The multi-market, multi-channel Out-of-Office campaign, which was developed and implemented by Grayling and BBDO Zagreb on behalf of the Croatian National Tourist Board (CNTB), aimed to engage with thousands of users worldwide and to increase Croatia’s brand awareness. The campaign won the prestigious Croatian MIXX Award, developed in line with the international IAB license, in the Brand Awareness category. The award was announced at The Days of Communications, the annual event which brings together 2,200 PR and marketing experts from the SEE region.

The Out-of-Office campaign was designed as an international competition honoring the most creative “out-of-office” message across countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Facebook served as the main platform for the campaign, but the outreach also included other social media channels, blogger and media relations and media partnerships.

The integrated approach (owned, earned and paid media) proved to be extremely effective and reached more than 11 million people via Facebook and Twitter. It encouraged more than 250,000 people to interact actively with CNTB, led to over 4,100 creative entries and resulted in 300 million opportunities to see.

Jan Simunek, Grayling’s CEO for Continental Europe, said: “We are very proud that the exceptional work and results of the Out-Of-Office campaign have been recognized by our peers. We are particularly thrilled to win the Brand Awareness award, as our main goal was to increase the visibility and awareness of Croatia and to promote it as a popular travel destination.”

The MIXX Award is developed in line with the international license from The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) to recognise the best digital campaigns and tools. The expert jury, which consisted of professionals from every part of the digital industry, assessed campaigns based on criteria including creativity, strategy, performance and the usage of the media, as well as the results achieved, which were all equally important in selecting the winners.

The Out-Of-Office campaign also won the IdeaX Silver award in the category Tourism, Culture and Leisure. This is a national award, designed to recognise original ideas that moved boundaries, regardless of the type of the media through which they were implemented on the market.