Keys to Freedom: original involvement in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution

Corporate Communications for ASSA ABLOY

2x Silver
Czech PR Award

1x Bronze
Czech PR Award

Shortlist Golden Sabre Award

The 21,000 FAB keys distributed on 17 November 2019 in Prague on Národní třída, Albertov and Wenceslas Square became one of the symbols of the 30th anniversary of freedom and democracy. We contacted the organisers of the celebrations and offered them old FAB keys - similar to those used to ring the bells at the anti-communist demonstrations in 1989. However, the keys were special - we had them sprayed in the colours of our Czech tricolour.

Vojtěch Jurásek

Account Director

CONTEXT AND CHALLENGE

We wanted to show the FAB keys as one of the symbols of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and thus gain attention in the media and on social media. The project therefore primarily targeted the general public and direct participants of the celebrations, with FAB employees as a secondary target.

The main challenge of the project was - how to get it on social networks and in the media, which were literally full of articles about the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution? The answer was surprisingly simple: become part of the celebrations.

SOLUTION

We came up with the main line of the project:

Sending 21,000 keys & 30 special thank you sets ""to the world"" from the FAB plant in Rychnov nad Kněžnou
Addressing personalities and handing over commemorative bundles of keys with a thank you letter
mass key distribution on 17 November in the centre of Prague
targeted communication in the media
spontaneous communication on networks.

OUTPUTS AND RESULTS

The campaign has had a significant impact on ASSA ABLOY's internal communication, both to the employees of the production plant and at the regional level, including a very positive evaluation by the Regional Director. The most important result was organic brand awareness. Thousands of people at the 17.11. celebration in the centre of Prague took FAB keys, took photos with them, gave them to friends and took them away as a souvenir. We succeeded in making the client's key product one of the symbols of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution celebrations and connecting the FAB product and brand with the positive emotions of tens of thousands of people in the offline and online space under the hashtags #jedenklíčnecinká a #klíčekesvobodě.

6,3

million reach

32

media outputs

3

prestigious awards

TOOLS USED

The communication followed one of the main symbols of the 1989 revolution, the jingle of the keys. That is why we supplied 21,000 keys in the colours of the tricolour free of charge to the organisers of the celebrations. Visitors to the centre of Prague on 17 November could take these keys for free. And, as we expected, they started sharing photos of the commemorative keys on social media, and even started asking what they were for and what doors they were supposed to open.
To increase media attention, we designed and implemented a special symbolic edition of 30 sets of keys, which we presented with thanks to personalities associated with the Velvet Revolution and the defence of democracy. The announcement of the production and distribution of these sets took place at the ASSA ABLOY - FAB plant in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. This increased the authenticity of the event and gained the focused attention of local media, which offered their content to national editorial offices.

While handing over these special kits, we also obtained permission from several celebrities to publicize their support and photos of the key handover. Perhaps the biggest success was the publication of photographs of Marta Kubišová, one of the symbols of resistance against communist totalitarianism. We then sent these photos individually to the media and gained further publicity.

We also delivered the keys to the participants of the conference on the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in the Senate. As a result, other important representatives of public and political life were photographed with them.

On 17 November, hundreds of people added photos with "our" keys to their FB and Instagram profiles, and dozens of articles and photos of Marta Kubišová, Jan Hrušínský, Jan Potměšil and Václav Malý with FAB keys - the symbol of the Velvet Revolution - appeared in the media.