The “Unforgettable Tastes of Serbia” campaign — The Red Thread, created and realized by McCann Beograd and UM Beograd for The Coca-Cola Company was nabbed the Best project at the BalCannes held during the Weekend Media Festival in Rovinj. The jury, made up of 25 experts (advertisers, agencies and journalists) from the entire region, named The Red Thread the best of all the projects.
Sonja Džuklevski, UM Beograd and Vladimir Ćosić, McCann Beograd
Coca-Cola, a brand whose logo is known worldwide showed with this campaign that a great brand also means recognizing true cultural and local values.
„We are very proud of this award because only the best projects from the region get to compete at the BelCannes. What makes our pleasure even bigger is that the respected jury recognized the significance and worth of our project, which combines a globally renowned brand and our tradition. I will allow myself to speak for all of us which were involved in the realization of the project and say that it has fascinated us from the very beginning and that it holds a very special place in our hearts” says Ana Jeličić, Senior Brand Manager Sparkling Beverages The Coca-Cola Company.
“The campaign in which a global brand communicates with is target audience by using specific handiwork, which is a part of a cultural heritage, just goes to show the depth of understanding and respect for the values of the local community, as well as the desire to fit into them and not change them with its presence. Even though that is a natural occurrence in life, in advertising is very rare and seems like a combination of something incompatible” says Jelena Lešević, Account Director from McCann Beograd.
This campaign is an excellent example of how media can be used in an innovative and unconventional way, which is at the same time creative and well-thought-out by using a conventional channel, like a billboard, with a nonstandard format of a knitted, woven, embroidered and crocheted billboard.
„It is extremely important for brands to recognize the significance of local culture and in a certain way to contribute to the popularization of tradition. This campaign is special because it showed that it is possible to successfully combine traditional and contemporary. Also, this award showcased once again the power of people, the close partnerships between the two agencies, UM Beograd and McCann Beograd“ says Dubravka Urošević, Regional Account Director of UM Beograd.
The organizers of BalCannes are HURA (The Croatian Association of Communications Agencies) and the Weekend Media Festival.