Osijek Students Create Best Campaign on Responsible Driving
A four-member team from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek won the national competition with the campaign 'NE pod gasom', aimed at preventing drunk driving among young people.
A four-member team from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek won the national competition with the campaign 'NE pod gasom', aimed at preventing drunk driving among young people.
The communication campaign titled "NE pod gasom", created by a four-member student team from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, has been named the best national communication campaign on responsible alcohol consumption among young people. The winning team consists of first-year master's students Nora Hodak, Luka Kuhar, Valentina Matošević and Katarina Runje, who worked under the mentorship of lecturer Dr. Tomislav Levak. The grand finale was held on June 17, 2026, at the premises of Badel 1862 in Zagreb.
The project behind this competition has been run for the fourth consecutive year by the Zagreb-based agency Communications Office Colić, Laco and Partners, in cooperation with the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP) Coordination of Producers, Traders and Distributors of Strong Alcoholic Beverages and selected higher education institutions. The project aims to enable students to work on real communication challenges by developing socially responsible campaigns. This year, two Croatian universities participated: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek and University North.
From March to June 2026, students worked in teams to design and develop innovative campaigns based on a given communication brief. The process included "small finals" held in Varaždin and Osijek, where the two best student communication plans were selected. These two four-member teams, one from University North and one from the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek, then faced off in the grand finale. Mentor Levak noted that the students from the Academy created a total of eight communication plans as part of the course "The Art of Communication and On-Camera Performance."
In the grand finale, the finalists presented their creative concepts, communication approaches and key messages in detail before an expert jury composed of communication professionals and representatives of sponsors and partners. Željka Martinović of the Communications Office Colić, Laco and Partners emphasized that the decision was not easy.
"We are extremely proud of all the student teams and the quality of the solutions they presented. All projects were thoughtful, creative and clearly focused on the goal. That is precisely why it was not easy for the expert committee to make a decision, because the student works submitted were exceptionally high quality. We look forward to the implementation of the selected campaign, which you will be able to follow in the media and on social networks this autumn," said Martinović.
Student Nora Hodak, speaking on behalf of the winning team, expressed gratitude and excitement over the result.
"Although I am still under the impression, I will only truly realize this when the campaign goes into implementation. The mere thought that we could beat the other excellent campaigns was just a dream at the time, but life once again shows that it writes the most beautiful stories and makes everything possible!" said Hodak.In addition to the practical implementation of the campaign, the winning team also received a travel voucher as a prize.
Mentor Tomislav Levak particularly praised all project participants. "Our students created a total of eight truly excellent communication plans in their teams, among which 'NE pod gasom' stood out by a small margin. Once again, it has been shown how many excellent and creative students we have, who just need to be given a chance and properly guided," said Levak, also congratulating colleagues from University North and their mentors Dijana Vuković and Višeslav Kirinić. The winning work will be implemented as a real campaign in autumn 2026, when the public will be able to follow it in the media and on social networks, meaning the student idea on responsible driving will reach a wider audience.
