Creative idea is based on the popular Russian belief that their fellow citizens cannot achieve anything significant on a global arena; therefore, it is best to just sit tight and aim low. A series of short documentaries was developed, where each episode would be dedicated to a different hero – a “typical” Russian, whose will and ambition allowed them to gain worldwide recognition in their professional area. Each episode told a unique story behind the successes of a restaurateur, a spacesuit engineer, a graphic designer, a chemistry professor, and a genius photographer – people who busted the myth of Russian inability to achieve anything in the “big world”. The films were aimed at demonstrating that just like Baltika beer became popular abroad, Russians can also achieve anything they put their mind to. It was the first Russian motivational project of such scale; and the first national brand to concern itself.

We created a list of Russian professionals who were able to achieve global success, and proposed them to star in a motivational project. The heroes were Mikhail Zelman, a famous restaurateur, Anton Yukhnovets, former Art-Director of GQ, Artyom Oganov, a chemistry professor, Nikolay Moiseev, a spacesuit engineer, and Georgy Pinkhasov, a photographer, the first Russian member of Magnum photo agency. We then shot 5 documentary films, each appr. 7 minutes, where heroes tell their success stories and inspire those who don’t yet have the courage to make a leap. The shooting took place in 6 countries during 3 months; each film is directed and cut according to the story of main hero. Famous journalist Leonid Parfyonov created a 1-minute introductory reel and short intros for each of the 5 films. The films were shown via YouTube and special website; the project was launched nationally in Russia.

Due to the fact that campaign was launched by a short introductory video by the star Leonid Parfyonov, by the time the actual documentaries went live the audience was already in heated anticipation. Each new Parfyonov’s project attracts massive attention in the society and provokes lots of discussions. Made By Russians was no exception: the project hit over 6,000,000 views both from official YouTube channel (approximately 3,900,000 views) and from other social media (nearly 2,100,000 views) as well as over 240,000 likes and shares in social media. Thus, it has become one of the most talked about project in Russian web. Our heroes got invitations to star on TV programs and give motivational speeches. But more importantly, we opened a dialogue, and not about politics or economy – but about Russians’ vast potential and abilities. By showing success stories we have proven: the old stereotypes about Russians are no longer