Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
At the recent Sempler awards, competition for the best media strategy in the Adriatic region, Sarajevo agency Via Media won the Golden Sampler for their campaign Museum of Public Procurement. This is the first gold medal from a regional competition in communications industry that arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it was a great occasion to talk with Vesna Beganović, CEO of Via Media.
Media Marketing: We Pay the Price – The Museum of Public Procurement is the first creative showdown with corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s an idea that could succeed even in countries that are creatively far stronger than BiH. How did it come to this campaign? The client was USAID, what kind of a brief did they give you?
Vesna Beganović: The brief was quite simple, with a clear task to help local organizations that struggle every day against corruption present in public procurement, and to draw public attention to the necessary amendments to the Law on Public Procurement. The theme itself was quite washed out, repeatedly treated in the media, but with no concrete sanctions against its actors. There were a lot of similar campaigns and people have simply stopped paying attention. The imperative of being creative was thus imposed from the very beginning, because we knew that anything short of incredible would simply not be good enough. We got full freedom, and when we came up with the idea to do “Museum of Public Procurement”, the only condition was that we can use only the data from audit reports. The best ideas are created in cooperation with the client, and we have the good fortune to have Dražena Peranić collaborating with us on the client side – an exceptional professional with an exceptional experience in communications.
Media Marketing: The campaign was implemented in ten cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. What were the reactions of citizens whose tax money is used for public procurements that you highlighted in the campaign?
Vesna Beganović: Shock and disbelief. Those would be the two words that best describe the reaction of citizens. From the very beginning we had believed in the success of this campaign, but the response exceeded all expectations. It was originally planned that the Museum would visit the five largest cities in the country. However, after the news about the concept and importance of the museum expanded, non-governmental organizations and citizens around the country wanted to “host” the museum in their cities. So, instead of the planned five, we visited fifteen cities, without significant additional costs. People became ambassadors and the bearers of the campaign, which is a kind of the holy grail of modern communication.
Media Marketing: Could you single out some specific reaction, some especially significant and interesting result of the exhibitions?
Vesna Beganović: People who saw the exhibition came back with family and friends, spreading the information by word of mouth through every city that we visited, and beyond. In a country where the average salary is €400, we presented to the people concrete examples of abuse of the system and displayed ashtrays paid €650, or a meal paid €120. We can safely say that all museum visitors were stunned. And these are just things that we could support by accurate data from audit reports, which makes the whole thing even more terrible. Social networks have played an important role throughout the campaign, so almost with no budget whatsoever we created a viral story, mostly just through the content created by visitors to the museum. Generated PR value of the campaign is estimated at €150,000, which shows the importance and impact of creativity on the effectiveness of campaigns. News of the unusual museum quickly spread through the region, and citizens of neighboring countries called for the opening of similar museums in their cities and countries.
Media Marketing: Fight against corruption must continue. It’s a plague that can’t be rooted out in a year, two or ten. Will you continue with this, or some similar campaign?
Vesna Beganović: We have an invitation for a new setting in December, which is likely to be the final one of this campaign. The proposed 18 amendments to the Law on Public Procurement are in the parliamentary procedure, where they’re waiting for adoption, so now we are monitoring the developments. The museum has encouraged people to think and has provoked a reaction. This is only the first step that relates to public procurement, but what about other areas?!
Media Marketing: Representatives of the industry at the regional level have now awarded you an exceptionally important award. What does this award mean for you? After all, this is the highest recognition that arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far.
Vesna Beganović: It means a confirmation of our strategic decision to do things differently, more boldly and more creatively. It’s a big thing when professionals from the region recognize your work and award you at such an important festival. The greatest recognition that has so far arrived in our country shows that we have the know-how and the ability, and that we are on the right track towards achieving even greater goals.