By: Ekrem Dupanović
Is a big city environment a precondition for success? No! And we have a proof of that. We’ve actually had a proof of that for a long time now, but the latest victory of Studio Sonda at the festival of the best campaigns in the region, BalCannes, was certainly an occasion to remind you once more of this fact.
In the small village of Vižinada, near Poreč (Istria, Croatia), Studio Sonda is piling awards, to which they now add the first regional prize for the best campaign at BalCannes, campaign “Men all over the world are crying” for Elan skis. The campaign, BalCannes and the regional creative scene were topics of our conversation with the creative director of this small, powerful and distinctive studio, Jelena Fiškuš.
Media Marketing: The first regional award of BalCannes for the best campaign did not go either to Belgrade, or Zagreb, or Ljubljana. It went straight to Vižinada, to Studio Sonda. Proud?
Jelena Fiškuš: We are very proud. Nowadays, in the time of modern communications, there are really no obstacles in doing global campaigns from virtually any corner of the world, including our little village. This is the message that we always want to send to young people when they believe only in large cities, and in doing so they forget the places they come from, and which define them. And these places need us and we need them.
Media Marketing: You’ve been working with Elan for years now, and you have garnered several big international awards for the design of their skis, and now for the campaign as well. Somehow Istra and the seaside don’t go well with skiing. Do you at Sonda ski at all?
Jelena Fiškuš: No :) Again a paradox. A global campaign from a small village, and an award for skis and skiing created by us who don’t ski. We’re more of a sea-type of persons. It just goes to show that really anything is possible. However, although we don’t ski, over the last 10 years we have learned a lot about skiing.
Media Marketing: The campaign is truly remarkable. Will you present the creative idea to those who haven’t seen it?
Jelena Fiškuš: A couple of years ago, when we made the Light Skiing project and the world’s lightest skis together with Elan, we knew we had a good product in our hands, but we realized there’s a problem. Many buyers believed that a ski so light simply can’t have good performance. This of course is not true, but we were thinking how to explain it to potential buyers. In addition (again a paradox), it is a product exclusively for women, and to sell it we first had to convince ski dealers, who are mostly men, to take it to their stores, and then convince the end customers of the superiority of this technology.
Market research has shown that women, unfortunately, rarely come to buy skis on their own, but seek support of their male partners and friends when purchasing. So we realized that we have a top quality product for women, but we first have to persuade men (dealers, end customers) in its quality. And here we came up with the idea to use really renowned skiers to promote this exclusively feminine product. Thus, we made clear the value of the technological superiority of these skis. It is certain that, for example, Olympic winner Christian Mayer or the first man ever to ski down the Mount Everest Davo Karničar would promote a product like this if they weren’t truly impressed by its performance, or is not in accordance with their values and understanding of skiing. At the same time, the campaign humorously played with the taboo topic of male emotions, and is also educational, because it breaks down barriers about when men are allowed to cry and when not. No one has the right to judge other people’s feelings. Of course, the campaign is also close to women, it connects the female and male population and unites them.
Media Marketing: How did the Elan react to the award?
Jelena Fiškuš: Of course they are proud, and it’s yet another nice confirmation of our collaboration that has so far resulted in numerous awards for design and innovation (ISPO, Xplus Award), the Red Dot award, and now this really special award for us for the campaign.
Media Marketing: You were in Rovinj and you saw the presentations of the Top 25 BalCannes campaigns. It was also an opportunity for meeting, because Sonda is a revelation for many. How would you assess regional creativity?
Jelena Fiškuš: There are really some great projects, and to be chosen among them is a great honor. It’s motivating to see people having a good time in their creative processes, and that despite the conditions that are often – as we all know all too well – dictated by the clients, there is always room for campaigns that may surprise with their originality, beauty and the message they send. It’s nice to be part of it. Thank you BalCannes.
