Advertising activity skyrockets each November in a struggle for the attention of holiday shoppers. Ozon.ru – Russia's largest online purveyor of books, music and movies – wanted to compete with traditional stores. Its objective was to stimulate old clients and attract new ones to shop online in November and December.

But Ozon.ru didn’t want to spent a fortune on a conventional advertising campaign, which would have a limited effect on the sophisticated, internet-savvy target audience.Every Russian knows that 2006 is the Year of the Dog in the Chinese calendar. Plus, the @ sign is called a dog in Russian.

Fed up with people who couldn't break the habit of shopping offline, @ the dog escaped from Ozon.ru to show them they were wasting time and effort. The agency hired professional stuntmen to act out wild scenes of the mad dog punishing ignorant shoppers: biting his "victims ," throwing them out of bookstores and stuffing them in dumpsters.

This was accompanied by warnings from Ozon.ru on posters, fly cards and announcements in magazines: " Ozon.ru warns: Don't leave home. Mad dog on the loose." They featured the offender's portrait and a recommendation to stay in the safe territory of Ozon.ru.

The number of hits on Ozon.ru during the promotion reached 752,952 – 50% higher than during the same period a year earlier (500,075 hits), and 30% more than Ozon.ru predicted. Compared with the month before the campaign, hits were up by 125%, purchases by 121% and turnover by 134%.

The promotion set a new standard for provocative marketing in Russia, and it was mentioned several times in the media as an example of such a campaign. Lucky owners of photographs of themselves with Ozon.ru's mad dog still send them to their friends and post them on their websites.

Internet users are a smart, sophisticated audience, and attempts to affect them with direct advertising are difficult and costly. These people watch television rarely and don't trust commercials, but they often react to clever promotions by getting actively involved. They are also very communicative and viral, willingly and quickly sharing interesting news with many real and virtual friends.

That's why man-sized dogs had as much success as the warnings on fly cards, in magazines, in the Metro, online and on the radio - people spread the word about Ozon.ru by telling their friends about the dog attacks.