Hrvatski Telekom has launched the creative competition “AIMO! Create and Cheer with AI”, inviting authors, creatives, football fans and digital enthusiasts to use artificial intelligence tools to create their own interpretations of the emotions associated with supporting a national football team. The competition comes ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and is part of a broader interest among companies in connecting AI technology with content that carries strong cultural and social significance.
Participants can submit AI-generated video content of up to 30 seconds, photographs and illustrations inspired by football, the national team and fan culture. The organisers emphasize that the focus is on the originality of the idea, a creative approach and the innovative use of technology, while artificial intelligence is envisioned as a tool that expands creative possibilities rather than replacing authorship.
The competition is based on the principle of user-generated content (UGC), a model that has increasingly become part of marketing and communications strategies in recent years. Instead of predefined creative solutions, the opportunity is given to a community of creators to interpret the theme from their own perspective and experiment with new content formats.
The total prize fund amounts to €15,000. The author or team behind the best entry will receive €7,000, the second-placed work will be awarded €4,000, and the third-placed work €2,000, while an additional €2,000 has been allocated for the Audience Award. An expert jury will select ten finalists from all submitted entries, after which it will choose the three best works, while the public will vote for their favourite through Hrvatski Telekom’s Instagram profile.
To mark the launch of the competition, new educational video episodes created by Filip Filković Philatz were also presented. He is one of the region’s best-known creators using artificial intelligence in professional creative projects. Speaking about the potential of AI tools, he emphasized that the quality of content still primarily depends on the ideas and creativity of the people using them.
A similar view was expressed by Frankica Mitrović Mihić, art historian and owner of the Zen Contemporary Art gallery, who believes that artificial intelligence can open new possibilities for creative expression, but that art continues to be grounded in ideas, emotion and the author’s perspective.
The expert jury includes Branka Bajt, Brand Director at Hrvatski Telekom; Davor Bruketa, Creative Director and Co-owner of Bruketa&Žinić&Grey; Ante Cicvarić, Marketing Director of the Croatian Football Federation; Damir Ciglar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Imago Ogilvy; Filip Filković Philatz; and Frankica Mitrović Mihić.
Applications are open until June 10, finalists will be announced by June 15, and the winners will be revealed on June 23, 2026. The best works will also be presented at a special exhibition at Zen Contemporary Art Gallery and on Hrvatski Telekom’s digital platforms.
