Title	EDGE OF THE WORLD, PROUD OF WHAT YOU WILL NOT FIND THERE
Brand	KOSICE REGION
Product/Service	KOSICE REGION
Category	B01. Challenger Brand Strategy
Entrant	SOCIALISTS Bratislava, SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Idea Creation	SOCIALISTS Bratislava, SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Name	Company	Position
Peter Kacenka	Socialists	Creative Director
Daniel Feranec	Socialists	Creative Director
Patrik Bartak	Socialists	Strategy Director
Martin Kukol	Socialists	Strategy Director
Michaela Stanova	Socialists	Copywriter
Daniel Feranec	Socialists	Copywriter
Martin Hatala	Martin Hatala	Copywriter
Alexandra Pobjecka	Socialists	Art Director
Rudolf Sakac	Socialists	Art Director
Andrea Vozarova	Socialists	Account Manager
Jakub Zivna	Socialists	Social media
Samuell Hoffman	Vrizzly	Director of Photography

Why is this work relevant for Creative Strategy?

The self-ironizing but sincere positioning of the Košice region as the Edge of the World in times of mass tourism perfectly turns the at first sight disadvantages of the region to the greatest benefits for the growing target group of challengers.

Background

The Košice region is the most remote region of Slovakia. It is located too far for the mass type of tourists and offers no mainstream attractions. Assignment: to address the target group of challengers by lesser-known places of the region.

Interpretation (30% of vote)

The Košice region is strongly dependent on state contributions. Compared to its competitors, it has only few sightseeing places, thus low visit rate and so, financially it is malnourished. It cannot compete with the developed Slovak destinations with all attractions they can offer.

Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

In times of mass tourism, we have elevated our disadvantage to our intention and have offered challengers (according to Glocalities) as the biggest benefit what they would not find in the region: crowded aqua parks, overfilled cable cars, shopping malls or kitsch souvenirs.

Creative Idea (20% of vote)

Thanks to a clever twist of a seemingly unattractive product for the benefit of the region ("be proud of what you won't find there") and a suitably chosen audacity (form of stand-up), we, like David, were able to compete with the Goliaths of the market.

Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

This communication provoked a massive response and the whole country and the media were speaking about the locally targeted campaign. Various places in the region were mentioned in the discussion. While the competition provided us media space through its statements, our target understood the message positively and shared similar experiences.

Please tell us about how the work challenged / was different from the brands competitors

Communication of the Slovak tourism market is of conservative character: drone flights over the country, wooden houses, folklore, happy families in aqua parks, etc. However, reality of crowded popular destinations brings disappointment especially to people avoiding mass tourism. That is why we have built our communication on pride on what people will not find in the Košice region.