Balticbest 2026 — CONTENT/COMMUNICATIONS: PUBLIC INTEREST COMMUNICATIONS

Gold

The Foundation of Cyber Excellence

Entrant: Magic
Country: Latvia
Brand: The National Cybersecurity Centre
Advertiser: Ministry of Defence of Latvia, CERT.LV

Cybercrime has become one of the fastest-growing threats in Latvia. Despite constant warnings from businesses and government institutions, society has not become vigilant enough.

To break through the noise, the campaign used an unexpected cultural reference.

The National Cybersecurity Centre of Latvia recruited the country’s most famous fictional scammers to help residents protect themselves - the characters from the cult comedy The Foundation of Criminal Excellence. Once a beloved film about scam artists, it suddenly felt perfectly suited to today’s reality.

The film’s original cast and style returned on screen and beyond - this time as The Foundation of Cyber Excellence, exposing modern scam tactics and becoming the most unlikely educators on cybercrime.

The campaign launched with a public installation: a physical pile of cash representing the millions of euros lost to scams. The installation visually revealed how the money had been stolen through different fraud schemes.

An online mini-series followed, featuring the film’s characters exposing common scam tactics such as romance scams, fake investment platforms, and impersonation schemes.

The characters appeared across mult...

Case film

Silver

The Pink Oath

Entrant: McCann Riga
Country: Latvia
Brand: Pink Train Foundation
Advertiser: Pink Train Foundation

Once intentions are stated publicly, people are 30% more likely to follow through. And one of the most powerful ways to put intentions into words is an oath. The fundamental oath in medicine is the Hippocratic Oath: a pledge to do good, avoid harm, and treat every patient as you'd want to be treated yourself. But doctors can't help patients who don't show up. To bridge this gap, we encouraged women to take the Pink Oath to make their breast health a priority — the first pledge for women to put themselves first. The campaign was designed as a digital-first ecosystem, where every touchpoint drove participation and sharing. To scale engagement, influential Latvian women (from politicians to media personalities) shared personalized oath videos across social platforms, adapting the message to their audiences and professions. This triggered a wave of user-generated content, as women created and posted their own Pink Oaths. Digital momentum was amplified through PR and extended into real-world touchpoints, including clinics and partner platforms. A mobile mammogram, promoted through digital channels, enabled women to act on their pledges, connecting online commitment with offline behavior...

Campaign Case Film

Silver

Failing at the Finish

Entrant: McCann Riga
Country: Latvia
Brand: Iespējamā misija / Mission Possible
Advertiser: Iespējamā misija / Mission Possible

In Latvia, the fact that 1 in 5 children fail to graduate didn't shock the public, because you can't feel a statistic. Or can you? To mobilize a new generation of teachers, we transformed an invisible system failure into a collective moment of pain. For one month, popular singer Fiņķis documented his first marathon journey. People followed, cheered him on, and saw his struggles. On marathon day, he seemed ready. He ran 42 kilometres, closely watched by fans and the media. Just before the finish line… he stopped. Fiņķis sacrificed his first marathon time to show that 1 in 5 children will not finish their own personal school marathon. The video and PR message blew up on social media and in the news. As a result, Mission Possible hit a new record for school teacher applications from the public.

Case Study Film

Silver

Escape from Hell

Entrant: McCann Riga
Country: Latvia
Brand: Uzņēmēji mieram / Entrepreneurs for Peace
Advertiser: Uzņēmēji mieram / Entrepreneurs for Peace

The war in Ukraine is no longer news. People have seen it every day for years and stopped feeling it. Donations are falling. But on the front line, every day is still hell. Every day, hundreds of defenders lie wounded on the frontline - too exposed to rescue without a specific equipment that is critically lacking. To reignite donations, simply reminding people about the war was no longer enough. We needed to reach them on an emotional level and make them care again. People are moved by things that resonate with their deepest memories for example - songs. For half a century, song 'Take me away' to every Latvian has been a lovesong.
We ompletely shifted it's meaning by asking Ivan, a recovering Ukrainian defender, to relive the worst moment of his life on camera. Lying wounded in the mud, alone and under fire, he sang the same "Take me away" words that now meant something completely different - take me away from hell. Save me.

Case Study Film

TVC

Bronze

Teacher

Entrant: Not Perfect Vilnius
Country: Lithuania
Brand: Renkuosi mokyti (Choosing to teach) program
Advertiser: "Mokyklų tobulinimo centras“ (Center for School Improvement)

The campaign challenges people to become teachers by confronting a simple truth: a teacher's chair is never empty for long. If you don't take it, someone else will — and that person may shape your child with the wrong habits and values instead of the right ones.

Renkuosi mokyti

Shortlist

SPEAK UP IF YOU DON'T FEEL SAFE

Entrant: Guilty Ogilvy
Country: Latvia
Brand: The Latvian State Roads
Advertiser: The Latvian State Roads

Passengers has no steering wheel. No pedals. No brakes. The only tool they have is their voice. For too long it has gone unused. Our campaign with Latvian State Roads shifted the road safety conversation from drivers to passengers, turning the passive role into an active act of care: speaking up isn’t interference, it’s responsibility. To help reduce aggressive driving, a campaign was developed together with three University of Latvia professors as experts and opinion leaders. It launched with a PR event, expanded through media activities, and a long form video podcast hosted by journalist and road safety expert Pauls Timrots.

SpeakUp_case_study_video

Shortlist

Smelly vote

Entrant: Not Perfect Vilnius
Country: Lithuania
Brand: Baltosios pirštinės (White gloves)
Advertiser: Civic initiative "The White Gloves"

In Lithuania, only 1 in 4 people trust their Parliament. 993 election violations in the last cycle alone. Not one political institution trusted more than it is distrusted. Not one.
Everyone felt it. Nobody said it. Until now.
White Gloves (Baltosios Pirštinės) is Lithuania's independent election observation organisation. They had the data. They had 303 observers at every polling station. But data wasn't moving people anymore. So they made a film. With a very special character.
A piece of shit buys a vote. Enters parliament. Takes his seat in the hall where Lithuanian independence was declared. Spots the fan. And hits it — deliberately, gleefully — splattering the constitution and coats of arms on the way down.
The character wasn't invented. Every democracy has produced him. Lithuanians recognised him immediately. So did everyone else.

Smelly vote