Winners & Shortlists

CHRONICLES OF THREATS

TitleCHRONICLES OF THREATS
BrandOSCE REPRESENTATIVE ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA
Product/ServiceFREEDOM OF MEDIA
Category C08. CHARITIES, FUNDRAISING, APPEALS, NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS, PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY, PUBLIC AWARENESS
Entrant Company SAATCHI & SAATCHI Belgrade, SERBIA
Advertising Agency SAATCHI & SAATCHI Belgrade, SERBIA
Credits
Name Company Position
Veljko Golubovic Saatchi/Saatchi Executive Creative Director
Zarko Veljkovic Saatchi/Saatchi Creative Director
Dragana Petkovic Saatchi/Saatchi Associate Creative Director
Ivana Zekovic Saatchi/Saatchi Creative Director
Sonja Milovic Saatchi/Saatchi Managing Director
Ivana Minovic Saatchi/Saatchi Client Service Director
Zorica Marjanovic Saatchi/Saatchi Account Director
Nikola Zmajevic Saatchi/Saatchi Belgrade Copywriter
Tatjana Milnovic Saatchi/Saatchi Account Planning Director
Ivan Zornic Saatchi/Saatchi Agency Producer
John Pallant Saatchi/Saatchi Regional Creative Director Emea

The Brief

In Serbia journalists are under unrelenting pressure due to direct threats of violence. They are being intimidated in each and every way, in attempts to stop them from finding the truth and dealing with the most pressing social issues. Journalists are being killed and the murders remain unresolved for 20 years. Our strategy was to convey the journalists’ feeling of vulnerability to the general public in a clear, striking and forceful way. To show them the threats and other difficulties journalists are facing on a daily basis in their efforts to reveal the truth and inform the public.

Creative Execution

Our strategy was to demonstrate to the general public how journalists feel when threatened.Threats are most potent when they are personal and communicated in a one-on-one manner. Direct threats are most frightening and are the most powerful weapon in the hands of the aggressor. Threatening in public only diminishes the power of threats.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Our aim was to demonstrate to the general public how journalists feel when threatened. For the campaign, one out of hundreds of authentic threats documented against journalists was selected and made public by inserting an anonymous letter into the most popular Serbian daily newspaper. At the same time, a video message was posted on news websites tied to investigative journalism threats. The threats inserted in newspapers and posted on the internet were designed to put the readers in the position of journalists who receive threats day to day. The fake threat quickly spread amongst the population and was featured on the news.

Results

One murder case was resolved. Investigations on another two murder cases have seen progress. A White Book on threats and violence against Journalists in 2013 has been released as an official document. The success of the campaign sparked an initiative to establish the commission that would investigate the political background of the assassination of Serbia’s Prime Minister. Also, a number of similar initiatives were launched in the region. Our campaign had a dramatic impact through opening up the investigations into the deaths of the 3 journalists. Number of media impressions exceeded 70 million. Our media budget was zero.