How to bring a new product to a highly competitive market, ensure sales and knowledge growth
The client
The Ilim Group is a leader in the pulp and paper industry of the Russian Federation. The company's plants produce 76% of all Russian commercial pulp, 17% cardboard, 26% paper, and 3% corrugated packaging. For more than 10 years, the Ilim plant in Koryazhma, Arkhangelsk region, has been producing A4 and A3 office paper.
In 2024, the company decided to enter the market with a new product in two versions — Ilim Standard (paper for daily printing of documents and color presentations in the office and at home) and Ilim Pro (premium quality paper for printing important documents). Building an effective distribution system for a new product line with a wide presence in federal retail chains and marketplaces required a comprehensive advertising campaign to attract customers and obtain specific marketing results.
The goals and objectives of the advertising campaign
• To generate knowledge of the Ilim office paper brand among the target audience. Enter the top 3 in your knowledge category with a hint by the end of 2024.
• To convey to the audience the main and distinctive characteristics of the product.
• Increase the number of initial purchases and encourage repeat purchases.
• Achieve a market share of 15% by the end of 2024, consolidating Ilim's leading position in the Russian office paper market.
The idea
To fulfill the set of tasks , a comprehensive creative and brand performance strategy was developed, which included:
• The development of a creative brand platform with the slogan "Everything starts with paper. It all starts with "Ilim." The history of any corporation begins with office paper: the first contracts are signed on it, ideas, concepts and transactions are drawn up, the first sketches and sketches are made.
• Work with comprehensive communication channels:
o Digital and Outdoor — to build coverage and increase awareness among a wide target audience.
o Print media and Indoor — for point-to-point communication with the SME audience.
Realization
The advertising campaign took place in two stages, each of which solved specific tasks.
The first stage.
Building brand knowledge, delivering the key message, and maximizing reach among the target audience. Emphasis on brand performance and performance tools:
• OLV advertising: placement of videos on the Yandex video network using targeting to narrow segments of the target audience, including representatives of the purchasing department of large companies and heads of SMEs.
• Programmatic placement: using telecom operator data, the Weborama platform, and OFD data for accurate targeting and coverage.
• Contextual advertising and promo pages: attract traffic through Yandex with a focus on relevant audience requests.
• SMM and social media crops:
o Creating original, engaging content for the brand's own social networks with an emphasis on image communication.
o Crops in popular Telegram channels and VK publics that are in demand among the SME audience.
• Marketplaces: product promotion and media placements on Ozon and Avito.
• The printing press: spot placement of advertising layouts in business publications for managers of the SME segment.
The second stage.
Sales growth and encouragement of repeat purchases. New videos and creative materials were created for the second stage of the advertising campaign. They demonstrated new situations in which Ilim office paper is the basis of effective business processes.
The media platform was enhanced with additional placement channels using static and digital city formats in the business centers of Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as advertising at the airports of St. Petersburg, Irkutsk and Arkhangelsk.
The geography is determined by the strategic presence of the Ilim Group's production facilities and the company's head office.
• A total of 192 outdoor advertising facilities are involved. Creatives were shown on screens in 97 business centers of the two capitals, on street screens, as well as in the Moscow City business district.
Results
Launching a new brand in a highly competitive category with already established leaders was a real challenge. As a result of the two flights, the synergy of media and performance tools made it possible to effectively solve the tasks of building knowledge, communicating the benefits of the product and ensuring sales growth.
• The total reach of the campaign was more than 62 million people across all media channels.
• CA brand awareness growth: up to 15% in October 2024 (according to ORO research).
• According to the calculations of the Ilim Group based on production and export data, the share of paper in the Russian market in volume terms in 2024 was 18%.
According to the results of the Yandex.Vzglyad study, the Ilim brand's commercial demonstrated a high level of communication of a creative idea to the target audience.:
• 88% of respondents rated the video positively, noting its quality and visual appeal.
• 98% of the respondents clearly identified the advertised product — office paper, which confirms the clarity and accuracy of the key messages of the campaign.
• 74% of the audience correctly named the brand, despite the similarity of the color scheme with competitors, which indicates the high recognition of the Ilim brand and its distinctive characteristics.
Ekaterina Molchanova, Director of Customer Service at the Igronic advertising Agency:
“Thanks to a comprehensive strategy and the use of diverse communication channels, we have not only achieved significant reach, but also achieved a significant increase in brand awareness. In-depth audience analysis and carefully selected media platforms made it possible to effectively implement the brand's marketing objectives. The campaign demonstrated outstanding results in all media, including digital, where coverage reached 49 million users, the total number of impressions was more than 212 million, and clicks exceeded 1.3 million with a total CTR of 0.65%.”
Maria Ratnikova, Head of Marketing, Ilim Group:
“The results obtained confirm that the launch of the new Ilim office paper brand was successful and the campaign received excellent results. The creative concept and selected communication channels, in addition to a well-implemented sales strategy, allowed us not only to talk about the product and gain consumer trust, but also to gain industry recognition. The paper "Ilim Standard" and "Ilim Pro" has been awarded leading industry awards: We won the Consumer Choice Award in the Office Product of the Year nomination and were awarded the New Product. Breakthrough of the Year in the Office Paper category at the National Product of the Year 2024 Award. The brand has confidently occupied its niche in the market, confirming the quality and leadership approach of the company.”