September 15, 2022
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A case study by the Friday! TV channel and RUSSPASS: How ordinary viewers became TV hosts
The travel project “Takiye Mesta” has concluded on the Friday! TV channel, with ordinary residents of Russia stepping into the role of TV hosts. Participants in the show created videos showcasing unique travel routes in their regions; the stories were then published on the project’s website and aired on the channel. Over two and a half months, 2,000 videos were submitted from 249 cities across Russia. The live broadcast of the project attracted 10 million unique viewers.
Objectives
“Takiye Mesta” is a joint travel project by the Friday! TV channel and the RUSSPASS tourist service, aimed at promoting domestic travel in Russia.
The goal for the Friday! team was to develop a partner special project that would introduce viewers to unusual tourist routes in Russia and engage them in creating travel content for the broadcast.
Mechanics
A UGC format was used to achieve this goal. Any viewer of the channel could become a TV host. Prospective TV hosts had to shoot a video of up to three minutes in length about some of the lesser-known tourist spots in their region and upload it to the project’s dedicated website. Moderators selected content for publication on the Friday! website, and the top 12 videos were broadcast on television.
The face of the project was blogger and TV host Irena Ponaroshku, who talked about her favorite spots in Moscow.
The branding for the “Takiye Mesta” project was based on prints of original Russian patterns taken from various sources and items ranging from painted spoons to church frescoes.
Ordinary viewers participated in the project alongside popular regional bloggers from the Central Federal District of Russia: Marat Popov from Voronezh, Ekaterina Altufyeva from Yaroslavl, Anna Guzeyeva from Kostroma, and others.
Results
The project ran from June 12 to September 1. In two and a half months, viewers submitted 2,000 original videos from 249 cities across Russia. 193 videos were published on the project’s website, and the top 12 aired on television. The featured regions included Voronezh, Yaroslavl, Murmansk, Ryazan, Lipetsk, Kostroma, and Ulyanovsk regions, Irkutsk, Ufa, and the Republic of Bashkortostan, as well as Kamchatka and Krasnodar Krai.
The project reached 10 million unique viewers on the Friday! channel.
The highest on air share reached 13%, securing first place in its time slot (Source: MediaScope, Russia 100+, 14.07.2022, from 13:51:54 to 13:55:01, All 14−44). The average share was 5.6%, which exceeded the channel’s average by 9% during the same period (Source: MediaScope, Russia 100+, 23.06.2022-29.08.2022, All 14−44: Share%).
Three winners were selected based on the best entries as determined by the organizers. The winners are Aleksandr Petrovets from Kamchatka with a video about the Plosky Tolbachik volcano, Lake Azhabachye, and Russkaya Bay; Yuri Antonov from St.Petersburg with a video about Teriberka, featuring the Batareisky Waterfall, the Bird Colony, and the “Dragon Eggs” beach; and Anastasia Shulga from Krasnodar with her video about the wonders of the Krasnodar Krai: the Kizinchi Rock, the Zubashenko Cave, and the Dolmens. The winners received certificates for domestic travel, courtesy of RUSSPASS.
Among the partner special projects we launched this year, this is one of our favorites. We realized that we have a very engaged audience willing to create what are essentially four-minute programs, whose quality rivals professional content. And, as we can see from the ratings, UGC projects are an excellent tool for diversifying the broadcast landscape in times of limited opportunities and budgets.
The new pattern of media consumption among young audiences leans toward short-form programs and videos that are dynamic, informative, and can be watched at one’s convenience. As a result, leveraging this format to meet brand objectives is one of the most effective advertising tools available. With strong KPI performance results, creative flexibility, and the ability to utilize more relevant broadcast slots, short-form is growing in popularity every year.
As we reviewed the entries, we were constantly amazed at how many beautiful places there are in our country! Our service already offers thousands of travel options across Russia, and we will definitely add the landmarks presented by the project participants. We hope the winners who received their travel certificates will discover new destinations and enjoy many unforgettable experiences.
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