Golden Drum Festival of Creativity Announces Increase of Entries into 2023 Competition

The Golden Drum competition records an increase of entries with the highest number of works entered by Ukraine, followed by Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. More than half of creative solutions came from independent agencies. Number of entries in Creative Media Excellence Section surpassed the expectations of the competition directors. The winners of the Golden Drum will be announced during the Awards Show Powered by Mastercard on 10th October in Portorož, Slovenia. Golden Drum’s motto remains strong competition, good school, devilish challenge, and crazy party.

Golden Drum Competition with more than half of entries from independent agencies

The Golden Drum competition is closed. The juries have started with their work. 

Advertisers, agencies and other marketing communications professionals from 29 different countries have entered their best works in five diverse sections: One-Channel Drum, Omni-Channel Drum, Craft Drum, Creative Media Excellence Drum, Creative Business Excellence Drum, and a special All Juries Section.

The number of entries in the competition has surpassed previous years. Miha Bevc, competition director said, "The Golden Drum traditionally plays an important role in the creative, marketing, and advertising community in the European advertising space. Therefore, we are extremely proud that the festival is returning even stronger this year. Agencies from as many as 29 countries submitted their work this year, surpassing the number from last year. The most entries came from Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria (in that order) with the best response from newly included markets coming from Sweden. As the friendliest festival around, we can't wait to catch up again on the Slovenian coast, in Portorož." 

Špela Levičnik Oblak, competition director added, "The Golden Drum festival proudly announces that the new media section has been more than accepted among entrants of the competition. The One Channel Section is still ahead with highest number of entries, where Print, Film and OOH are the strongest categories. I believe there will be great competition with many outstanding, fresh, and exciting entries. Let's applaud to all the winners in Portorož, on October, at the friendliest festival in the World."

The two-stage judging process has begun. The Juries are led by outstanding professionals from all around the globe: Pancho Cassis, partner and global chief creative officer, DAVID, USA/Spain, Aaron Starkman, global chief creative officer, Rethink, Canada, Ashwini Deshpande co-founder director, Elephant Design, India, Barbara Evans, managing partner, Mediaplus Group, Germany, and Daniela Iebba, director of communications, global Heineken brand, The Netherlands.

The highlight of the Golden Drum Competition will be the special gala event, honouring great creativity and announcing the best of the best of the 2023; winner of the Young Drummers Competition powered by Slovenian Tourist Board, winners of Bronze, Silver, Golden and Grand Prix Drums, winners of the Brand Grand Prix, Best of Social Good, Best of Genius Loci and the new award powered by Telemach Slovenia - Game Changer, winner of the prestigious title of Adriatic Agency of the Year powered by Zavarovalnica Triglav, the Independent Agency of the Year supported by Allfred.io, the Agency of the Year, the Production Agency of the Year and the Digital Agency of the Year, the Media Agency of the Year powered by BH Telecom, the creative director of the Year powered by Elan and the Network of the Year. During the evening celebration we will also welcome the new member of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame.

Golden Drum Competition Shortlists announced: 2nd October at 8am (CET).

The Golden Drum Competition winners announced: Awards Show Powered by Mastercard,  10 October at 8 pm (CET).

More about the Golden Drum competition here. 

Young Drummers Competition welcomes creative solutions from 17 countries

This year’s challenge to design the best and most creative poster or series of posters on the topic »A Date with a Masterpiece« was accepted by creative talents from 17 countries. 

The annual Young Drummers Competition enables opportunities for creatives under 30 from all over the world to show their creativity, earn a spotlight on the Golden Drum Awards Show stage and win a 1,000 EUR prize.

The best creative solution will be chosen by a five members jury led by Mykola Kovalenko, founder and design director, Mykola Kovalenko Studio, Ukraine/Slovakia and announced at the Golden Drum Awards Show.

More about Young Drummers competition here.

The festival program is known

The Golden Drum stage will welcome 16 world-renowned speakers. Delegates will be able to network and enjoy the friendly atmosphere at two parties, one opening the festival in Portorož, the other closing the festival in Piran. 

We'll start the festival with a bang at the unforgettable Warming up Party powered by Radio Capris, at News Café Bernardin in Portorož on 9th October. Get ready for a memorable gathering where we'll warmly welcome you with national greetings from Slovenia, Hungary, Macedonia, and Serbia.

On 10th October, a day filled with remarkable sessions begins. Amy Rodgers, the head of content at WARC Creative will explore the question: 'Does the Crisis in Creative Effectiveness Persist?', Barbara Evans, managing partner at Mediaplus Group and Eva Bodecker Thunborg, chief executive officer at Mediaplus Nordic will dive into the important topic of sustainability during their session 'Sustainability – let’s walk the talk!', while Kinga Grzelewska, managing partner and creative director at MullenLowe, Warsaw, will follow with 'Can advertising save the world?' where she will focus on the brand's purpose. The big AI debate: GOOD vs EVIL will feature Elav Horwitz, executive vice president, global director of applied innovation, McCann Worldgroup, Emiliano González De Pietri, chief creative officer, McCann, Spain, and Catalin Dobre, member of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame co-CEO and chief creative officer of McCann Worldgroup Romania & Regional creative director McCann, CEE. Rob Chalmers, chief experience officer at Dentsu Creative, EMEA, will delve into Experience in an era of exponential change. Round table powered by Mastercard with a title 'Can ESG drive a true competitive advantage?' will host Jerzy Hołub, marketing director, Mastercard, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Andrej Krajner, communications director, NLB Group Slovenia and Dariusz Maciołek, managing director of marketing, communications and social engagement area, Bank BNP Paribas, Poland. An inspirational talk Plurality of Design in India will be given by Ashwini Deshpande, co-founder director, Elephant Design from India, while Daniela Iebba, the director of communications for the global Heineken Brand, and Mihnea Gheorghiu, the chief creative officer of Le Pub Global, will reveal secrets of Heineken's success story in the talk titled '150 Years On – Navigating the Future of Socialising'. Head of creative strategy at Netflix, EMEA, Dániel Kabai, will be Telling Stories About Stories, while Barney Worfolk-Smith, managing director, DAIVID, EMEA, will discuss emotions in advertising during the talk titled 'Emotionally Charged: Understanding emotion in ads with AI to drive effectiveness'. 

The highlight will be the Golden Drum Competition Awards Show Powered by Mastercard. We will wrap the day and celebrate the winners together at the Golden Star Party hosted by Golden Drum and HitRadio Center in Caffe Teater Piran. 

See full details of the Golden Drum program here.