RT’S #1917LIVE TWITTER PROJECT DOUBLE FINALIST AT EPICA AWARDS
MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 8, 2017— RT’s international #1917LIVE Twitter project, a large-scale historical re-enactment that marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution by recreating the events “in real time”, is a finalist at the 2017 Epica Awards, one of the most prestigious awards competitions honoring excellence in the fields of advertising and marketing.
#1917LIVE is a finalist in two categories. In the “Media” category, a promo for the project featuring the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II informing his Twitter subscribers about his recent forced abdication will compete with projects designed by major advertising agencies such as BBDO and McCann for companies like Yahoo, National Geographic, HBO, Netflix, and Fox Latin America.
In the “Online Social Networks” category, RT’s “#1917LIVE: What if Twitter existed 100 years ago?” project is competing alongside projects by Ford France and SKY Italia.
Other competitors for this year’s awards include advertising campaigns by some of the world’s largest brands: Google, Unicef, Honda, HP, Volkswagen, Audi, IKEA, Mercedes Benz, Chevrolet and Adidas.
In late 2016, RT launched one of the biggest historical re-enactments on Twitter ever. Brought together under a fictional media outlet feed called The Revolutionary Times (known as the “Russian Telegraph” before the “revolution” on the 7th of November), the innovative project consists of dozens of Twitter accounts set up as key historical characters of the time period, from Nicholas II and revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin to common workers and soldiers. The project includes a series of specially produced promos recreating the events that took place 100 years ago, including the abdication of Nicholas II, the starvation in Petrograd, and Lenin’s famous speech.
Historians from the US and UK have taken part in the project, as has the world-renowned Brazilian author Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist, Veronika Decides to Die, The Zahir). There are close to 100 accounts in total, tweeting in real time, with nearly 200,000 followers.
RT’s project sparked the interest of audiences across the world, and inspired many followers to join in. Any Twitter user can create an account to participate in the project under #1917CROWD.
RT’s #1917LIVE historical re-enactment on Twitter caught the eye of various public figures, journalists and academics in Europe, the US and elsewhere in the Americas.
#1917LIVE participants or followers include British and Italian MPs, the Spanish ambassador to Russia, the British ambassadors to Estonia and Ukraine, and the Russian Mission to the UN. Journalists at the Guardian, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, and France 24 are following the project, while stories about #1917LIVE have been published in more than 10 languages.
As part of the #1917LIVE project, RT filmed an eight-part “Revolution 360” series with each episode telling a different story of life in the revolutionary era in 360 degrees — from the trenches of World War I to the tumultuous streets of the capital. All videos are published on the #1917LIVE website, as well as on RT’s social media platforms and RT’s VR app RT360 (Google Play, App Store, Oculus).
In October 2017 #1917LIVE made it to the finals of The Drum Social Buzz Awards in the “Most Innovative Use of Social” category, the finals of the 2017 Clio Entertainment for “Best TV Promo Campaign”, and the finals of the Shorty Social Good Awards.
The Epica Awards, founded in 1987, is a prestigious awards competition in the field of advertising, design and marketing. The jury includes representatives from more than 60 international web and print publications dedicated to the sphere of communications and marketing. The 2017 Epica Awards will take place in Berlin on November 16.
