The poster with the message “Just a bystander? Might as well be an abuser”, developed by the agency Señor and designed for Brave Phone (Hrabri telefon), was named the best in two categories at the selection of the best designed OUTWARD posters: in addition to the audience award, it won the first prize of the expert jury in the billboard poster category. The results were announced on Thursday, 1 December at the awards ceremony in the packed hall of the Music Academy in Zagreb. The award for the best designed posters was initiated 16 years ago by the agency outdoor akzent, one of the largest national providers of outdoor advertising services in Croatia, celebrating 20 years in business this year.
According to Gabriela Klarić, the company’s CEO, at the time the award was initiated, the goal was to encourage excellence and creativity in outdoor advertising. The fact that the first prize was awarded to the same poster by both the jury and the audience is the best confirmation that OUTWARD has achieved its goal. A total of 52 posters were in the running, after adorning official outdoor ad space throughout Croatia, in the period from January 2014 to September 2016.
– The jury was faced with a very interesting task this year, because of the way the posters of some agencies fit into the whole campaign, it is no longer just a poster, it is also connected to digital media, which shows how a billboard can be a great basis for a complete story that also enables communication with users. It has also become clear that posters can very successfully keep the younger population engaged. Particularly interesting are the posters that use specific media to further attract attention – said designer Izvorka Jurić, chair of the jury at the 16th OUTWARD. One example of this is the award-winning poster from the “Just a bystander? Might as well be an abuser” campaign, which aimed to warn us not to stay silent if we notice abuse. It had a built-in motion sensor and turned on the poster lights in front of each passer-by. Most of the passers-by paused and took a good look at the message.
– We are very happy about the award and we know that the number of clicks and votes that our poster received is important. However, if even one person saw the poster and decided to do something to fight abuse because of it, then we have truly achieved our goal – said Anamaria Vujić, programme coordinator of Brave Phone.
The second place awarded by the jury was the billboard “Thin Japanese Tablets”, which was also developed by the agency Señor for Toshiba. The third place award went to the billboard poster “McDonald’s Croatia – 20 years”, developed by the agency INNOVO DDB d.o.o. McDonald’s Marketing Director Ivana Šapina candidly said that the award-winning ad was not her first choice, but that trust in the agency paid off manifold in the end.
The poster “Glow in the Dark – HEP”, developed by the agency McCann Zagreb / Fahrenheit, received the top award in the megaboard category. The Director of the Market and Marketing Strategy Sector of HEP, Vlatka Kamenić Jagodić, stressed that HEP was satisfied because it had achieved its goal. – We wanted to highlight the advantages of HEP and emphasise the fact that our employees are always in the field for our customers – she said.
The best among the city light posters was from the campaign of the Istrian National Theatre called “Theatre for Later”, by the Studio Sonda agency. The director of the theatre, Gordana Jeromela Kaić, pointed out that the award was given to a poster which is also a message that arrives on the screen via a smartphone.
– We wanted to attract theatre-goers, but also to enable the gifting of purchased tickets in an interesting way. We have come to the point where grandchildren buy their grandmothers a ticket for the theatre or the whole class for their teachers and we are delighted because we have increased sales with the campaign – said the director, thanking the agency.
In the category ‘Best use of outdoor media’, the award was given to the project “Say It Loud and Clear” developed by the agency Señor for the client outdoor akzent. With this project, outdoor akzent marked 20 years of business with the aim of showing how posters can be a great basis for an interactive multimedia campaign.
The project ran in three stages, starting with the public being able to suggest and vote for posters via the internet. Then, 150 such messages ended up on posters all over Croatia. In just three weeks of the campaign, recitoglasno.com had over 300,000 unique visits from more than 140 countries, more than 10,000 billboards were created, earning almost a million votes from voters, with an incredible 7.2 million clicks. On behalf of outdoor akzent, Sales Director Krešimir Brlić expressed gratitude for the award, thanking the agency Señor for the great idea and production.
Media sponsors of the 16th Outward are Večernji list, T portal, 24 sata and Poslovni dnevnik. Vector design print sponsored the awards ceremony with the band Detour providing the evening’s entertainment.