A case study by LADA, GPM Ads (the sales house of Gazprom-Media Holding) and OMD OM Fuse: How to ran a car raffle for hockey fans on Match TV

This case explores how to implement a creative 360° advertising campaign on Match TV resources, expanding LADA’s sponsorship within the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) territory.

Task

The brand engaged users in active communication, strengthened the brand image by using one of its slogans: “Forward with Condifence,” and conducted a LADA car raffle.

Implementation

Advertising campaign period: from March to April 2024.

The project team launched a large-scale activation, expanding LADA’s sponsorship within the KHL on a national level. The mechanics involved users searching for QR codes placed across all brand environments and touchpoints: during live KHL broadcasts, in the LADA-branded segment of the “Everyone to the Match!” program, and on Match TV and LADA’s social media accounts. To attract additional offline audiences, QR codes were also placed in LADA dealerships nationwide.

Participants would follow the QR link, receive a code, and upload it to their personal account on a specially created landing page for the project. It was important not only to collect the most QR codes, but also to do it faster than others, as QR codes had a certain coefficient and points were awarded for each level of difficulty.

To maximize results, the producers incorporated sponsorship bumpers and dynamic logos in live KHL broadcasts, announcing the appearance of QR codes on air.

The key feature of the KHL live broadcasts was a large 3D augmented reality logo displaying the raffled LADA car on the ice rink, allowing viewers to scan the QR code during the game.

In the “Everyone to the Match!” program, hosts provided details about the contest and promotion conditions and encouraged viewers to participate in the LADA contest.

A weekly segment was developed and launched specifically for the brand, where the Match TV editorial team compiled interesting and exciting moments from KHL matches. The slogan “Forward with Confidence” could be applied to those moments.

For maximum audience reach, announcement integrations with graphics, studio branding, and verbal announcements from the hosts were aired every few days in the “Everyone to the Match!” program.

Each segment and integration concluded with a QR code and a countdown timer that rewarded viewers with points for scanning.

The project’s main landing page was developed as part of the digital promotion, and interactive TV conversion mechanics were launched on Smart TV devices. The contest was announced on the matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites, and Match TV’s social media.

Aleksandr Korolyov

Sales Manager, Sports Projects, GPM Ads

Sports are all about reaching new heights, achievements, and vibrant victories.
LADA has always been aligned with sports values, which is why the campaign uses one of the brand’s slogans, “Boldly forward.” Together with our partners, we managed to execute this idea in a special project using interactive mechanics. What we offered to Match TV viewers and all hockey fans was not just a chance to win, but a real competition for the “champion’s prize”—a new LADA Vesta SW Cross. It became a real sports battle, where users acted with confidence and strived to win until the very last seconds of the contest. It is important to note that not only men but also women actively participated in the promotion. And in the end it was a woman who became the owner of the new LADA car. We congratulate her on her victory.

Yulia Ivanova

Senior Sponsorship Manager, OMD OM Fuse

We managed to execute a truly viral 360° project. The prize was significant: a new LADA Vesta SW Cross, which motivated users to literally chase after QR codes in LADA dealerships in order to be the first to get the highest rating points. The user journey was far from easy, but the number of registered participants still set a record for contests of this kind.

Results

The 360° interactive activation covered all platforms and resources of Match TV, resulting in high efficiency indicators.

In the eight active weeks (March–April 2024), the special project registered 14,848 participants who collected 135,678 QR codes.

TV:¹

Outreach

9 million 430 thousand people: in the All18+ target audience

6 million 810 thousand people: in the M18+ target audience

Contacts with the audience

98 million 240 thousand people: in the All18+ target audience

79 million 110 thousand people: in the M18+ target audience

Digital:²

7 million 640 thousand unique users: project reach in Digital

382 thousand unique users: reach in the special project zone (exceeded the plan by 53%)

1 million 150 thousand page views: traffic in the special project zone (exceeded the plan by 259%)

8%—unique CTR in interactive TV; 2.4%—CTR of the entire advertising campaign in ITV

The campaign achieved the highest level of audience engagement despite its complex mechanics. The participants moved seamlessly between online to offline: they waited for QR codes during hockey broadcasts, monitored social media daily, and visited dealerships across the country. Ultimately, the number of participants and scanned QR codes set a record for special projects with similar mechanics on Match TV resources.

Anna Kurochkina

Marketing Director, LADA

LADA has been a KHL partner for several years now. Hockey is one of the most popular sports in Russia, and LADA is the best-selling car. So our partnership was quite logical, but we wanted to amplify the effect with additional activations. We developed a viral activation mechanic with a grand prize—a brand new LADA Vesta. The campaign covered many areas: digital channels, SMM, TV, activations at matches, as well as our dealerships. The activation turned out to be really effective. We engaged people in a branded game that encouraged the search for QR codes and achieved concrete business results: car sales.

Oksana Vasilyeva

Executive Director, Promo-Group (the contest organizer)

At the end of the project, we highly appreciated not only the large number of participants, but also their strong engagement with the mechanics. As QR codes were placed in LADA dealerships across Russia, participants traveled to different cities, interacted with dealership managers, and created detailed spreadsheets with the QR codes they were able to collect. The mechanics were not only engaging but also emotional.