The reality show that transformed business
Once, we went to great lengths to understand how users live, demonstrating that we are on their side
Briefly about the results
We launched a cross-platform project for the company Evotor, a developer of online cash registers and B2B SaaS services
680, 000 plays
for the first year, with an additional
3, 000, 000 in subsequent years.
For comparison, the podcast audience in the country stands at 10, 000, 000 people
25% of estimated market size
A total of 302, 000 devices were sold in a year, although the commercial goal was to sell 250, 000 devices — 25% of the estimated market size.

During the two peak months, Evotor led the market in sales
#2 by top-of-mind awareness
Spontaneous brand awareness more than doubled, reaching 25%; knowledge with a hint hit 61%. Brand Knowledge Metrics indicate the fastest growth in the market
Objective 1: Earn Trust
Picture this: a cash register reform is happening in the country. SMEs are required to install online cash registers.

However, among small entrepreneurs, the law elicits mixed reactions:
  • yes, online reporting is more convenient than queuing at departments
  • but retrofitting retail outlets incurs additional costs - both monetary and time.
During customer research, entrepreneurs stated, "They devise new rules, but they themselves have no idea how a real business operates!"

So the first task of our content project was to inspire trust: to demonstrate that we understand the intricacies of small businesses and always stand by entrepreneurs.
Objective 2: Educate
The second challenge was the low technological and financial literacy of SMEs. Before the reform, many merchants manually kept records in notebooks, while others used cash registers but did not utilize any business optimization tools. The penetration of SaaS services in SMEs is low, demonstrating a lack of need and intention to purchase.

Unlike other players, Evotor business model was built not so much on the sale of devices but on further monetization through B2B services (inventory management, accounting, payments, etc.) Thus, the success of the business directly depended on whether we were able to educate and board the crowd of SMEs.
Objective 3: Outperform the competition.
Evotor wasn't the only one to recognize this market's potential. A year after the reform began, they found themselves competing not only with other smart terminals but also with fundamentally different solution categories, such as autonomous cash registers that did not offer SaaS services for SMEs, like Evotor did. It wasn't just OCR market players, but also banks, telecoms, etc., that were reaching out to SMEs.

In marketing terms, the task was to reach the top of mind.

“
So the task was to cut through the advertising clutter, ensure a high level of brand trust, and promote the meaningful use of technology for business.
Solution: create a reality show
about how an Evotor employee starts her first business.

That's it: we initiated a business to comprehend the process and show customers that we are on their side.We developed a reality show based on these business adventures.

How we did it
The main character launched her first business, the Brewed coffee shop, and worked in it like all entrepreneurs, with one exception - she always kept the recorder on.

She recorded conversations with suppliers and employees, the hum of a coffee grinder, and the rustle of cash - all elements of daily business life. She would then relay the business events of the past two weeks to the podcast writers. The storytellers and editors would then weave together a coherent narrative from all those stories and recordings, resulting in a narrative reality show.
The main feature is sincerity
During our customer research, we discovered that small entrepreneurs often lack genuine content. When they read Forbes profiles, they perceive them as incredibly successful, almost flawless. Even when these successful figures discuss past mistakes, they often seem like distant memories that provoke nothing more than a nostalgic smile.

When an entrepreneur puts down Forbes and starts examining his colleagues' ventures, they all seem flawless, because from the outside, only the facade is visible.

For instance, here's how our coffee shop looked like:

It's perfect, isn't it?


In reality, this stand is held together by double-sided tape. The delivery of croissants that day was late for the morning rush, leading to most of them being written off by evening. With a cash shortage, the balance sheet was nearly empty, and payday for the employees was just a couple of days away.

The behind-the-scenes of such a coffee shop looks something like this:

Still enjoyable, but not quite as perfect.

We discussed everything on the podcast: difficult decisions, offensive mistakes, and doubts about ourselves and our business. However, we focused even more on joy, hope, and the tireless spirit of entrepreneurship.

Thus, our podcast evolved into a textbook, a favorite show, and a close friend for listeners. The reviews confirm this:

  • This is incredibly interesting 😍

    For someone like me, who knows nothing about the complexities of business but really wants to understand, this series will be extremely helpful. I never imagined that a story about business could be so engaging! I hope everything turns out well for Sasha; please release podcasts more frequently 😉 You're doing an amazing job!

    Lera_1

  • It's been nearly a year since I started working on my "Coffee to Go" project. In this time, I've considered giving up multiple times and am currently entertaining the same thoughts. I simply can't bounce back from January. Moreover, I'm incredibly exhausted. Exhausted from everything. From failures, from interruptions, and from questions like "So, how many outlets have you opened?" But Sasha's stories have inspired me to persevere and to keep trying...

    barastauntd
  • The real experience of opening and managing a coffee shop. Something you can't glean from polished articles about success
    Konstaqntin Konstantinopolsky
  • There's truly a shortage of such genuine projects now, where there's no superficiality or beautiful, meaningless images, but everything is authentic. Love it!
    Egor Redler
Sergei Andriiashkin
CMO of Evotor, Project Manager on the client side.
Unlike large businesses, where brand-client interaction is often obscured by business functions and processes, the brand-client relationships in SMEs resemble those in B2C, featuring personalization and a mix of rational and emotional elements.

So we already knew that content is a key element of B2B/B2C strategies, which simplifies the explanation of complex concepts and helps achieve the necessary number of brand-user interactions. For instance, approximately 15 contacts are required to sell SaaS in B2B.

The primary issue - distrust in content - stems from skepticism about the author's fairness and competence. Readers don't believe that a hired author truly grasps the nuances of business. This distrust in the content negatively impacts the brand image.

