Open Competition for Effie Awards

The second Effie Awards ceremony for the most effective marketing campaigns in Croatia will take place as part of the accompanying professional conference on October 21 and 22 this year, and applications for participation in the competition for these awards are accepted until August 13, announced today at a press conference by the organizers, the association of market communication agencies HURA and the company Best Marketing Croatia.

Despite an even greater reduction in this year’s budget for marketing campaigns compared to last year, when it was already down by about 25 percent from 2008, HURA Management Board member Damir Ciglar believes in a good response to this competition, considering that due to this reduction, the effectiveness of campaigns is needed more than ever. He called on all, as he said, creative and smart individuals to apply for this competition, as the Effie awards, which have been awarded under the same international license since 1968 and today in 40 countries around the world, mean a lot to the profession. Therefore, both the conference and the Effie Awards ceremony this year will be held under the motto “Effiekasnost is a combination of a good idea and a smart strategy.”

The chairwoman of this year’s 30-member jury, the director of marketing communications at Hrvatski Telekom (HT), Vedrana Hercigonja Majetić, stated that this year they expect more than last year’s 50 registered marketing campaigns, which were created/implemented in the period from January 1, 2009, to March 31 of this year. Emphasizing that the best and most effective marketing campaigns are not necessarily those that have the highest expenditure, she added that, for example, very effective can be internet campaigns, but they are still rare in Croatia, so last year there were none registered for the competition. As part of the accompanying two-day Effie conference, the best Croatian works nominated for the Effie awards, as well as the most effective campaigns from around the world, will be presented.  (H)