31. July 2025.
The president of the Media stream jury reveals what sets winning projects apart
Vacations are in full swing, off-grid plans are underway, and phones are switching to airplane mode. But our dedicated team is hard at work preparing this year’s SoMo Borac – and it’s going to be something special!
This year, the Media Stream is once again co-organized by the Croatian Association of Digital Publishers (HUDI), which means even stronger support and a sharper selection of top-notch media projects.
To mark the occasion, we grabbed a coffee with Anamaria Todorić, this year’s Media Jury President and Director of Digital Business at Večernji list, who says she’s thrilled to be part of the SoMo team.
“SoMo holds a special place in my heart because my team and I won the award for the redesign of vecernji.hr. I know just how much that recognition meant to us,” says Todorić.
The win was especially sweet, she explains, as it came during an intense phase of the portal’s digital transformation.
“Our marketing colleagues handled the application process, and I was more in the background, leading the redesign project,” she adds.
With experience on both sides – as a winner and now as a juror – Todorić has a few words of advice: read the submission guidelines carefully.
“It’s such a shame when great projects end up in the wrong category.”
Beyond that, she says the secret lies in telling your story clearly: “Be direct, tell your story with a strong message and results that matter to you. If you do that, I’m confident the jury will see its value. And yes – use your imagination! Let your creativity shine. People in media and marketing have no shortage of that.”
We have no doubt she’ll judge with fairness, but she also admits she’ll naturally be drawn to entries where it’s obvious that extra effort went in.
“I’ll be evaluating based on professional standards,” she says, adding that for her, innovation and originality are the two key pillars.
“In today’s world, dominated by AI, what really makes a difference is human creativity and the richness of our thinking,” she notes.
With technology being widely accessible, what separates good from great, she believes, is a strong idea and solid execution.
So, which categories might steal the spotlight this year? If she were betting, Todorić would put her money on Best Media Feature and SoMo Native.
“Why those two? It just feels like that’s where most of the focus is lately, at least in Croatia. But since SoMo is regional, other categories might surprise us too,” she says.
On top of that, here’s a timely reminder: members of HUDI, HURA, DMS, IAB Croatia, IAB Serbia, IAB Slovenia, SOZ and ICT Cortex get 15% off tickets. Early bird registrations are still open until September 1.
Perfect for all the early planners out there – even the ones making plans from the beach.
See you on October 24th!
