Balticbest 2026 — PERFORMANCE MARKETING/DIRECT: PROMO AND ACTIVATION

Silver

M1LK

Entrant: Ogilvy Vilnius
Country: Lithuania
Brand: M1
Advertiser: M1

M1 is one of Lithuania’s leading radio stations. But younger audiences are no longer tuning in – especially in the mornings.

M1 needed to prove its relevance in a culture that increasingly ignores audio-first media.

The challenge: how do you reach an audience that doesn’t listen?

We created M1LK – a limited-edition, bright blue milk, coloured with blue spirulina to match M1’s iconic brand colour.

By turning radio into a real product sold in stores, M1LK showed up on supermarket shelves, breakfast tables, and in cafés.

Launched during the back-to-school period – when young people reset their daily routines – the brand re-entered their mornings, driving a +11% increase in daily reach among 16–24-year-olds.

M1LK Case Study

M1LK video

Silver

DIGITAL MUSHROOM HUNT

Entrant: WKND
Country: Latvia
Brand: Tele2
Advertiser: Tele2

STRATEGIC INSIGHT
Tele2 has the widest network coverage in Latvia. Yet many people believe it only works in big cities. And they complain about it online. We could have responded with coverage maps or technical data. But instead, we invited people to test it themselves. In the middle of nowhere. To prove we’re everywhere.

INSIGHT
In Latvia, mushroom picking is a national obsession. Every autumn, thousands leave the cities and head deep into forests and remote areas to search for mushrooms. Places where mobile coverage is supposed to disappear.

IDEA
Introducing the first Digital Mushroom Hunt. An integrated campaign, built around an engaging mobile game powered by Tele2 internet. We divided the map of Latvia into tens of thousands of grid squares. Each one hiding digital mushrooms — redeemable for valuable prizes. To unlock a square, you had to physically go there and use your phone with Tele2 internet.

RESULTS & IMPACT
More than 27,000 people joined the hunt — a big number for a nation not known for jumping in. The most dedicated hunters collected up to 6,000 mushrooms. Together, they uncovered 72% of all mushroom zones — nearly the maximum possible, considering restricted areas...

Case Study

Bronze

How much IKEA in your kitchen

Entrant: MILK
Country: Lithuania
Brand: IKEA
Advertiser: IKEA

IKEA has long been synonymous with kitchen furniture in Lithuania, but furniture is rarely replaced — while smaller kitchen items like cookware, textiles, and accessories are bought frequently, and from anyone. To defend this territory, we turned a simple truth into a game: most people already own dozens of IKEA kitchen items without realizing it. The "Dream Kitchen" campaign invited people to photograph any IKEA item in their kitchen - from a spoon to a cabinet - and upload it to a dedicated site, where an AI model, trained to recognize nearly 2,000 different IKEA products, automatically verified it and issued a game ticket toward a €10,000 worth dream kitchen. The mechanic was deliberately built to drive purchase behavior: the more IKEA items people owned, the higher their odds, motivating shoppers to pick up small, inexpensive kitchen products specifically to boost their entries. Weekly €100 gift card giveaways kept engagement high throughout the campaign. The result: kitchen category sales grew 16.2% in euros and 7.7% in volume year-on-year, beating both targets, with 36,255 tickets submitted, and post-campaign research confirming 78% brand recognition and message linkage to IK...

Case Video

Shortlist

Cgates

Entrant: Fabula Rud Pedersen Lithuania
Country: Lithuania
Brand: Cgates
Advertiser: Fabula Rud Pedersen Lithuania

Cgates is the fastest, but not the biggest internet provider in Lithuania. To strengthen brand awareness (Top of Mind) and consideration, we built the “Eik tu namas” image campaign around a deliberately narrow, honest positioning: Cgates doesn't sell “internet for everyone” - it sells the world's first and fastest “Flat Internet”, aimed at one clear audience, apartment residents. This spin-off extended that idea into a channel no one else dared to touch.

