZIN" HELPED FANS BE WITH THE TEAM!
BrandHEINEKEN
Product/ServiceSTEPAN RAZIN BEER
Category B06. Market Disruption
Entrant GREAT ADVERTISING GROUP St. Petersburg, RUSSIA
Idea Creation GREAT St.Petersburg, RUSSIA
PR GREAT St.Petersburg, RUSSIA
Production GREAT St.Petersburg, RUSSIA
Post Production GREAT St.Petersburg, RUSSIA
Credits
Name Company Position
Viktor Donyukov GREAT Head of client service team
Maria Keselman GREAT Client service
Dmitriy Makarov GREAT Head of creative team
Oleg Tveritin GREAT design
Dmitriy Assinovskiy GREAT Art direction
Dmitriy Panaiotti GREAT copywriting

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

"Stepan Razin" is a St. Petersburg beer brand with great traditions, a sponsor of the Zenit football club. In 2020, it was time for another collectible series of cans — and we decided that in the midst of pandemic and isolation, it should help the citizens and their favorite team stay together. We placed the words from the most famous Zenit fan chants on the cans and made sure that the energy of the fans supporting the team at home in front of the TV screen would be transmitted to the stadium and help the players win.

Background

The Stepan Razin brand, owned by Heineken since 2005, is a St. Petersburg beer with a rich history. At the beginning of the 21st century, Stepan Razin had about a quarter of the beer market in St. Petersburg, but under the pressure of competitors and legislative restrictions, its market share began to decline, especially among the active young audience. A recognizable feature of "Stepan Razin" became the regularly released collectible series of cans with original designs FC Zenit. The can has become the basis of our communication under the limitations of the dark market. But in 2020, a pandemic was added to the restrictions of the dark market, complicating the situation for "Stepan Razin". How can we get marketing bonuses from Zenit sponsorship if the stadium is closed to fans? If we can figure out how to stay relevant for fans in this difficult time, it can help us

Interpretation (30% of vote)

We have created a completely new design for the category, which stands out sharply on the shelf. The cans "Hey", "Keep it up!", "For St. Petersburg!", "Dominate" attracted attention both together and individually. Based on them, we created a mechanic for broadcasting the support from home to an empty stadium, which found a great response among the fans. They created new chats with our cans and posted them to Instagram and vk.com with the hashtag #stepanrazin. We collected new versions of supporting chants from our cans from the social media of our customers and translated them on the huge LED panels of the Zenit Stadium during matches in an empty stadium.

Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

In the dark market conditions, it is difficult for a brand to build a classic type communication with the consumer. In fact, we only had point of sale promotion at our disposal. This brought us to the following idea — to use a beer can as the main communication tool with the customer. The eye-catching can will be talked about on social media — and legal restrictions on beer advertising do not cover UGC. We decided to launch a limited series of beer cans. The non-standard and interesting for the target audience design was meant to attract attention to the brand and generate earned media. In 2020, during the period of isolation and restrictions, we decided that is the most important to help the St. Petersburg guys and their favorite football team stay together, and we dedicated a new series of cans to Zenit and its fans.

Creative Idea (20% of vote)

Our creative idea is "Beer can shout for team: root for Zenit at home like you would do at the stadium, together with "Stepan Razin". It was clearly reflected in the mechanics — the fans, who could not support the team in the stands because of the pandemic, collected new versions of chants from our cans, photographed them, and posted them with a hashtag on social networks. Submitted chants, written in the brand typeface, appeared on the huge LED panel between the first and second tiers of the Zenit Stadium during matches. This, firstly, provided the team with the necessary support on the way to the championship, and secondly, allowed the brand to bypass the restrictions of the dark market and get into the TV broadcasts of matches.

Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

As a result of the campaign, the brand showed an increase in important perception metrics: brand awareness +4% trial purchase +16% Stylish brand +50% Brand for youth +40% Brand with an attractive design +25% And what is more — despite the pandemic, "Zenit" did not lose the support of its fans and became the champion of Russia, which is also our common achievement!