Russia Day is a traditional celebration held every year in every Russian city. Usual symbols of the celebration are classic: colors of the flag, patriotic rhetoric, the national anthem. There are over 150 minority languages spoken in Russia today. The only language used in Russian mass media is Russian, other languages simply do not exist for the nationwide audience. Sberbank is Russia’s biggest bank, with every branch shaped by the vibrant culture of its patrons. The brief was to support and enrich the image of Sberbank as the People’s bank at the time of the biggest national celebration of the year.

Let’s congratulate the country on many languages it speaks. The holiday greeting in 50 of Russia’s languages appeared in various channels across the country. While other brands kept using traditional symbols of patriotic celebration, Sberbank offered a new perspective introducing a set of beautiful images perfect for sharing and spreading through traditional media.

"Happy Russia Day!" was meticulously translated into 50 languages with the assistance of native speakers from all over the country. Colors, patterns, and symbols of local cultures were sourced to create unique, festive artwork framing the holiday greeting in each language. 50 distinct designs were created for outdoor, pos, banners, Instagram stories, and social media sharing. Animated version was aired on major tv channels during the celebration day.

Often written in an exotic superset of, otherwise familiar, Cyrillic alphabet the greetings challenged assumptions and fostered conversation. Novelty, authenticity, and heartfelt nature of the message, executed in a fresh design, ensured Sberbank effectively owned celebration communication in social media and press. Hundreds of thousands of social media posts, press and paid media provided total coverage of 95 000 000 people.