Studena: A cry for hydration
Studena tasked Imago Ogilvy with increasing brand preference and sales among a younger, digital-native audience in Croatia. The challenge was to move beyond standard health messaging and make hydration a relevant, engaging topic during the hot summer months. The client wanted a campaign that would drive viral social media engagement and differentiate the brand in a crowded, commoditized bottled water market.
Creative Idea
Professional mourners dramatically lament people who forget to drink water.
Studena hired professional mourning women to dramatically lament people who neglect hydration. By turning the Balkan tradition of funeral wailing into a humorous, personalized social media intervention, the brand made drinking water a viral, culturally resonant act rather than a chore.
Turning Balkan Funeral Traditions Into Viral Hits
A Decade of Creative Consistency
This campaign holds significant weight for Imago Ogilvy as it marks their second Cannes Lion win, exactly ten years after their historic 2016 success for Jana water. By securing major accolades for two rival water brands a decade apart, the agency solidified its reputation for dominating the regional beverage market through culturally subversive storytelling.
From Hyperbole to Personalized Eulogies
The creative strategy pivoted on the common Balkan linguistic habit of using dramatic, death-related hyperbole when thirsty. Instead of standard health warnings, the agency leaned into the absurdity of the phrase *"I am dying of thirst."* They recruited actors to portray traditional Narikače - professional mourners historically hired to wail at funerals. The team produced over 50 personalized videos where these mourners directly addressed specific social media users who had been tagged by friends for their poor hydration habits.
Performance Beyond the Screen
The execution was entirely digital, focusing on high-volume, short-form content. The campaign generated over 42 million impressions and 26 million video views, exceeding original KPI targets by 171%. This engagement translated into tangible business growth, driving a 12% increase in sales and a 1 percentage point gain in market share. By embedding ads as contextual pre-rolls on videos where viewers were likely to feel exhausted or parched, the brand achieved a 73% increase in brand preference. The campaign successfully turned the onomatopoeic sound of swallowing - GUC GUC - into a recognizable brand asset, culminating in the "Posljednji GUC GUC" or "The Last Gulp" finale.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Studena leveraged its position as a trusted regional water brand to inject humor into essential hydration habits.
Category
Most water brands rely on boring, functional health claims or generic lifestyle imagery to promote their products.
Customer
Consumers feel indifferent toward standard health advice but crave entertaining, shareable content that acknowledges their daily habits.
Culture
The campaign tapped into the Balkan tradition of professional mourning to subvert expectations and create viral social content.
Company
Studena leveraged its position as a trusted regional water brand to inject humor into essential hydration habits.
Category
Most water brands rely on boring, functional health claims or generic lifestyle imagery to promote their products.
Strategy:
Use cultural absurdity to transform mundane health advice into a high-stakes, shareable social experience.
Customer
Consumers feel indifferent toward standard health advice but crave entertaining, shareable content that acknowledges their daily habits.
Culture
The campaign tapped into the Balkan tradition of professional mourning to subvert expectations and create viral social content.
Strategy:
Use cultural absurdity to transform mundane health advice into a high-stakes, shareable social experience.
Results
The campaign generated massive reach and commercial success: +43 million impressions, +24 million engagement, +12% sales growth, and +73% increase in brand preference. It became a social media hit and was extensively covered across television news, digital media, print newspapers, and fashion magazines like ELLE.
+43M
impressions
+73%
brand preference
+12%
sales growth
Strategy Technique
Start With a Human Flaw
It targets the universal human tendency to ignore basic health needs until it is too late. By framing this common laziness as a tragic, mourning-worthy offense, it forces engagement through humor.
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Creative Technique
Create Fantasy Worlds, People and Things
The campaign invented a surreal, theatrical scenario where professional mourners follow dehydrated people. This fantastical, high-drama approach transforms a mundane health reminder into an unforgettable, absurdist performance.
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Craft Breakdown
This campaign's exceptional craft lies in its brilliant copywriting and creative music composition that translates an ancient folk tradition into sharp, contextually relevant comedic lyricism.
Translates a grave traditional mourning custom into hundreds of rhyming, contextually tailored comedic lyrics targeting specific user behaviors and names.
Authentic traditional folk vocal arrangements and accordion compositions deliver genuine emotional melodrama that drives the comedic punchlines.
“The hilarious contrast between authentically composed traditional folk wailing music and ultra-specific modern copywriting creates the campaign's core creative magic.”
