There are over 4 million Ukrainians living under temporary protection in the EU. Having fled war in their country and rebuilding a life here, they face a critical obstacle: a lack of knowledge about their EU rights, as residents and consumers. A wide-reaching campaign helped equip them with knowledge to assert their consumer rights with confidence.

As residents under Temporary Protection Status, displaced Ukrainians are protected by EU consumer protection law. This set of rules keeps dangerous products off the market and makes sure we are treated fairly when using goods and services in the EU.

From opening a bank account and signing a mobile contract to taking out car insurance or buying household goods: when starting over in a new country, knowing these rights can make a huge difference.

On behalf of our client, the European Commission’s DG Justice and Consumers, Tipik delivered a campaign helping displaced Ukrainians to make full use of their consumer rights. We reached out to the displaced with handy information on what EU consumer rights are and connected them with local organisations for help to claim these rights.

The campaign was rolled out in six host countries: Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain. It won Silver at the Digital Communication Awards 2024 in the category ‘Campaign from Associations & Institutions’.

Deep understanding

To gain insights into the realities displaced Ukrainians are facing, we commissioned a study to gather first-hand knowledge on their experiences: what challenges and hurdles do they face? What services do they use? What are their preferred platforms to stay informed?

A pre-campaign event in Brussels (29-30 June 2023) brought together consumer organisations, support groups and the community to foster collaboration and help us refine our approach.

We teamed up with seven major consumer organisations across host countries to relay the campaign’s messages locally, using their well-established networks.

This crucial groundwork ultimately helped us reach our audience through the right partners and channels with relevant, impactful messages.

Close to home

What made the campaign stand out was its innovative take on how to effectively reach its audience. We decided to go local with partners who could disseminate the messages where they would be heard and provided them with a state-of-the art communication toolkit bringing the message to those it would benefit, in their language.

In practice, this is what we developed:

• A partnership with local consumer associations to finance activities on the ground
• A social media campaign combining paid and organic promotion and digital advertising via selected channels (including Meta, Google and Outbrain)
• Branded content highlighting six key EU consumer rights, including 3 promotional videos as well as visuals and copy
• Comprehensive landing pages on the websites of consumer organisations

Materials were provided in Ukrainian and English and could be adapted by our partners to fit their needs – for instance by creating their own videos or producing claim letter templates.

Messages that resonate

The results show that our approach proved highly effective in getting this essential information across. We reached more than 1.15 million users on both Meta and Google and achieved a total of 2.25 million video views on these platforms. We tracked 790 265 clicks redirecting to the partners’ websites. Our partners distributed an estimated 115 000 printed materials using their networks.

As the Ukrainians’ plight continues, our campaign remains highly relevant today. Materials developed are still available on our partners’ websites where they continue to make new starts in the EU a little easier.

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