News

KAUBAMAJA WON THE AWARD FOR THE BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN IN THE WORLD

TALLUNN, 23.09.2024, www.kaubamaja.ee - Kaubamaja's spring campaign 2023  "Uues kuues" was chosen the world's best marketing campaign by a department store at the IGDS World Department Store Summit held in Berlin.

IGDS, which was founded in 1946 and includes 44 department stores around the world, chose Kaubamaja's marketing campaign 2023 created in cooperation with artificial intelligence as the best in the world. Woolworths from South Africa and Galeries Lafayette from Qatar were also among the finalists, who were awarded second and third place respectively.

The use of AI in the visual image of the campaign, where a real-life model stood next to an artificially created model, brought the victory to Kaubamaja. According to Adrien Seugé, Chairman of the Jury and Chief Marketing Officer Omni-Channel of L’Oréal’s Luxe division, the campaign was original and stood out from the other candidates due to its innovation and courage to take advantage of the triumph of digital transformation at an early stage. In addition, the jury pointed out that the ability to look beyond the campaign photo alone and to scale the theme of the artificial intelligence into other advertising materials, shop windows, showrooms and events, for example, was distinctive.

"This award means the world to us and shows that courage pays off!" said Britta Ratas, Marketing Director of Kaubamaja. "We competed with all the world's famous department stores and to be the first alongside such big names is an incredible experience. In Berlin, we had the opportunity to present both Kaubamaja and actually Estonia on the occasion of the win, which received enough attention among such renowned and famous figures in the retail world. We are very grateful to our excellent partner, Fotografiska Tallinn, who introduced us the AI and with whom we began creating this campaign," added Ratas.

According to Erkki Laugus, member of the management board of Kaubamaja, Kaubamaja's membership in an international organization has been an opportunity to learn and develop: "IGDS is the world's largest association uniting department stores. Its members are the absolute pinnacle of their field, true trendsetters on the global trade scene. The history of companies often dates back hundreds of years and today they have become the players with an international reach. The membership of Kaubamaja in the ranks of such association has enabled us to learn, develop and establish contacts with world-famous brands. However, this recognition shows that we have reached a level in our development and quality of our team, where it is learnt from the experience of Kaubamaja. A company of a tiny country, such as Kaubamaja, has the opportunity to survive and develop precisely through the skilful use of technologies and the creation of its own special and local business model. The highly recognized award also gives our team confidence that we have chosen the right path."

In addition, Laugus points out that open-mindedness and the bold use of technologies are still something with which to positively stand out in today's world. "This could be Estonia's new success formula. We should introduce our uniqueness to the world considerably more and continue to use it practically in everyday life. The time is definitely ripe for a new tiger leap, this time with AI," Laugus is convinced.

The ‘World’s Best Marketing Campaign by a Department Store’ has been recognizing since 2015 the importance of marketing campaigns for department stores, their role in increasing brand equity, reputation, and trust, and ultimately, in building the store brand to create footfall and connect with new and current customers.

Kaubamaja's spring campaign 2023 "Uues kuues" was the first large-scale fashion campaign in Estonia created in cooperation with AI. The aim of the campaign was to blend the artificial intelligence into the normal creative process, including still both human-made photographic art and a new and interesting AI interpretation of a world that does not exist. The campaign was created in cooperation with Fotografiska Tallinn and advertising agency TBWA/Imagine.

Jury Members: Dominique von Matt, Advisory Expert of Jung von Matt; Paolo de Cesare, former CEO of Printemps; Hiroshi Onishi, former CEO of Mitsukoshi and Vice President of Japan Airport Terminal; Jury Chairman Adrien Seugé, Chief Marketing Officer Omni-Channel of L’Oréal’s Luxe division.

Additional information:
Hanna Loodmaa-Saarmann
Brand and Communications Manager of Kaubamaja
hanna.loodmaa-saarmann@kaubamaja.ee