At the Effie Awards Russia 2021 ceremony, Severstal received silver in the special category Focus /Goods and Services for Business. The main characters of the advertising campaign are entrepreneurs in knights' suits. For the second year in a row, Severstal made it to the finalists of the Effie Awards Russia. This year, for the first time, a metallurgical company won the most prestigious marketing award.
Before developing the campaign, the Severstal team studied the needs and problems of the target audience. Among the identified reasons for the lack of cooperation, the main one was the conviction that the company works only with large businesses. The goal of the project was to increase the level of spontaneous knowledge and change the perception of Severstal by consumers of rolled metal products from small and medium-sized businesses. The focus on the research results allowed us to develop a vivid visual image and original for the B2B segment of communication mechanics.
The advertising campaign took place during the construction season from June to September 2020. The success was based on content promotion in channels close to the target audience: industry media, Yandex Zen, Telegram channels and social networks. A video that reflects the main idea became part of the media campaign.
Useful content and creative non-standard for the industry attracted attention and helped to break down the company's “barrier of inaccessibility”. The tracking survey results exceeded expectations. Key brand artifacts associated with positioning the company as a reliable partner for small and medium-sized businesses grew by 34%. And the level of spontaneous brand awareness increased by 20 pp in just a few months. In support of the campaign, Severstal began to provide small and medium-sized businesses with unique content within the Vmeste community of clients and partners and to conduct training webinars.
“I am grateful to the distinguished jury of the award for the appreciation of our work. The Effie Awards Russia is a recognition by professionals of the effectiveness and originality of a creative idea, the correctness of the chosen strategy, the accuracy of the images and the high-quality implementation of the plans, ”said Tatyana Kondratyeva, Head of the Severstal Product Promotion Department. “We know that our target audience is rational and focused on understandable benefits, so it was decided to focus on reasonable arguments through familiar images and meanings.”
