COSSACKS

challenge

How to talk about reforms?

After the Euromaidan, reform was discussed everywhere in Ukraine – on television and Facebook, in kitchens and at expert round tables. The country fought for changes, and was able to implement some of them. Educating the public about these reforms, however, has proven to be just as difficult as winning them.

As of May 2016, 37% of Ukrainians did not believe the reforms had succeeded, but maintained hope for the future. Meanwhile, 28% did not believe they would ever succeed. Unfortunately, this kind of pessimism can become a self-fulfilling prophecy: without the public’s support, the government can have trouble implementing reforms.

solution

Cossacks rush to rescue

In February 2017, we launched the Program on Communicating Reforms in Ukraine, which for seven months explained health care and energy reforms to Ukrainians.

We started looking for positive visual images that would be recognized in all regions of the country. Eventually, we were able to find not just images but real heroes – the legendary Cossacks known to several generations of Ukrainians by from the How Cossacks… cartoons. Sociologists affirmed our choice: according to a survey conducted by GFK in June 2017, the Cossacks are liked by 95% Ukrainians.

The famous trio – big Hrai, short Oko, and strong Tur – introduced the health care and energy reforms. We created four 30-second videos featuring the cartoons while following the adventures of their favorite characters, viewers learnt about Energy Independence, Affordable Medications, Fair Tariffs and Hospitals in the Regions.

outcome

From awareness to support

During summer 2017, these new cartoons about the Cossacks were watched by 40 million TV viewers; 17 million listened to the radio version while 1 million watched the videos on the internet.

59.3% respondents said they were influenced by one of the two information messages (health care reform or energy reform). In this way, the campaign was able to reach out to 6 out 10 citizens in the entire territory of Ukraine.

The most important campaign result is that among those citizens who watched the videos, the level of support for reforms turns out to be higher than among those who were not influenced by the campaign.

As of July 2018, the number of Ukrainians who do not believe in success of reforms decreased compared to the previous years and totaled 23%. This happened at least important due to our awareness-raising activities.