Russian mobile operator Tele2 was struggling with improving its internet quality perception among young Russians. Due to value for money positioning the quality of connection was perceived inferior vs competitors, creating a major barrier for switching to Tele2. Then, in 2020, the pandemic came along with all the restrictions for public events and gatherings. Brands lost opportunities to integrate into events and to offer engaging experiences offline. However, we saw an opportunity here. The majority of sporting events were canceled, and young street athletes, heroes of the younger generation, were bored and unmotivated. So, we decided to change the game and create a new format of competition for representatives of extreme street sports, empowered by Tele2 mobile internet, combining offline and online interactions.

We created Urban Battle - a real pandemic show competition format, where a limited group of creators produces content and streams it online. As far as street culture is the fastest growing trend among young Russians, we took young street athletes, such as skaters, BMX riders and parkourists, divided them into teams and suggested they will ride on suburban areas, streaming their rides to their own social accounts using 4G provided by Tele2. The internet quality was demonstrated in a very native and convincing way, because followers trust people they know personally. Then generated video content was used to make a video of their ride, which was posted on the Urban Battle webpage and social accounts. Viewers could share it and vote for their favorite team. The final event of the Urban Battle was an online finale, also powered by Tele2 4G, where famous Red Bull athletes chose the winners.

How could we prove to 16-25 y.o. competitive users that Tele2 provides high quality 4G? The best way was to demonstrate its speed in real life. We had to find creators of the engaging content, who could use 4G outdoors for online streaming, on the move. We found out that street culture is one of the biggest trends in Russia. It is giving major counterculture vibes and is associated with suburbs and hidden spots of every town. So, there were no better ambassadors to demonstrate the quality of Tele2 connection. Street athletes already had own followers in social media and needed help with content creation. We found a way to fulfil needs of two audiences. Representatives of street sports received support from Tele2 in content creation and possibility to get noticed by respected riders. Broader audience got access to unique content and a possibility to support street athletes by voting.

First, we announced the competition and launched an open call for participants among young athletes. Then they were divided into teams, assigned a date and suburban area for a ride. 41 team from 8 Russian cities took part in the battle: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Arkhangelsk, Chelyabinsk, Ekaterinburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Kirov. Participants were provided with Tele2 sim cards for mobile internet connection during the project. Young riders were streaming their tricks via 4G to their instagram accounts, then those materials were used to represent their ride on Urban Battle website, where people could vote for the best team in each city. The final event of the project was an online live stream via 4G from Tele2, where famous Red Bull athletes were choosing the winners. The campaign took place both offline and in most popular social media in Russia: Vkontakte and Instagram.

The results exceeded our expectation. The project attracted young audience, average age of the viewers was 21 y.o., 36% were younger than 18 y.o., 44% - from 18 to 25 y.o. 73% of all the viewers were users of the competitive mobile operators. The project proved that Tele2’s 4G makes it possible to continue creating live, even under quarantine and restrictions.

Key results:

- total campaign reach about 18 million contacts

- more than 1.1 million views of the project content in social media, with zero-budget spent on content creation and promotion

- unprecedented level of ER in Instagram – 18. 71% (vs worldwide benchmark of 1.16%)

- over 1.7 million views of the live final show

- 62% of young audience of the project changed their perception of Tele2 for better

- after the campaign, 32% of the audience stated that their perception of Tele2 4G quality improved significantly