Special Recognition — for the way our team fought Russian propaganda...

The first Russian missiles fell on Kyiv on February 24, 2022. Five days later, on March 1, we released the first infographic about the Russian-Ukrainian war. This is how we launched UA War Infographics channel on the popular Ukrainian messenger Telegram, which used infographics to explain the course of the war, the humanitarian situation, refute Russian fakes, and explain the rules for civilians during the war.

...and struggled for the company's survival

As soon as we resolved the employee safety issue, we began to adapt and rebuild internal processes. We used to release an average of 5-10 infographics a month but started preparing five infographics a day, and this required flexibility, working in new formats and understanding how to work from abroad, from the basement, in a city surrounded by enemy troops or without electricity.

The first infographic by UA War Infographics is about Russian losses. The Russians insisted that the offensive was advancing quickly and without losses.

19 million views of the infographic — like half the population of Ukraine! 

From the first day of the invasion, all commercial projects stopped, and we focused on keeping the team, being active in the information space, showing that Top Lead works when other agencies close down — with the help of UA War Infographics and other projects. 

Thanks to our courage, perseverance, and readiness for change, commercial clients started coming back to us within six months. 

For the energy company Yasno, we prepared a very successful special project: a series of infographics that described the difficulties faced by employees of energy companies due to the shelling of energy infrastructure. The project received almost 19 million views! And it successfully helped reduce the workload on the company's call center. It also helped repel fakes Russia launched about Ukraine exporting electricity during the blackout.

Infographic for Yasno: how many electrical appliances need to be turned off for one hour to cover the electricity shortage in Kyiv.

Two-time finalists in the Visual Storytelling — Best Infographic Series nomination

The first project to become a finalist is the already mentioned UA War Infographics channel

When we launched UA War Infographics, we had no idea that we were launching the most popular (and still the only!) media in Ukraine entirely in infographics, with a maximum audience reach of 30 million views per month (the population of Ukraine before the full-scale invasion was 40 million). A media that became a source of content for the largest media in Ukraine and for media in other countries — we helped journalists understand what was happening in our country.

Over time, we have expanded the list of topics to provide Ukrainians with information not only about the war but also about everything essential to understand when living in a country at war: how business is doing, what is happening to the economy, what the next year will be like, why it is so important to start exporting grain, what Europeans think about Ukraine's accession to the EU, and how they are helping us fight.

Link to UA War Infographics in Telegram

Link to the pdf with UA War Infographics case study

The second project is Do IT like Ukraine, a study on the state of the IT industry 

We did it together with the IT Ukraine Association. The research helped solve several industry problems: simplify IT specialists' travel abroad, create a booking mechanism, and simplify currency regulations.

Download Do IT like Ukraine

We have overcome challenges and are developing our business

In 2023, Top Lead emerged from the crisis and is developing. We have clients both in Ukraine and abroad. We continue to work on UA War Infographics and try to make it a profitable media. We prepare infographic studies, in particular, we have recently released a study on the impact of the war on the ecosystem of Ukraine, and we are currently working on a study on the agribusiness of Ukraine. We are developing video content for one of our media, Aggeek, which reports about technology and finance in agribusiness, and launching conferences for clients.

Do you want your project to win an Oscar in content marketing?

Do you want your project to be made by one of the best content agencies in the world? Or a project that has the potential to win a Content Marketing Award? Write to marina.budnik@toplead.com.ua, and we will think about how we can help you solve your problems.