The Ukrainian Media Industry at Time of War

On February 24, 2022, at 4 am, the Russian army brutally invaded the territory of peaceful Ukraine. About 40 million people were awakened by explosions and sirens. A new reality that we had been preparing for, but had hoped to avoid has begun for us.

There was chaos at first, many people packed to leave their homes in a hurry, with one backpack or several bags, especially from where the shelling began. Advertisers urgently began to stop ad campaigns. After a couple of days, TV and radio advertising disappeared completely, and almost stopped on the internet. A week later, it became clear that the TV-panel’s data made no sense because of the massive internal and external migration. 

Telethon

Due to the speed of successive events, there was a demand by the society for constant information, so all TV-channels connected to create a single “marathon” of news. However, due to the large number of internal and external refugees, and because Ukrainians spent a lot of time in bomb shelters, there was a necessity for a quick and mobile news source. So public channels via Telegram messenger took that role. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians consumed news for approximately 6 hours a day.

From the second half of March, calls to return to work were announced by the government. Since then, the viewing figures of news began to drop. At the end of April, the top TV-channels started jumping off the single “telethon wagon” to create unique conditions for the placement of TV-advertisements. Thus, measurement has become impossible and TV-advertising is currently sold by spots. So far, more than 40 advertisers have returned to TV. The call to return to work also affected digital advertising. The return, especially of big players, is also facilitated by the fact that almost all sellers offer discounts and are ready to make concessions now.

The industry takes initiative 

From the very first days, though still in shock, Ukrainians stood up for the defense of the Motherland: joined the territorial defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteered, helped refugees, etc. Almost all Ukrainian advertisers found an opportunity to help: more than 70% of businesses are involved in helping the army and the people. 

For example, our client Uklon, a taxi mobile app, in addition to making direct donations, launched several logistics initiatives like ""Volunteer Tariff"", which directly helps volunteers and militaries, and ""Evacuation Package"" to evacuate people from the temporarily occupied territories. 

I want to emphasize once again: Ukrainian businesses and brands in Ukraine are fully committed to making maximum efforts for our victory. It is not only paying taxes and donating large sums to funds, but also developing numerous self-initiatives for the needs of both the army and the civilians.

Three information fronts

The media industry is fighting on the informational front. With the beginning of the Russian aggression, three directions of activities were formed: national, worldwide, and Russian. The “internal axis” was primarily aimed at the emotional support of Ukrainians in constant stress, and assistance to the victims of Russian aggression. For example, our agency, together with UNICEF, implemented an advertising campaign aimed at helping children who had lost their parents in the war to find new families. 

At the beginning of the full-scale war, we believed that the people of Russia can stop the war. So the “Russian vector” was about informing Russians, many of whom have relatives in Ukraine, about the massive killing of Ukrainians. From the very first days, Ukrainian media agencies had tried to break through the informational wall of Russia. However, a few weeks later, it became clear that the war in Ukraine has a widespread and strong support among Russians (83%), so we stopped wasting energy on it.

The “worldwide vector” is aimed at maintaining attention toward the Russian-Ukrainian war and attracting as much aid as possible to Ukraine. We are strong and we will win, but we need the help of civilized countries to reduce the number of victims and to end this war as soon as possible. Therefore, via numerous advertising campaigns, we are talking to all the people around the globe about the cruel war in Ukraine. “Bravery to be Ukrainian”, “United24”, “Save Ukraine — #StopWar” and other massive advertising campaigns in Europe, the USA, Japan, Taiwan, etc., are aimed at maintaining the level of sympathy and support for Ukraine, preventing war fatigue and developing a basis for future cooperation with Europeans. A new project will be launched soon, made by the Ukrainian media community (including our agency): a crowdfunding platform “The World for Ukraine” to collect funds for Ukrainians who have lost their homes and normal life. 

We all are resisting evil, and the victory is ours. Together we are strong!

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