The creative industry will soon have another opportunity to present its work to a European jury. Entries for the EACA IMPACT Awards 2026 open on 15 October, and ahead of the competition, the organisers have announced this year’s jury members and categories. Among the names from 25 countries are Nebojša Grbačić, Jelena Fiškuš and Davor Bruketa from Croatia, and Saša Leben from Slovenia.
The four come from different parts of the regional industry. Nebojša Grbačić is Creative Director at Cvoke, Jelena Fiškuš is Creative Director and Co-owner of Studio Sonda, and Davor Bruketa is Chief Creative Officer at Bruketa&. Saša Leben is a strategist and CEO of Formitas and TransformX.
The IMPACT Awards focus on work in which brand experience has a visible effect: audiences engage, change their behaviour or build a lasting relationship with a brand, while the results submitted show what the campaign achieved. Campaigns from European EACA member countries are eligible to enter. This year, the competition has also been extended to Morocco and South Africa as invited countries.
The ten categories show the different forms this impact can take. Integrated covers campaigns that connect multiple channels and touchpoints into a cohesive experience, while Experiential & Brand Activation focuses on events and interactions in which audiences actively participate. Media Innovation & AI recognises innovative uses of media, digital platforms, data and artificial intelligence tools.
The categories also include Loyalty & CRM, for long-term communication and customer relationships, and Shopper & Retail Marketing, for work that influences decisions along the path to purchase. B2B Activation & Events is dedicated to experiences aimed at business audiences, while Social & Influencer covers campaigns that use social platforms and collaborate with content creators. The remaining categories are Reputation & Corporate Social Responsibility, Cause, Charity & Non-Profit and Small Budget & High Impact, which makes room for work achieved with limited resources.
In addition to the category awards, two special honours will be presented. Creative IMPACT singles out a piece of work for the strength of its creative idea and execution, regardless of the category in which it was entered. Grand IMPACT is the competition’s highest honour and goes to the work that best combines creativity, strategy, execution and impact. These awards are decided by the Round 2 jury and the IMPACT Taskforce.
Entries for the EACA IMPACT Awards 2026 open on 15 October.
