Interreligious Council Of Bosnia & Herzegovina: 1 Book For Peace
The Interreligious Council of Bosnia & Herzegovina needed to combat rising religious prejudice and foster dialogue in a region scarred by conflict. Working with New Moment and Y&R Dubai, they sought to move beyond generic peace messages to provide a tangible tool for reconciliation. The goal was to engage a global audience and world leaders in a conversation about shared human values across Islam and Christianity.
Creative Idea
Merged the Bible and Quran into one book to reveal their identical moral teachings.
The campaign created a single book that juxtaposed verses from the Bible and Quran to highlight their shared values. By physically merging the two holy texts, it visually and textually proved that there is more that unites than divides us.
Two Holy Books One Message Of Unity
Ten Universal Themes For Peace
The physical design of the book was a feat of theological and editorial precision. Journalist Mirnes Kovač worked for months with theologians Muhamed Fazlović and Pavle Mijović to curate verses from the Bible and the Quran that aligned perfectly in context. The final product was structured around ten universal themes, including the Sanctity of Life, Compassion, and Forgiveness. To emphasize equality, the book was engineered to be read from both sides or side-by-side, visually merging the two faiths into a single narrative of shared human values.
A Historic First For Bosnia
This project marked a watershed moment for the Balkan advertising industry as the first-ever Cannes Lions entry and win for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The timing was deeply symbolic, with the five-trophy haul occurring during the month of Ramadan. Creative leaders Žarko and Lazar Sakan viewed the success as a tribute to their father, Dragan Sakan, a pioneer who believed in "sprinkling brands with golden dust." The collaboration was also a rare "Balkan-wide" effort, uniting teams from Sarajevo, Banja Luka, and Belgrade with Y&R Dubai.
Reaching The Worlds Most Powerful
The campaign achieved a global reach of over 53 million people, nearly 17 times the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Beyond digital metrics, the project targeted global influence by sending physical copies to world leaders, including Pope Francis, Angela Merkel, and the UN Secretary-General. Today, the book serves as a permanent educational tool at interreligious conventions and is accessible globally via a dedicated digital and audio platform, ensuring its legacy extends far beyond the initial 2017 launch.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
The Council possessed the theological authority to curate and validate a unified message of peace between faiths.
Category
Religious communication often focuses on doctrinal differences or generic calls for tolerance that lack tangible proof.
Customer
People living in post - conflict regions felt a deep - seated prejudice fueled by the perceived incompatibility of their religions.
Culture
A global rise in religious extremism and xenophobia created an urgent need for a tool that fosters interfaith understanding.
Company
The Council possessed the theological authority to curate and validate a unified message of peace between faiths.
Category
Religious communication often focuses on doctrinal differences or generic calls for tolerance that lack tangible proof.
Strategy:
Materialize the common ground between opposing ideologies to dismantle the perception of fundamental conflict.
Customer
People living in post - conflict regions felt a deep - seated prejudice fueled by the perceived incompatibility of their religions.
Culture
A global rise in religious extremism and xenophobia created an urgent need for a tool that fosters interfaith understanding.
Strategy:
Materialize the common ground between opposing ideologies to dismantle the perception of fundamental conflict.
Results
The campaign achieved a global reach of over 53 million people, which is approximately 17 times the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. More than 40 million people saw the message via digital media in its first year. It became the most awarded campaign in Balkan advertising history, winning 5 Cannes Lions (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze), a D&AD Graphite Pencil, and multiple Grand Prix awards at Dubai Lynx. The project was a historic first, marking the first-ever Cannes Lions entry and win for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Physical copies were distributed to world leaders including Pope Francis, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, and the UN Secretary-General. The book is now utilized as a permanent teaching tool at peace and interreligious conventions worldwide and remains available for free in digital and audio formats.
53M+
Global reach
17x
Reach vs. population of Bosnia and Herzegovina
5
Cannes Lions won in a single year
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
It highlighted the hidden similarities between two religions often perceived as conflicting. By placing verses side - by - side, it forced people to see the shared moral ground that is usually overlooked in sectarian discourse.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Turn Message into Product
Instead of just talking about peace, the agency created a tangible object that embodied the message. The physical book served as a functional tool for dialogue and a powerful symbol of religious unity.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's brilliance lies in its physical manifestation of unity, using a dual-sided book design to tangibly prove that two distinct faiths share a single moral foundation.
The book was engineered to be read from both sides or side-by-side, visually merging two holy texts into a single, cohesive narrative of shared values.
By targeting world leaders and influencers with physical copies, the campaign transformed a local initiative into a global humanitarian conversation.
Months of theological research ensured that verses from the Bible and Quran were perfectly aligned in context across ten universal themes.
The minimalist and reverent aesthetic of the book and its digital platforms reinforced the sanctity and importance of the inter-religious dialogue.
The synergy between theological scholarship and innovative book design turned abstract religious concepts into a physical object that served as both a metaphor and a functional educational tool.
