The Wolf is Back 

A viral case study by FIRMA 

FIRMA
2 min readApr 7, 2014

Virality: The tendency of an image, video, or piece of information to be circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another; the quality or fact of being viral.

When Eristoff came back on the Russian Market in 2010, there needed to be a method to intrigue consumers about the comeback. What’s not better than a viral outbreak, a wolf outrage, in a giant metropolis? Creative agency FIRMA along with production BASELEVS created an integrated digital viral campaign related to the Eristoff Vodka brand launch in Russia. The campaign started with a series of internet virals about wolves being in and around Moscow: “Wolves in a parking lot,” “A pack of wolves on a highway,” “Wolves by the Kremlin”, etc. A total of six virals were picked up as real news by TV, radio, print all over the world, thinking that wolves had in fact invaded the center of Moscow. The viral campaign received over 10 million hits on the internet in 3 weeks, which it was then revealed that the videos were fake. A trailer was released: “Wolf is Back” for the marketing launch of Eristoff.

Due to strict Russian policy on alcohol advertising (no TV, no OOH), digital was the main channel for the campaign launch, and it proved to be a successful one. “Wolf is Back” won Cannes Lions “Young Directors Award” (2011) among numerous other awards.

Eristoff Viral Campaign Case by FIRMA
Eristoff “Wolf is Back”
Viral Video “A pack of wolves on the highway”

Creative Agency: FIRMA / Creative Director: Alex Malybaev, Daniil Sergeev / Project Manager: Ekaterina Fedashko / Production: BAZELEVS / Producer: Alexey Borisov / Directed by: Michael Lockshin / DOP: Ulugbek Khamraev / Composer: Maxim Golovin / Post Producer: Yana Sverdlova / 1st AD: Alesya Petrovna

Vodka Eristoff — included in the portfolio of brands BACARDI-Martini, ranked among the top 10 global brands is (according to IWSR)

www.firmafamily.com

36 Bolshaya Novodmitrovskaya str., Moscow, Russia, 127015, design factory Flacon, bldg 1; +7 495 644 47 72, moscow@firmastyle.com

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