Though in minds of many Europeans it is still associated with Chornobyl - Ukraine is a country with very low awareness of environmental problems. Given the country’s economic and political condition, environment is far from being among priorities of Ukrainians. EURO 2012 was the first world-class sports event ever hosted in Ukraine, generating mixed feelings due to increasing marketing hype. As a socially responsible company, Coca-Cola decided to leverage its partnership with UEFA EURO 2012 to start changing the mindset of Ukrainians towards ecology, while creating an extensive environmental legacy program for youth. An integrated communications program “Coca-Cola Ecofan - Change Your City for EUFA EURO 2012™” promoted environmentally friendly practices, changing attitude and behavior of people. It was structured as a competition among 4 EURO host cities: since December 2011 teams of young volunteers turned their cities green to prepare them for the Championship and win a prize– grant for a large eco-project for their city.

The program, being an integral part of Coca-Cola’s EURO 2012 campaign, achieved tremendous success and became a recognized best practice among Coca-Cola worldwide offices. By June 2012 we created the biggest online community of ecological activists in Ukraine, engaging over 22,500 people and establishing over 340 mln. contacts with target audience all over the country, generating free media coverage worth $ 275,000+. Project awareness reached an astonishing 42% among internet users in just 6 months, with no advertising outside social networks. Journalists’ perception of Coca-Cola as environmentally-responsible company increased from 11% to 54%.

In the course of the 6-month program the teams had to engage in a number of environmentally friendly practices - in their cities and online. For each such activation they were awarded certain number of points based on such criteria as number of people engaged, creativity of their solution, media coverage, online buzz, etc. The final sum of scores determined the project winner before EURO championship (June 2012).

Collecting and utilizing used batteries, cleaning city waters and parks, installing garbage bins, planting flowerbeds - Ecofan teams have performed up to 3 ecological activations each month. Media were integral participants of each project, cheering for their city teams. Online activations, centered in Facebook and Vkontakte (social network with 20 mln. Ukrainian accounts, over 40% youth), included not only 4 host cities, but Ecofans all over the country. All digital assets were branded, building Coca-Cola positioning as an environmentally-friendly company.

Campaign results have surpassed client’s expectations: Ecofan has generated coverage worth $ 275,000+ with overall reach of 340 mln. contacts. The project has been recognized by Coca-Cola as international best practice - Coca-Cola Brazil is planning to leverage it within World Cup 2014.

Ecofan is the biggest online community of eco-activists in Ukraine, engaging 22,500+ friends on Facebook and Vkontakte. Ecofans have generated 200% more content than community moderators, creating 5,000+ stunts of user-generated content.

Most importantly, the campaign had a significant reputational impact. According to Coca-Cola Ukraine Reputation Audit ( done in July 2012 by GFK Ukraine), perception of Coca-Cola as environmentally-responsible company has grown after Ecofan: 51% bloggers consider Coca-Cola an environmentally-friendly company, the same figure has increased from 11% to 54% among journalists. 42% internet users and 53% bloggers know Ecofan – extraordinary awareness for a 6-month-long project with only limited advertising support in social networks.