Putting the people behind small business on the map
My role
I initiated the project and pitched it to the MTS board, which funded it. It was part of the SMB department I led.
My team
First, the MTS Your Business team. Then a dedicated team of 19 people.
The problem
In April 2020 the lockdown closed the doors of small businesses across Russia. Many kept working in new ways, but their neighbours did not know who was still open or how to buy from them.
Our challenge was to tell as many people as possible which small businesses they could support during COVID: by ordering delivery or buying a certificate to use later.
The idea
We set out to remind people who was right next to them: the cafés, shops and workshops they used to buy from before COVID and might want to support now. We put them all on one map, with the ways each of them was still working.
We called it Knowing in Person and launched it in April 2020 as an emergency response.
When the lockdown began, we gave the marketing budget of the MTS Your Business storefront to entrepreneurs as grants. They spent them on ads with our tools to tell their customers how they were still working.
Read the MTS Your Business case →
The first 2.5 months
The map went live in April 2020 and ran through the first lockdown in 38 cities. At its peak, 136 businesses applied in a single day.
- 2,786
- businesses applied
to join the map - 52,868
- unique visitors
came to the site
What is next?
The lockdown ended, but the need did not. Local businesses still had no way to be seen next to the big chains.
We kept the map after the lockdown and built a permanent media platform around it.
What we built
Knowing in Person grew from a map into a media platform for small business. Its aim was to change how people in Russia see entrepreneurs, by showing the faces and stories behind the cafés, workshops and shops that make a neighbourhood.
The map helped people find these businesses. City magazines, video stories and a community of owners gave them a voice.
City magazines
Four cities got their own Instagram magazines with stories about local entrepreneurs. Their engagement rate was between 11% and 32%.
A community for entrepreneurs
Business owners on the map joined an invite-only Telegram community to share advice and support each other.
Video portraits
We filmed short documentaries in which entrepreneurs talked about their business and why they decided to start it. Then we promoted the videos on YouTube.
Stickers on the door
To take the online project offline, we sent about 1,700 stickers to businesses on the map. Owners put them on their doors and windows with pride, to show they were part of the project.
Results
- 4,176
- businesses received
the project’s support - 6M+
- reach across the project’s
communication channelsreach across
our channels - 11–32%
- engagement rate
of our content
Recognition
Awards
Knowing in Person won the Runet Prize 2021, Russia’s national internet industry award. It also won the Fundament Award for supporting small business during the pandemic.
The project was also shortlisted for the European Excellence Awards.
Press and talks
The project was covered by TASS, RBC Style, Meduza and Rusbase. I spoke about it at Impact Hub, WASTECONF and other industry events.
Takeouts
The pandemic taught us that a plan is only a starting point. When the lockdown came, we set ours aside and launched a large new project in two weeks. Being able to move fast when the world shifts proved worth more than any roadmap.
We also learned that loyalty is earned in hard times. When our customers were struggling, we stood by them, and they remembered it long after the lockdown ended.
