The expert juries of BalCannes, the regional creativity competition, have recognized those who stood out with their creative achievements and granted them finalist status!
Who made it to the finals? From 30 March 2026, new finalist projects will be revealed daily – Monday to Friday – on the Media Marketing portal and BalCannes’ Facebook page, continuing until April. This year’s BalCannes project showcase will again take place on social media – leading up to our gathering at DK2026.
Please note that finalists will be announced in alphabetical order by project name, so don’t miss the daily updates!
PROJECT NAME: Crash Text Auto | ENTRANT: Futura DDB | CLIENT: SEAT S.A. / CUPRA Germany | STRATEGIC PARTNER: DDB Group Germany |COUNTRY: Slovenia | CATEGORIES: I. Best on Market: 14. Entertainment; II. Best in Channel: 12. Best Creative Use of Technology
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Despite ongoing awareness efforts, texting while driving remains common among young drivers. CUPRA addressed this behavior inside Grand Theft Auto Online, where phone use while driving is normalized and consequence-free. By subverting the game’s messaging system, players and streamers received unexpected real-time messages while driving, triggering authentic reactions and moments of reflection. Launched with no media budget or overt branding, the initiative reached thousands of players organically, achieved high engagement within the GTA community, and was amplified through live streamer reactions — proving that even a game can spark real-world awareness.
PROJECT NAME: Da se razumijemo | ENTRANT: Imago Ogilvy | CLIENT: Hrvatski Telekom | STRATEGIC PARTNERS: Drap, Riba Ribi Grize Reb, Nebojša Slijepčević | COUNTRY: Croatia | CATEGORIES: I. Best on Market: 04. Telecommunications; II. Best in Channel: 12. Best Creative Use of Technology; IV. Best of Positive Change: 04. Education & Empowerment
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Back-to-school telecom campaigns usually target both parents and their children — but these two groups often don’t speak the same language. Teenagers have developed their own coded emoji slang, using familiar symbols to convey meanings far beyond their face value. To stay connected, parents need to understand that language too.
That’s why HT created an AI-powered emoji translator that decodes the hidden slang meanings behind emojis and helps parents learn how their kids really communicate. During the campaign, more than 35,000 emoji translations were made.
All sales and communication materials were fully bilingual, speaking simultaneously to parents and teenagers while also serving as a practical emoji language lesson. Strong cultural relevance and genuine utility sparked widespread interest and translated directly into business results, delivering a 200% sales increase compared to the previous year’s back-to-school campaign.
PROJECT NAME: Diskontejner ReBus — your “bring-and-take” station | ENTRANT: Studio Sonda | CLIENT: PULA HERCULANEA | COUNTRY: Croatia | CATEGORY: IV. Best of Positive Change: 01. Environment & Sustainability
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Every year, countless functional items end up lost in endless dump sites because people lack a simple way to pass them on, creating a vacuum between eco-consciousness and market reality. ReBus fills this gap by repurposing two old city buses into a circular exchange station. The project’s core lies in its calculated “discount-banal” branding strategy. By adopting familiar supermarket codes and using slogans like “0 €,” “Permanently low price,” and “It can’t get any cheaper”—ReBus intentionally looks beyond the already environmentally aware. Instead, it targets the most critical audience: consumers driven by the impulse of buying new and buying now. By using the universal language of retail, ReBus transforms discarding into a rational, free exchange where the “discounts” are real because everything is free.
This strategic approach successfully prevented 40 tons of waste from the start, rescuing 126 m³ of items in just its first month.
Find video summaries of past finalists on BalCannes’ Facebook page.
Congratulations to the finalists! Only the very best among them will earn the BalCannes awards and will be announced at the grand award ceremony during DK2026, taking place from 7 to 10 May 2026. See you in Rovinj!
