Serbian telecommunication market was challenged by the introduction of mobile number portability, the option of changing your operator, but keeping the same phone number. As the market leader, our client mt:s, the only domestic provider, was the most threatened. Our goal was to prevent the users from switching to other operators.We decided to re-ignite national pride and make people feel proud of being part of the national mobile network mt:s. For our endorser we have picked true Serbian hero Novak Djokovic, and took him out among ordinary people, onto the streets of Belgrade. Novak surprised people by meeting them on the streets, asking them for a photo with him. According to our plan, he friended every person he met on Facebook and tagged a photo with him.Through viral and mouth to mouth effect, self generated PR and social media engagement, our campaign generated more than €250,000 of media space value, while the event video became one of the most viewed and shared clips of all time on YouTube in Serbia.

Our client remained the absolute telecommunications market leader on our market to this very day.

According to our plan, he friended every person he met on Facebook and tagged a photo with him. We have also posted a video from the event on Youtube, counting on a possible viral effect.

What we couldn't foresee was the level of engagement, amount of spontaneous reactions and genuine emotions that were priceless. Even while it was going on, our event became the talk of the town.

Although it was not a part of the plan, our endorser saw the opportunity for his own PR and shared news about the action on his official Faceboook and Twitter page.

Within a few days, every national newspapers and TV station carried the story. With more than 70 unpaid posts in all media (around 15% on TV), our campaign generated more than €250,000 of media space value.

This was the first time ever recorded in Serbia that a commercial campaign was in the headlines of otherwise very strict media; among others, story of Novak and friends was part of the most viewed prime time news on national TV.

Our event video became one of the most viewed and shared clips of all time on YouTube in Serbia.

Finally, despite tough competition and the situation, mt:s remains the absolute telecommunications market leader in Serbia to this very day, with over 5.5m of users and 51% of market share.