Dear Partners & Friends,
As most of you already know, being part of our first online regional forum on Communications during the lockdown, we are SEEnthesis - a friendly circle of independent, owner-driven agencies from the region of Southeast Europe. Under the roof of our name, we are 7 hands-on agency teams from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Skopje, Romania, Greece, and Serbia. We pool resources and deliver integrated communications solutions to an increasing number of companies seeking a stronger regional presence for businesses.
Following our first contact and amidst a summer, but very much a business mood, here is our first newsletter, meant to share with you interesting news/data and added value from our markets of presence. We hope you will enjoy the read!
Yours, Katya Dimitrova
Rotating Chairperson, SEEnthesis

Infection spread: Albanians were able to react quickly and take timely action to prevent the virus from spreading in the first wave, but there is currently an increase in the number of newly diagnosed people with COVID-19. Limitation measures are kept down with the hope to revive the economy. Clients that boosted their communication under COVID circumstances with the agency are education, online lessons, fast food and banking.
The agency team won a new experience with Junior Achievement Tirana; made all the kids joyful at home with the new campaign of Jumbo, supported the rapidly growing fast-food chain of Opa and launched a new platform called "Modern Family" for Union Bank - see more.

In Croatia, the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly brought many changes to everyday life. Luckily, our colleagues from Komunikacijski Laboratorij were quick to realize that being open for change and ready to make and implement decisions fast was the key to surviving the crisis. Our colleagues mostly deepened their expertise in internal communication and crisis management. The idea Komunikacijski Laboratorij adhered to was to advise their clients to maintain open communication with all stakeholders, as it was the only way for companies to sustain trust and to keep up the good relations.
Of course, our Croatian neighbors also have something to boast about during this crisis: The Campaign Innovate-Make profit, a part of a project Promotion of entrepreneurship for one of their clients - the Croatian Chamber of Economy. Idea: organize a set of workshops all over Croatia. The COVID-19 crisis encouraged their transfer into the virtual world - see project case here.

The agency team developed a series of virtual events to present Croatian innovators and to share their inspirational stories with the public. The peak event - The National exhibition of innovations, is still due offline in Oct 2020.

The number of infected people with COVID-19 is rising and the unemployment rate due to the crisis is growing, too. Unfortunately, according to predictions, it will continue to do so until the end of the year.
Work at New Moment, New Ideas is at full speed, just like before! Enjoy their latest media campaign for Sava Pension Fund: it became No. 1 as the most downloaded financial app in the country. See more.
You can also check up the agency's outstanding design job (the new visual identity for a symposium for the Architectural Faculty in Skopje - "The Skopje Project ")

While the restrictions were lifted progressively in Romania, the number of daily cases started to increase, reaching almost the levels from lockdown in the past days. The COVID-19 dedicated hospitals in Bucharest and several counties where virus outbreak burst in the past weeks are currently functioning almost at maximum capacities. All in all, the pandemic context is still on, with a second period of the outbreak being more closely than expected.

However, positivism is a priority for our members of SEEnthesis.
Our colleagues at Media Concept Store love sharing experience & best practices: Nicoleta Ratescu, Managing Partner, is a prominent Jury Member in the White Square Festival - The XII International Advertising and Marketing Festival in Belarus that happened entirely online. Nicoleta also delivered a speech on "The journey of a media agency" sharing the major trend of technology embracement changing the perspective of "business as usual". At the same time, unique and irreplaceable human assets like inspiration, talent, creativity, and emotion, become essential in the journey towards a success story.
You can watch the presentation here.

While Greece has kept infection level under strict control, not compromising the safety of their greatest asset: tourism, our local partner at White & Purple has completed its first digital and TV campaign for Mazda.

The campaign takes place to celebrate the completion of one year since the brand of Mazda "returned" to Greece after a market pause.
Check the TV spot on the MX-5 & the latest digital campaign with "the pause" concept: not only for Mazda but also the pause due to quarantine - here.

Besides, White & Purple is rapidly standing in "The book of 10" for 2019 and the "Marketing Week" magazine ranked the agency among the 10 companies that stood out in the Branding & Design category with the project Up Hellas! White & Purple came up with creative work offering a holistic approach to communication. This project included the design and creation of the go for EAT card, Up Hellas
Enjoy visually here.

Although it seems that COVID-19 is once again disrupting normal life and almost every area of business in Serbia, Domino Communications is kicking off the summer season with a new client on board from the sports betting industry!

Germany-based Merkur sports betting shops are opening on the Serbian market and they hired Domino Communications to provide them with a full brand and communication strategy and all the appropriate advertising activities to promote the new player on the scene.

The agency is also "outsourcing" special 3D effects for the US markets and you can see their latest productions here.

COVID-19 lockdowns and the summer that followed is nothing like a break for the Interpartners Group based in Sofia. Its PR wing Interimage added a new pearl to its crown, winning the pitch of DEVIN, the country’s leading mineral and spring water bottling company, part of the Belgium's Spadel. This is a challenging account with a variety of PR campaigns including intriguing and socially relevant themes such as recycling, proper hydration and community service.

On top of that in the very midst of the lockdown in Bulgaria, Interpartners made another very strong move - this time in advertising, as it won one of the major ad pitches in Bulgaria for the whole year - of Lukoil gas stations, the leading gas chain in the country. This brilliant success has fueled up the energy of the team for new ideas and powerful implementations as Lukoil is carrying out a major facelift of its chain of stations.

Navigating in times of unprecedented challenges, SEEnthesis continues with its first transregional project - the promotion of the American University in Bulgaria across the Balkans. Following a pitch won by Interpartners Group the project has been extended with extra three years.

In the meantime, SEEnthesis has also expanded its geography by welcoming partners on the markets of the Czech Republic and Slovakia - KREATOR Group and Srdce Evropy.