BALFIN Group organized the fourth consecutive edition of Balfin Innovation Summit, an annual event dedicated to innovative ideas and projects. Three finalist projects of the Group competed with concepts that constituted innovations both within their structure and in the market. The three innovative projects presented in the finale were from East Gate Mall in North Macedonia, Jumbo and OnSolutions in Albania.

The evaluation of the presented ideas was made by a selected jury, composed of Erion Nako, Director of ProTik, Artan Hoxha, Founder of Tirana Business University, and Matilda Shehu, Chief Transformation Officer at BALFIN Group.

The event was greeted by the President of BALFIN Group, Samir Mane. “I take pride in knowing that all of us at BALFIN work hard every day to reach new unexplored heights,” he said before applauding the contestants for their project-ideas. This year’s edition hosted guest speaker Afonso Rebelo De Sousa, renown agile project manager and innovation trainer, who presented the audience with key takeaways on corporate innovation and venturing.

The Marketing Director of Jumbo, Ani Xhetani, and Senior Marketing Specialist, Fiorela Jaupi, presented the project “Reminder to be HAPPY!”, which elaborated the improvement of customer experience through the functional boost of the existing loyalty program’s app, Happy.

Saimir Berberi, PR & Expansion Manager of OnSolutions, presented to the participants “Geolocation Loyalty Marketing”, utilization of location technologies to attract and sustain customers through personalized alerts. Aida Velaj, CEO, and Irena Vuka, Loyalty Program Manager, were the other contributors of the project preparation.

The winning project, “Augmented Reality in East Gate Mall” presented by Skopje East Gate’s CEO, Igor Davkov, aimed to enhance the consumer journey through cutting-edge technology. The project was realized in cooperation with Filip Kopanovski, Natasha Apostolov, and Biljana Severinova.

This BIS edition, that peaked with the final event held yesterday in Tirana, Albania, had a new format, as for the first time, individual applications were eligible and a grand prize of €5,000 was awarded to the winner.

The winner was announced by the CEO of BALFIN Group, Edlira Muka, who delivered the trophy and cheque to the winning team. “BALFIN Group has always stood out for these initiatives that aim to reward ideas, creativity, and individual genius – which is why this year, we decided to remove all barriers and enable every employee to participate on their own in order to fully embrace innovation. Undoubtedly, it has been challenging, but worth it.” she said in her closing speech.

“We thank the jury for this significant award and we vow to take innovation further at East Gate Mall,” said Davkov, who received the award together with Natasha Apostolov on behalf of his team in North Macedonia.

To BALFIN Group, Balfin Innovation Summit is a manifesto of the internal innovation and organizational culture, which aims to maximize employee potential and challenge the status quo. The Group stands out as one of the most important supporters of innovative ideas in all countries where it is present. The projects presented by group companies in this event have been successful in their approach and application in the market, which makes the activity in itself even more consolidated.