Cgates had a weak brand Point of Difference: it was often confused with competitors or simply unknown, its service only works in flats, and its marketing budget was smaller than the competition's. We needed maximum impact and reach, but couldn't outspend anyone. So we asked: why advertise where everyone else is, when we can own a space they're all afraid of?

We took the campaign somewhere no internet provider goes - porn sites, because ignoring an audience that big would, in our words, be the real indecency. Good content needs good internet, and bad internet always breaks at the worst possible moment.

To keep continuity, we brought back the same recognizable character from the main campaign - the one who kept shouting "This...

Case video

Video

Video pt.2

Shortlist

Flags of Victory

Entrant: Holy Motors
Country: Georgia
Brand: Todua Clinic
Advertiser: Todua Clinic

Full materials - https://flagsofvictory.com/

Background

For more than 30,000 Georgian women living with cancer, colorful headscarves are not a fashion choice. Worn throughout treatment, they conceal its most visible signs and often become a way to avoid the stares, questions and pity that come with a diagnosis.

In Georgia, cancer is still surrounded by silence. Screening rates remain alarmingly low, recovery stories are rarely visible, and the disease is seldom discussed openly in the media. For many patients and families, a diagnosis is still perceived as a road of no return.

Todua Clinic, Georgia’s largest oncology center, wanted to challenge that narrative.

The clinic’s strategy was built around hope: not abstract optimism, but the confidence that comes from seeing real proof that recovery is possible. Survivors could offer something statistics alone could not: visible evidence that cancer can be faced, endured and overcome.

The challenge was to turn that hope into a symbol powerful enough to break through a deeply rooted cultural taboo.

Idea and Execution

The headscarf was already the most recognizable symbol of cancer treatment. But it was usually worn to conceal...

Case Video

Film (ENG subtitles)

Shortlist

My connection

Entrant: Imago Ogilvy
Country: Croatia
Brand: Croatian Telekom
Advertiser: Croatian Telekom

Background
In Croatia, many seniors are still hesitant when it comes to digital technology. While 41% say they would like to learn more, 44% feel insecure using it, and 27% find it overwhelming (Kantar, Telekom EU Senior Segmentation, research for Deutsche Telekom; N=2846 across Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, and Croatia). They have access to technology, but lack the confidence to participate.

As the country’s leading telecom provider, Hrvatski Telekom has a clear role in supporting digital inclusion. However, most existing solutions: tutorials, manuals, and online guides don’t resonate with older audiences. They are often perceived as too complex or not relevant to everyday life.

At the same time, print tabloids remain widely read among seniors in Croatia. They are familiar, easy to follow, and part of everyday routines, making them a natural starting point.

Instead of introducing digital topics through formal learning, the campaign used storytelling as a more engaging way in. By embedding digital concepts into relatable stories, it made technology feel less abstract and more connected to real life.

As essential services become increasingly digital, helping seniors feel more...

Case

Supporting video - magazine

Shortlist

Emergency Meeting

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

Four years into the Russian attack, it became easier to look away from Ukrainian defenders. Donations slowed. We needed to reach people with the power to make a real impact - Latvia's most successful business leaders. Wartime demands wartime tactics. If we couldn't take them to Ukraine, We would bring the war to them. So, we created a secret emergency meeting - for Latvia's business leaders only - making the reality of the front line impossible to ignore. We turned the Latvian National Opera's Beletage Hall into a war bunker. After a harsh speech from military leaders, each guest was given a blank cheque. They filled them in without question. In 60 seconds, 6497,000 was raised to help save injured Ukrainian defenders from the front line.

Case Study Film

Shortlist

Home for Christmas

Entrant: Tabasco
Country: Estonia
Brand: ISKU / Cats Help
Advertiser: ISKU / Cats Help

We turned a conventional Christmas furniture campaign into a chance to help homeless cats find homes. ISKU furniture was showed together with real Cats Help shelter cats, with both cats and furniture given the same product-inspired names. The campaign invited people to find a home for both — making the brand’s Christmas message genuinely about the warmth of home.

Case Film