The challenge
Founded in 1827, the Croatian Music Institute (Hrvatski glazbeni zavod) is the oldest music institution in Croatia and one of the cornerstones of Zagreb’s cultural life. Its hall on Gundulićeva Street has hosted generations of musicians, and its music school grew into today’s Academy of Music. Yet many people did not know one crucial fact: the Institute is not a state institution but a citizens’ association. Without stable public funding it had fallen into serious financial difficulty that threatened its survival, and the public was largely unaware of it.
The process
To save the Institute, its story had to reach far beyond the classical music audience. The campaign needed to show the public what was at stake and turn sympathy into donations. It asked a simple, provocative question: should this building remain a temple of music and become a modern cultural centre, or end up as just another hotel?
We developed the campaign strategy and communication plan, wrote the key messages and texts for the donation platform, and ran the campaign on social media. We also wrote the script for the campaign video and filmed it. The video brought together well-known faces from music, sport and public life who lent their support to the Institute: Zlatko Dalić, Zoran Vakula, Ana Rucner, Đani Stipaničev, Darko Domitrović, Boran Lončarić, Martina Tomčić, Matej Meštrović and Sandra Bagarić.
The solution
The donation campaign reached its goal of 1,000,000 kuna (about €133,000). The funds went towards keeping the Institute running, upgrading its space, digitising its services, and creating new programmes for children, young musicians and new audiences. The campaign closed with a donor concert attended by the Minister of Culture, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, a fitting finale for an institution whose story has always been told through music.