Ahead of the announcement of the winners on 23 October, the submitted works will be evaluated by experts who know the regional digital industry from different perspectives. SoMo Borac powered by Aleph has announced the jury lineup for its 14th edition, bringing together experts from media, agencies, technology, marketing and communications.
The competition is once again divided into two streams this year. SoMo Media seeks the best among digital products, design, content and journalistic formats, while SoMo Advertising enters the field of campaigns, activations, technological solutions and results that can be demonstrated through numbers.
The SoMo Media jury will be chaired by Mirela Hegediš Horvat from Tportal.hr and HUDI. She will be joined by experts from different parts of the regional media scene, including Suada Peštek from Radio Sarajevo, who will evaluate projects submitted from Bosnia and Herzegovina in these categories.
“Digital media and content are developing at an incredible speed, and SoMo Borac proves year after year how many outstanding and innovative projects are being created in our region. The quality of submissions continues to grow, so I am certain that we once again have a difficult but extremely inspiring task ahead of us. We are especially looking forward to seeing how media outlets and creators respond to new trends, push the boundaries of storytelling and build a sustainable digital ecosystem. That is why I invite all colleagues to submit their best work!” said Mirela Hegediš Horvat.
The jury will not only be expected to recognise a good topic or attractive digital packaging. Among the submissions, they will look for projects that change the way audiences access content, use digital space with a clear purpose and demonstrate that storytelling can follow new habits without losing journalistic or creative value.
Awards in this stream are presented in the categories Digital Product of the Year, Digital Design of the Year, SoMo Native, Best Storytelling and SoMo Content Engagement. It also includes HUDI North Star, an award for projects that contribute to the development, transparency and sustainability of Croatia’s digital ecosystem.
The SoMo Advertising jury will be chaired by Tihana Sedlar Krauz from Hrvatski Telekom, while its members will be divided into four expert groups, with each person evaluating the categories that correspond to their area of experience.
The members from Bosnia and Herzegovina include Bojan Dragišić from Play Team, Naida Lindov from Via Media and Nermin Nino Kasupović from Effect Agency.
The Advertising stream includes 12 categories this year. Alongside digital campaigns, creative activations and projects with measurable business impact, SoMo AI is entering the competition for the first time. The new category is open to work in which artificial intelligence has not remained at the level of an effect or a current label, but has played a genuine role in the development of the idea, execution or outcome of the project.
“SoMo Advertising has been focusing for years on the very best that the regional digital scene has to offer – a combination of bold creativity, innovative technologies and concrete business results. I am extremely pleased that this year, through the new SoMo AI category, we will see how agencies and brands are implementing artificial intelligence in their campaigns. Knowing how many excellent and measurable projects are being created in the region, I believe the competition will be intense and the jury will face a difficult but enjoyable task. We cannot wait to see the work everyone has been talking about and celebrate digital excellence together!” said Tihana Sedlar Krauz.
Performance campaigns that successfully connect a creative idea, data and concrete results will compete for the Special Mention by Aleph. SoMoRitanac will once again highlight projects that directed public attention towards an important social issue, while the best work within the Advertising stream will receive the SoMo Grand Prix.
Entries remain open until 23 September. For teams that have created a digital product, campaign or piece of content that people talked about over the past year, this is an opportunity to take their work out of statistics, presentations and archives and place it before experts who know how to distinguish passing digital noise from an idea that truly deserves attention.
The winners will be announced on 23 October, while a detailed overview of the categories, the complete lineup of both juries, as well as the entry rules and participation requirements, is available on the official SoMo Borac website.
