This summer, Russia hosted the biggest sporting event in the world - the FIFA World Cup. It featured the best teams, the most skilled players, and the coolest fans. But there was a problem: we thought that the Russian team was so-so.

We're used to seeing our team fail, always. But it's all changed in 2018. We've progressed past the group stage for the first time in the 21st century; the team re-captured the hearts of the nation; we, at last, believed. Our special project was about how we didn't believe in our team and how they surpassed all our expectations.

Our approach was to make one, but a bright and unexpected real-time response campaign within a few minutes after the Russia-Croatia final whistle.

The center of communication was Sports.ru – the leading sports media outlet in post-Soviet countries with a monthly reach of more than 10 million users.

The special project was supported in the social networks of the MIR payment system, as well as in large football communities and social profiles of local opinion leaders.

We launched this special project minutes after the Croatia match. We placed a button saying "I do not believe" in a visible place on the homepage. When a user clicked it, he was taken to a page where the Russia -- Croatia match was replayed. The only difference was that Russia won this time around.

As the user was moving the time forward, he saw that Russia made it through to the semifinals and then the final. It was important for us to maintain Sports.ru's tone, even though this was a fictional scenario. Had they really made it to the finals, you would've seen similar headlines for news and articles.

In the crucial moment of the final, a penalty shootout mini-game activates. You can win or lose it and depending on the result the share message was generated saying if you saved the Russian team or not.