http://karenina.withgoogle.com

Google Russia wanted to demonstrate that it does more than simply understand local culture – it actively contributes to it. So we dreamt up a project that took one of the most cherished Russian literary masterpieces of all time and reintroduced it to a modern audience using Google technology.

Together with Google we created a brand new edition of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece “Anna Karenina” using Google’s exclusive Hangout technology. An online version, narrated live from front cover to back cover by the Russian people.

More than 700 people from all over the world read Leo Tolstoy’s novel on-line on the Internet for 36 hours in a row…

It was an extraordinary event – a relay-race of storytelling, that unified the most disparate people through one extraordinary story: from the Russian President’s Press Secretary to opposition bloggers; from TV stars in Moscow to everyday workers in Russia’s remotest regions.

Here are some results:

• Unprecedented PR Coverage in Russia – 5.4b of impressions (900+ articles in online and offline media, 55 radio spots and 78 TV spots). 6 prime time newsblocks about the project on the biggest Russian channel – First Channel, that covers 90% of population in Russia.
• 6M views of promo video
• 3M playbacks of livestream
• 20 000 followers and 4 mln impressions on Google+ page
• 4x surge in “Karenina” search queries during 2-day livestream