The telecom market has long been divided among a few major brands, and customers rarely switch operators. Only 8% of Russians consider doing so. This means that even a small change in brand choice and perception is an important result (Brand Pulse, 2025). Younger people are more open to switching operators, so they are especially important to every company in the category. To build a long-term relationship with them, Beeline chose gaming: today, one in three Russians aged 25–45 plays games every week (Brand Pulse, 2025). At the same time, gaming is a separate culture with its own platforms, celebrities, language and rules. Gamers quickly notice when a brand feels fake. So it is not enough for a brand to simply appear in a game or during a stream. It must understand the problems within the community and speak to gamers as equals.
Problem
In the toxic gaming community, almost anything personal can become a reason for mockery. Love is an even easier target. Gamer couples often hide their relationships because they fear that others will stop taking them seriously as competitors. Beeline saw love not as a weakness, but as an advantage in the game. Trust, understanding and support make partners a stronger team. It was important for us to turn this insight into a campaign mechanic that would involve gamers, naturally show the benefits of Beeline’s products and influence their choice of mobile operator. The project aimed to make more people consider Beeline and strengthen the brand’s image as sincere, progressive and relevant to young people.
Solution
We created LOVE CUP, the first-ever Counter-Strike 2 tournament for couples, where they could show their skills and change how the gaming community saw them. Qualifying matches, a live final on Twitch and professional commentators made LOVE CUP a real esports event. Custom maps and challenges based on trust, communication and teamwork helped couples show their main advantage: the closer the partners were, the better they played together. The brand was deeply integrated into the tournament mechanics. In Season 1, a special mode let each couple control one character and share playing time, just as Beeline customers share minutes and gigabytes with the “Share Everything” service. The audience’s interest in Season 1 showed the project’s potential. So in Season 2, we promoted it more widely and invited well-known hosts: popular streamer Dima Lixxx and comedian Olga Parfenyuk, the host of one of Russia’s most popular dating shows. This helped us keep the trust of the gaming audience while making the tournament interesting to a wider group of viewers. In Season 2, the custom challenges strengthened the bond between partners and showed how a Beeline product helps people stay connected with loved ones even when their mobile account balance goes below zero. Viewers learned the participants’ stories through video introductions and live conversations. They voted to influence the matches, played mini-games and could find a date through a special activity during the stream. Announcements on gaming websites, in gaming communities and on streamers’ social media attracted participants and viewers. The final was streamed on the hosts’ Twitch channels and also shown on the project landing page and the commentators’ channels. This allowed the audience to join the tournament from different platforms.
Results
The number of couples grew more than six times: from 48 in Season 1 to 337 in Season 2. Over two seasons, LOVE CUP achieved: 67.5 million impressions; 31.5 million people reached; 200,000 visits to the landing page; 500,000 positive reactions. At its peak, the live stream of the final ranked #1 in the Counter-Strike 2 category and #3 among all Russian streams on Twitch. More than 70% of the viewers we asked liked the advertising format and said it made them trust the brand. The project strengthened Beeline’s image: “sincere” +16 percentage points, “progressive” +11 percentage points, and “for young people” +13 percentage points. The share of tournament viewers considering Beeline grew by 18 percentage points in Season 1 and 33 percentage points in Season 2. In a market where only 8% of people consider switching mobile operators and the decision takes time, this result is already a strong sign that viewers may choose Beeline in the future: the campaign’s impact went beyond reach and reactions, and they became ready to consider the brand.
