The life of our agency has changed a lot since February 24. As well as the life of the whole country. We still remember the message from our COO, Dima Adabir at 7 AM in a Slack chat saying, “Hello, everyone. Everything will be fine. We are strong and we will survive.” And that’s how it goes: despite everything, we try to be brave and strong.
Now, our team is scattered all over Ukraine and Europe. We laugh that we have become a real international agency. Among us, there are those who volunteer, who joined the Armed Forces, who go on humanitarian trips and who even during the war, do not forget to come to the office and water the flowers.
There is also work in bomb shelters, delayed Zoom calls due to air alarms, endless travel to hide from bombing, editing and voiceover of videos in the basement, dozens of chats in Telegram and short meetings just to hug. We are already used to discussing news on weekly Zoom calls and not on our terrace at the office.
During this time we learned a lot about each other: a fearless driver, someone who can find and delivery anything, a skilful net weaver and a soulful poet. Each of us has our own unique story during this time but we are glad that we haven’t lost the spirit, and just like all Ukrainians now we continue fighting and try to be the bravest people.
As our co-founder, Pavel Vrzheshch said, “this DNA we used in our campaign BRAVE UKRAINE (large-scale project focusing on the nation’s bravery launched by the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Government of Ukraine)has maximum efficacy now and in the future. It resonates well, gives us strength and raises morale. We are talking not only about the bravery of military men, but the bravery of ordinary people, of our cities – Ukrainian Bravery.”
Banda is a creative agency working as one studio in Kyiv and Los Angeles. It specialises in creating brands and advertising campaigns. Recipient of multiple Cannes Lions and the Red Dot Design Award, Banda created Ukraine’s largest international marketing campaign “Ukraine NOW”. Launched in 2018, its goal is to create and expand Ukraine’s image worldwide, improve tourism and attract investments to the country.