SPORTO Awards 2020 winners announced

Winners of SPORTO Awards 2020 announced

Ljubljana, 10 December 2020 – The running heart (Volkswagen) Once for Celje, always for Celje (HC Celje Pivovarna Laško) and GORINI (Gorenje) won three categories at the SPORTO Awards 2020 as the best practice in sponsorship and marketing in the Adriatic region. The best projects from each country, participating in the SPORTO Sponsorship category, qualified directly to the ESA Excellence »Best of Europe« competition. 

The jury awarded the following projects: 

SPORTO Sponsorship category

The running heart (sponsor: Volkswagen, rights holder: Volkswagen marathon Ljubljana, entrant: Agencija 101)

President of SPORTO Awards jury panel Andy Westlake stated thar creative connection between the marathon, electric car and heart clearly worked and delivered well.

SPORTO Digital category

GORINI (sponsor: Gorenje, rights holder: European Handball Federation, entrant: Gorenje)

Jury pointed out that activity clearly worked well, aligning the brand with the sport & fans.

SPORTO Rightsholder category

Once for Celje, always for Celje (rights holder: HC Celje Pivovarna Laško, entrants: HC Celje Pivovarna Laško, Agencija 101 and Medias Kreativ).

»An interesting case study looking at work both pre COVID and afterwards. The fact that the club kept 100% of its sponsorship revenue and spent the time during the lockdown the expand its offering elsewhere was incredibly positive. A solid case study of dealing with a crisis!,« jury concluded.

Projects from each country of the applicants which received the highest score in the category of SPORTO Sponsorship Award are qualified for the competition of the European Sponsorship Association (ESA) in the category "Best of Europe". The following projects qualified to enter the competition of the best European sponsorships projects: 

The best Slovenian project: The running heart (sponsor: Volkswagen, rights holder: Volkswagen marathon Ljubljana, entrant: Agencija 101)

The best Croatian project: Motivate (sponsor: Grawe Croatia, entrant: Grawe Croatia)

The best Serbian project: Circle of support (sponsor: Vojvođanska banka, rights holder: Olympic Committee of Serbia, entrant: Vojvođanska banka)

Entries in all SPORTO Awards categories were reviewed and evaluated according to predefined criteria in close cooperation with European Sponsorship Association (ESA), by an international expert Judging Panel chaired by an ESA president Andy Westlake.