That's why we chose this project
  • 15
    contacts are required to sell SaaS in B2B

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Our second secret is drama
After our project launched, dozens of imitators appeared on the market - and we were delighted about that. The more true stories small businesses share, the better, right? However, we tried to warn everyone who attempted to replicate our success: it is not as easy as it seems from the outside.

Listeners perceive the story as "just an honest story about the amazing adventures of an entrepreneur." However, to make such a story interesting to listen to, screenwriters, storytellers, and editors must work on it. They build a hero's arc from field materials, change the charge of values, work out the rhythm - in general, they perform all the magic that we discuss in our consultations and on the blog.

Here, for example, is what a draft script for the season looks like:

The listeners don’t know how much effort goes into organizing all this behind the scenes (and let's keep it that way, it's our little secret), but what they see is a story that resonates with them on a deep, emotional level:

  • Exciting! Sometimes I yell to myself, "Sanya, think, we're going to lose everything; we'll become homeless or die!"

    ivannamvan

  • Very cool!

    I listened to it like a blockbuster! I experienced, lived, and learned myself.

    Bom_Amigo
  • Cool!

    I listened to 5 episodes almost in one sitting :) amazing 🔥 very cool! The only business story that I find interesting and pleasant to listen to. I had come across interesting stories before, of course, but they were usually told in a way (language, mannerisms, narrative logic, etc.) that didn't hold my attention for more than 30 minutes. And here it's really nice to listen to :) Success!

    Gorby90
  • Heroes of Our Time

    The podcast is definitely very interesting and exciting. Alexandra herself is not only a girl with a pleasant voice but also a fighter who never gives up, even when she really wants to. Her story is inspiring and terrifying at the same time.

    Karakazyapa Krokodilovna
  • 5
    out of 5 average listener rating based on over 2,500 ratings
  • 89%
    is completion rate
  • 0$
    budget for promotion

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Our third secret is seriality
It was important for us to keep the attention of listeners for at least 15 episodes because, as you know, 15 contacts are required to sell SaaS in B2B. We wanted to provide those contacts through a podcast, so we chose a serial format.

The serial format's power lies in its ability to captivate listeners once they're hooked – they simply can't tear themselves away until they find out what happens next and how it all ends. Our storytellers amplified this effect by crafting ingenious cliffhangers at the end of each episode, making it impossible for the audience to resist tuning in for the next episode.
  • Better than any series, I listened to 5 episodes in one go. What's next? Don't keep us waiting! 😁

    Sasha, good luck. You are so strong ❤️❤️❤️

    One star pitty

  • Wow! I'm truly appreciative of the honest and open way it unfolds! Better than any series! I binged through 7 episodes in just a couple of days because I was very interested to know what went down with Mart and where things stand now.

    Cappuchinka19

  • Very interesting!

    Sasha, Arthur, you are very cool! Thanks for the great podcast! I'm looking forward to the next release as a new series of "Game of Thrones". Good luck with the cafe and more!

    Olga K.

  • Can’t get enough. I listened to the first episode, and now I can't stop listening all day. So far, it's the best podcast I've listened to.👍🏼

    Katerishnaa
$0 budget for promotion
We didn't have to spend money on content promotion for four reasons:
  • Free PR. The media paid attention to reality shows about business - so we got into all the important lists for free, for example, "The best podcasts about business," even in Forbes. Moreover, we usually took first place in these selections.
  • Free featuring. Podcast platforms also paid attention to the unprecedented format and quality - nothing like this had ever occurred in this market, especially in the "Business" category. This is how we received free features on the main pages of all podcast platforms.
  • UGC- content. Listeners created thousands of stories and posts about the new podcast, which significantly impacted our plays.
  • Free media presence. We received several significant awards, including Effie for effective marketing and Digital Awards for the most innovative solution - this increased our media presence and awareness.
So, with the help of media and podcast platforms, and thanks to thousands of stories and posts from our listeners, we became the most popular business podcast in the region without spending a single dollar on promotion.
We received several significant awards,
including Effie for effective marketing
Super-native integrations
Since the character of the podcast really built a business and genuinely used the Evotor POS terminal, she didn't have to fabricate anything or specially record advertising integrations.

For instance, in one of the dramatic moments, she opened her Evotor personal account to check if she managed to surpass the $200 daily revenue mark, whether she had enough money to pay rent, and whether she could get out of the cash crunch.

Evotor remained at the very heart of her business and its story - therefore, the advertising integrations turned out to be sincere, spontaneous, and native.
Cross-platform
We consider podcasts not only as an independent product but also as a material source for related client teams across different platforms. So the podcast "Brewed Business" became the center of a large system:
  • Blog. What the character learned when creating her first business, the client's editors compiled into longreads. For example, how to conduct an ABC analysis of an assortment, calculate сash flow statement and P&L - hardcore business stuff. This is how the client got the online media "Zhiza."
  • Posts and stories. The client's SMM team compiled behind-the-scenes notes into posts and stories;
  • Community. Soon, in addition to the usual SMM channels, the project had a Telegram channel and a community chat for small entrepreneurs;
  • Marketing insights. The marketing team received important insights from this project and the comminuty chat, from the very heart of small businesses.
  • Customer research. Even the product development team received value from this project - detailed feedback and use cases to improve the functionality of the product.
A bit more about the results
We love numbers, so we want to share a few more of those we were able to measure
110,000 plays per month
at its peak – and that's only organic traffic. New listeners are still discovering the podcast several years later
x3 revenue from services
Although the commercial goal was to increase revenue from the penetration of services twofold or more,

we are talking about the B2B services (inventory management, accounting, payments, etc.) that are at the heart of Evotor's business model
#1 association for the desired brand attribute
Evotor leads among competitors in the perception of the characteristic "Helps me manage my business and make decisions" - according to in-depth research

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