Eurovision Song Contest (year 2007)

In 2007 CFC was hired by the Georgian Public Broadcasting and the Ministry of Culture as a strategic communications advisor to Georgia’s debut entry at Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. As part of this project, CFC has carried out extensive promotion of Georgia to 2600 representatives of mass media, a record-breaking number of accredited journalists in the ESC history. Sopho

  • PR technologies

    Promotional tours

    As the impact of the promotional tours has lost its unique value due to the vast number of entries visiting ESC countries before the contest, Georgian representative Sopho has decided to skip the opportunity to travel.

    Journalist Communication

    Strong interest from the European media towards Sopho was noticed long before the actual ESC 2007. Members of the press, television, radio stations and on-line media were interested not only in Sopho as a debut entry to the contest but also in the country of Georgia. CFC conducted an intensive correspondence campaign and coordinated the sending out of CDs to the major media outlets in advance.

    Upon arrival in Helsinki, CFC took care of supplying all media representatives with promotional materials about Sopho, including: Sopho t-shirt, bag, CD case, cap, pen, promo single, first international album Visionary Dream and DVD. In addition, Sopho’s team provided a comprehensive brochure about Georgia containing a concise insight into Georgian culture and traditions.

    CFC coordinated and organized Sopho’s interviews with the representatives of major media (TV, radio, printed media, on-line publications and blogs).

    Seven press releases have been prepared and sent out during May 1—12, 2007 through СFC media database. The system proved to work very efficiently based on the positive feedback and information updates that have been sent to more than 1,500 journalists. Press releases can be downloaded here.

    Publicity On-line

    CFC disseminated press releases and news to two major ESC internet resources, namely http://www.eurovision.tv/, the official ESC web-site run by the European Broadcasting Union, and http://www.esctoday.com/, the leading on-line portal.

    Real-time correspondence and updates were distributed to major European web portals devoted to the ESC such as http://www.eurovision.de/, BBC, http://www.oikotimes.com/ and many others.

    Commentators

    An hour before the live broadcast of the ESC Semi-Finals and Finals CFC prepared and distributed summary notes to each commentator with the short description of most interesting facts about Sopho and Georgia. Several commentators have also been provided with a note detailing the connection between their country and Georgia.

    Press Center and Hartwall Areena (official venue
    of ESC 2007)

    During 12 days of the ESC 2007 5—7 CFC consultants worked at the ESC Press Center. The team provided journalists with information about Sopho and Georgia, responded to various inquiries, handed out promotion materials and held special promotion events. Daily presence at the Press Center facilitated full coverage and information update about Georgia’s debut participation at the ESC. By the end of the contest there was not a single journalist who has not heard about Sopho and Georgia, or could not recognize the Georgian flag.

    Work in Harwall Areena, the official venue of the ESC 2007, included ensuring the presence of the Georgian fans and distribution of the Georgian flags. CFC arranged the production of the Georgian flags for the Finals of the contest. In addition to a large Georgian flag on stage in live broadcast after the announcement of the Semi-Finals, flags were highly visible during the ESC Finals.

  • Additional Publicity through Special Projects

    Georgian Party

    Georgian Party was a separate and essential event for the promotion of Georgia and Sopho at the ESC. The event took place in the Presidentti Club of Sokos Hotel Presidentti on May 6, 2007 and gathered around 350 guests. Visitors included journalists, fans, ESC entries, official delegations and guests from the numerous European countries.

    The majority of journalists shared the opinion that Georgian Party was one the best in the history of ESC. The abundance of national cuisine and special Georgian Sopho wine (limited collector’s edition of 200 bottles) did not leave anyone indifferent. Exclusive performances by the Sukhishvili Ballet and the Georgian Voices (8 tenors) which introduced guests to the enthralling Georgian culture, were the highlights of the night.

    Prior to the party CFC prepared an official invitation and circulated it among the press, fans and guests of the ESC 2007. The event received very positive media coverage.

    Contest “Who Wears — Wins”

    To mark Georgia’s debut in Eurovision in style, the country’s finest vineyard Badagoni produced 200 bottles of exquisite collectors’ edition Sopho wine. 50 bottles were presented to the lucky winners of the Exclusive Georgian Wine Contest.

    The terms of the contest were posted in all ESC venues and participants were entered into the draw. For a chance to win, the participants were invited to wear a stylish Sopho T-shirt, which they could pick up at the Press Centre from the so-called “Georgian Desk” (a highly visible location in the center of the Press Centre occupied by the CFC consultants). The lucky winners were approached by members of the Georgian ESC-team who gave them the winner’s sticker and presented their prizes.

    Contest “Paint Your Face to Support Sopho”

    On May 10, 2007 Sopho invited everyone to take part in the Makeover Session Georgian Style (PR activity designed by CFC). It envisioned the painting of faces in the colors and design of the Georgian flag. Many people participated and supported Georgia’s “Eurovisionary Dream” at the Press Center Hall. The makeover session was captured by over 300 video and photo cameras for the leading news agencies and TV channels. During the live broadcasting many cameras took a shot of the painted people showing them to the millions of viewers. The photos have also been published in numerous European on-line publications and newspapers.

    Big Slavic Party

    On May 8, 2007 CFC arranged Sopho’s performance at the Big Slavic Party. Together with the former Soviet Union countries, Sopho performed her song generating very positive feedback from the media and fans. The Big Slavic Party featured the representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.

    Performance at the ESC 2007 Fan Center

    Sopho paid particular attention to her fans and always spent time communicating with them. She visited the Fan Center, official fan venue of ESC 2007. Sopho was one of the first artists to perform there. She received a very warm welcome from the audience. The performance was followed by the giving away of promotional materials and CDs.

    Participation in the official opening of ESC 2007

    On May 7, 2007 around 15—20 interviews were organized for Sopho during the Official Opening of the ESC 2007. These included major TV channels of Europe present in Finland to cover the contest.

    Visit to VANHA, official EuroClub

    Sopho visited the opening of VANHA, official EuroClub, on May 3, 2007 where she, surrounded by cameras and reporters, communicated with the other ESC 2007 performers.

    Visit to the official Press Center

    As a sign of appreciation Sopho paid a visit to the ESC Press Center where she had a chance to give personal interviews, communicate with journalists and fans. She thanked the media for the great interest towards Georgia.