The 35th anniversary edition of the Slovenian Advertising Festival (SOF) in Portorož once again demonstrated that SOF today is no longer just a showcase of the best campaigns and projects of the year, but a central place where the Slovenian communications industry discusses the future of creativity, technology, business and media.
During the two festival days, more than 1,400 participants from across the industry gathered in Portorož, including agencies, brands, media professionals, producers, creatives and communication strategists. In doing so, SOF once again confirmed its role as the largest Slovenian marketing festival and one of the key regional industry gatherings.
This year’s edition particularly emphasized the festival’s transformation from a traditional competition format into a broader platform for industry discussions and strategic questions shaping the future of communications. The programme opened discussions on artificial intelligence, changing relationships between agencies and clients, the development of brands within cultural systems and the redefinition of the digital environment in which media and marketing operate today.
Among the lectures that attracted significant attention was Philipp Riederle’s talk titled “Who Really Controls the Internet?”, in which he discussed how the internet is increasingly functioning less as an open space and more as a closed ecosystem controlled by platforms and algorithms. The discussion focused on visibility, control over audience access and brands’ growing dependence on digital intermediaries.
David Schwen addressed the increasingly blurred boundary between content and advertising, emphasizing how contemporary marketing today often operates through formats that resemble entertainment, recommendations or content more than traditional advertising. According to him, such developments also raise questions about transparency, trust and regulation within the digital advertising ecosystem.
Dave Birss spoke about the frequent misunderstanding of artificial intelligence as merely a tool for accelerating existing processes, rather than as a mechanism for creating entirely new creative ideas and approaches. Fabio Seidl additionally emphasized that brands today are no longer simply broadcasters of messages, but active participants in broader cultural and social systems.
A major focus of the festival was also placed on relationships between agencies and clients in a time of market uncertainty and rapid change. Dominic Czaja spoke about the importance of trust and partnership between all parties within the communication process, while Jessica Claar raised the issue of responsibility in the use of new technologies, emphasizing that the key question in contemporary marketing is no longer what technology makes possible, but what truly makes sense to do.
SOF once again confirmed that creativity in today’s communications industry can no longer be separated from business results. A total of 43 silver, 26 gold and three Grand Prix awards were presented, while the festival’s focus remained on projects capable of combining creative ideas, strategic thinking and concrete market impact.
The specificity of SOF is also reflected in its judging structure, where projects are evaluated by three separate juries – creative, media and business – through which the festival aims to connect different industry perspectives and reward projects that push professional standards forward.
“SOF is not only a showcase of the best the industry currently has to offer, but also proof that in a time of generic communication, the greatest value is once again created by people, bold ideas and authentic stories. As the largest marketing event in Slovenia, SOF is a place where creativity, responsibility, technology and humanity come together – and jointly define the future of communication.” – Mojca Briščik, Executive Director of the Slovenian Advertising Chamber (SOZ).
Magazin Grando in Portorož once again functioned as the central meeting point of the Slovenian communications scene. The former salt warehouse was transformed into a space where lectures, panels, case study presentations and networking sessions took place simultaneously throughout the festival, further reinforcing SOF’s position as the most important marketing event in Slovenia.
SOF 2026 once again demonstrated that today it represents far more than a festival and an awards ceremony. It is a platform that defines industry standards, opens key questions within the communications market and connects different parts of the Slovenian creative scene within a shared space of ideas, technology and responsibility.
At a time when the communications industry is searching for a new balance between technology, creativity and responsibility, SOF remains one of the few places where this discussion is not only taking place – but is also actively shaping the future of the industry.
