Telecom Company Kyivstar Persuades Ukrainians to 'Please Stay Home' with New Spots

As many populations around the world are living in quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic, telecommunications company Kyivstar and Serviceplan Ukraine teamed up with Family Production on a series of three home-made social media videos shot in self-isolation, showing how people can use their time in lockdown creatively, and sharing ideas on how to stay positive.

During the period of Coronavirus quarantine, Kyivstar - being a socially responsible brand - has developed a communication campaign with Serviceplan Ukraine and production company Family Production to support the message #SimplyStayHome.

Kyivstar is the number one telecom company in Ukraine. The campaign from Serviceplan Ukraine features three spots created with Family Production which encourage people to stay at home whilst letting them know that Kyivstar will help them to stay connected. The #SimplyStayHome campaign is warm and inspiring and serves as a reminder to take care of yourself and your loved ones by staying home during lockdown.

Igor Klymenko, creative director of Serviceplan Ukraine said: “Despite the situation, we believe that quarantine is not a hindrance for creativity, effective work and entertainment. Therefore, I am so glad that our team coped with the task successfully, even in such non-trivial circumstances. With this campaign, we demonstrated to our colleagues and all Ukrainians that it is possible to do more, even if you #SimplyStayHome.”

The campaign was created in two weeks and is comprised of commercials for TV and YouTube, featuring three touching stories revealing the lives of ordinary Ukrainian people living through quarantine. One of the spots features Ukrainian music band ‘Brunettes Shoot Blondes’, who composed the soundtrack for the spots. The #SimplyStayHome films were shot remotely and this is one of the first projects in the world to be filmed for a major brand almost completely online. The shoots were executed remotely, and the agency and client teams viewed a live stream of the shoots and gave their feedback online, with video editing and colour correction done via streaming and online services. 

Creating a campaign in context of isolation was a challenge for all project participants. Of primary importance was observing lockdown and self-isolation regulations. Most of the scenes were shot remotely, including scenes from a song specially recorded in two days by Ukrainian group the ‘Brunettes Shoot Blondes’, in which each of the musicians performed their part separately. Representatives of Serviceplan Ukraine and Kyivstar also worked remotely to monitor events on-site. The Family Production studio crew performed their part of the job by following all the rules: wearing masks, gloves and shoe covers while keeping a distance.

The result of the creative experiment was a series of warm, inspiring commercials that once again remind you to take care of yourself and your loved ones -  simply stay home! The film was directed virtually by Anastasiya Bukovska, executive producer at Family Production, who said: "Clients call me every day and ask, “Are you filming during the lockdown? How come?” We know how to do it remotely, safely and effectively, and we have proven technology – this video is clear proof. But our team is the most important thing to us, so we are very selective on scripts and projects.”