Description
Goals:
1) Transform the real estate user experience by making the home search process more transparent and informative.
2) Help people make conscious, well-informed decisions when buying a property.
Objectives:
1) Launch a new section on Avito Real Estate with user reviews for residential buildings — setting a precedent for the entire industry.
2) Support the launch with a project that encourages users to spend more time on property listings and engage with the review functionality.
3) Integrate helpful additional content and tools into the Avito Real Estate platform.
Ideas and Solutions:
Today, we’re used to reading reviews about everything — from coffee to cars. But in real estate, genuine feedback from residents is rare. Among major platforms, only one relatively small player had ever tried implementing reviews for buildings.
As one of the market leaders, Avito Real Estate decided to change the landscape and introduced a review feature for residential buildings. To draw attention to this new functionality, we launched a special project dedicated to the most iconic and widespread housing format in Russia — standardized Soviet-era apartment blocks.
Instead of the usual condescending “panelka” narrative, we reintroduced these buildings as a symbol of accessible comfort and architectural revolution, which provided millions of families with a roof over their heads.
In collaboration with the Moscow Through the Eyes of an Engineer project, we created "Our Walls" — a cultural and historical experience fully integrated into the Avito Real Estate product.
We collected and curated detailed information about Moscow’s typical housing series — from their design history and architectural features to layout pros and cons — and turned it into an intuitive series of building profile cards.
Research Foundation:
Selected 20 of the most popular housing series in Moscow (from a pool of 50, based on sales statistics).
Grouped them into 6 “families” — from Stalinist buildings to modern residential complexes.
Developed expert descriptions covering design history, engineering solutions, construction materials, layout evolution, and everyday living features.
Based our work on authoritative sources: academic papers by architectural historians, construction catalogues, building codes, ethnographic studies, and archival photos and blueprints.
Creative Execution:
Designed an interactive landing page with intuitive navigation by era and building series.
Created original editorial content blending expertise with engaging, story-driven narratives.
Curated a unique visual archive: historical and modern photographs, architectural plans, and schematic diagrams.
Launched a user-generated storytelling contest, encouraging people to share personal memories of life in typical buildings — winners received a guided architectural tour and access to an exclusive online lecture.
The Key Feature: Native Product Integration
The main functional breakthrough of the "Our Walls" project was its full integration into the Avito Real Estate platform.
Each housing series card and corresponding user reviews became a seamless part of the user journey. This enhanced transparency, strengthened trust in the platform, and reframed public perception of standard housing.
Results:
100+ million impressions within the platform.
48 organic mentions in Telegram channels — combined with paid media, generated a total reach of 4.3 million.
150,000 visits to the project landing page, 10% of which clicked through to real estate listings on Avito.
+126% growth in views for listings with building reviews and +10% increase in conversion to contacting sellers.
The housing series card functionality became a permanent feature of the Avito Real Estate platform.
Cultural Impact:
"Our Walls" took aim at shifting public attitudes toward mass-market housing — highlighting their emotional significance and architectural heritage status.
The project united personal memories, historical depth, and a modern digital service — turning the housing search into a thoughtful, emotionally resonant experience.
Credits
Creative Agency
Anastasia Zaramenskaya – Creative Director
Andrey Stifeev – Creative Director
Anna Topkova – Strategy Director
Alina Bulankina – Project Manager
Zhenya Gura – Client Service Director
Katya Rumyantseva – Senior Account Manager
Yana Sizova – Group Account Director
MGI (Moscow Through the Eyes of an Engineer Creative Bureau)
Natalia Kozlova – Special Projects Producer
Viktoria Uspenskaya – Cultural Expert, Architectural Historian, Tour Guide & Lecturer
Dmitry Kotov – Art Historian, Architecture Theorist & Tour Guide
Ekaterina Lukyanitsa – PR Manager
Varvara Lyubova – Creative Director
Grigory Stalkov – Executive Director
Avito
Avito Real Estate Product Marketing Team
Maria Belousova – Head of Residential Real Estate Marketing (Private Users)
Oksana Prokopenko – Senior Product Marketing Manager, Real Estate
Leila Minullina – Head of Content, Real Estate
Avito Real Estate Marketing Communications Team
Svetlana Atueva – Head of Marketing Communications, Brand & Creative, Real Estate
Dmitry Povetkin – Head of Marketing Communications Group, Real Estate
Aleksei Rybalkin – Creative Group Lead
Olga Gusarova – Lead Copywriter
Polina Stetsenko – Senior Brand & Marketing Communications Manager
Sofya Tikhon – Brand & Marketing Communications Manager
Avito Real Estate Product Team
Irina Varenik – Head of Buyer Product
Daria Chigrinskaya – Lead Product Manager
Pavel Samsonov – Product Development Team Lead
Alesya Trunova – Product Designer
Valeria Zhidkikh – Senior Product Editor
Nikita Gordienko – Product Analyst
Red Collar
Sofya Lobanova – Account Manager
Anastasia Bredikhina – Project Manager
Anna Safonova – Art Director
Lera Yurshina – Lead UX/UI Designer
Kseniya Dudenkova – UX/UI Designer
Mikhail Popov – Head of Creative Frontend
Ilya Besprozvannykh – Frontend Developer
Vladimir Akinin – Content Manager
Polkaburo
Ekaterina Urazova
Polina Shevtsova