Kristina Jazinka Nikolic

2021

Depopulation, migration, and COVID-19 response 

This initiative addresses the frontier challenge of attracting digital nomads to Belgrade and capitalizing on the potential given by Serbia's early and successful COVID-19 immunization campaign. The difficulty is to handle the changes in work patterns created by the epidemic as well as the limits on international mobility that digital nomads face. The initiative intends to market Belgrade as a desirable destination for digital nomads by providing incentives and benefits, such as free vaccination, to entice people to visit, work, and get vaccinated in Serbia.

How effective is the campaign in attracting and retaining digital nomads and remote IT/tech professionals to Belgrade?" The experiment aims to assess the effectiveness of the campaign in achieving its objective of attracting digital nomads to Belgrade, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the offering of incentives such as free vaccination. The focus is on understanding the impact of the campaign and its ability to encourage digital nomads to temporarily migrate to Serbia.

This endeavor was a joint effort on the part of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, The Ministry of Health, Institute of Public Health of Serbia Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut, the Office for IT and e-Government of Republic of Serbia, NGP Returning Point, NGO BelgradeGets Digital, NGO StartIT, and NGO Digital Serbia Initiative. 

If a comprehensive package of incentives and benefits, including COVID-19 vaccination, is provided to foreign digital nomads and professionals, then there may be a measurable increase in their temporary migration to Serbia.

The experimental activity aimed to leverage the unique opportunity presented by Serbia's early and successful COVID-19 vaccination program to attract digital nomads to Belgrade. The pandemic has brought about significant changes in work patterns, resulting in the emergence of a new generation of digital nomads. However, international mobility restrictions caused by the pandemic have put their lifestyle on hold for over a year. As vaccination programs rolled out, Serbia emerged as a safe location to visit and work from, with the added advantage of free vaccination. The UNDP Accelerator Lab Serbia collaborated with the BelgradeGets.digital initiative and "Returning Point" to capitalize on this opportunity and increase the visibility of Belgrade among the target group of digital nomads. The campaign involved product discovery, market research, and sales techniques to promote Belgrade as an attractive destination and encourage digital nomads to visit, work, and get vaccinated. The experiment was complex and exciting, given the tight window for the entire effort and the uncertainty surrounding its success.

The object being tested is the potential of attracting and retaining digital nomads and remote IT/tech professionals, both those who are currently based in Serbia and those who have not yet had the opportunity to visit this location. The experiment aims to investigate the effectiveness of offering relevant perks and benefits, including free vaccination against COVID-19, to incentivize digital nomads to relocate and work temporarily in Serbia. By targeting this group, we aim to explore the potential of digital nomads as a type of temporary migrant to contribute to a better understanding of new migration trends, and patterns and tackle depopulation in Serbia.

from June 7th to August 29th in 2021

UNDP Accelerator Lab in Serbia team conducted ground research with the target group to gather evidence of past behavior rather than opinions and thoughts on hypothetical situations. We interviewed 12 digital nomads via video call to find out how the pandemic affected their lifestyle, what their objections and thoughts about visiting Serbia were, and how they approach getting vaccinated. The customer development methodology was used as an inspiration and reference for setting up the research and creating the questionnaire. We also avoided asking them directly about their opinions on vaccination to avoid getting politically correct answers and instead framed the questions in a way that they referred to their friends who were also digital nomads. After analyzing the results, we proceeded to create the communication strategy for the entire campaign, with the list of key messages that were used in all the touchpoints with the target audience. Our main touchpoint with the target group was the landing page that outlined all the important information about visiting Belgrade and the vaccination campaign. The methodology involved extracting the most relevant quotes from the interviews and forming problem and solution statements based on them to create marketing messages. We played and experimented with five main elements: features and benefits, answering objections, social proof, a call to action, and super-simple next steps. The research took around 10 days to complete, and our findings included that digital nomads travelled drastically less than before, and those that still travelled found the logistics of travelling during Covid excruciating. Vaccination didn’t impact the logistics of travelling that much since most countries ask for a negative PCR test despite vaccination. However, people are looking to get vaccinated so they can travel more safely and have peace of mind. They are very open to getting vaccinated outside their native country and were actively looking for opportunities to do so. The main factors they took into account when deciding where to get vaccinated were the general quality of healthcare in the country, the possibility of choosing between different vaccines, a user-friendly system in English for booking the vaccination, the entry requirements in the country, and the cost of accommodation and everyday things involved in a longer stay. After analyzing the research, we created the communication strategy and key messages, which were used in all the touchpoints with the target audience, including the landing page. We played and experimented with five main elements of the landing page to ensure it was as effective as possible. Every experiment we ran started with a clear hypothesis and ended with a conclusion. The experiments were in most cases set up as A/B/C tests of campaign assets paired with different versions of the landing page.  The tools we used to measure the results and draw conclusions were a Facebook Business manager for measuring campaign performance, Google Analytics to track which combinations of campaign assets and landing pages lead to the best conversion, and tools for recording each user session to track how visitors really interact with the content on the page.  By the end of the campaign, we had run experiments with 14 versions of the landing page, 20 creative variations and 490 separate ads.

The most important resources required for carrying out this experiment are extensive knowledge of digital marketing, copywriting, sales generation, and digital advertising, in particular on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. In addition, in order to successfully run the campaigns, you will need active accounts on social media platforms, as well as people who are experienced in designing, implementing, and managing experiments that make use of campaigns.

The key results of the campaign conducted by the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Serbia were the successful attraction of approximately 530 digital nomads who applied for the call during the campaign period from June 7th to August 29th. The project was a complex experiment that required daily monitoring of several variables, including travel restrictions, COVID-19 infection rates, available flights, and various creative approaches in different markets. Despite these challenges, the project proved to be a significant learning opportunity for the UNDP Accelerator Lab and its partners, providing valuable insights into the digital nomad lifestyle, pandemic-related issues, and the management of a global campaign with vaccination as a key benefit.

UNDP Accelerator Lab in Serbia, we have gained valuable insights from our social experiments aimed at promoting vaccine acquisition in Belgrade. Through various A/B tests, we found that direct communication with a clear call to action is necessary for successful acquisition campaigns. Contrasting messages helped us establish the general tone and direction of the campaign, while later tests allowed us to identify the specific benefits and messages that resonated best with our audience. We also recognized the importance of social proof when dealing with sensitive issues such as people's health, and we prioritized establishing credibility by prominently featuring the government's official initiative. Additionally, we implemented multiple calls to action throughout the landing page to ensure that users had easy access to the application form at any point in their user journey. Through observing user behavior, we discovered that some individuals were more interested in other benefits such as a free-spirited atmosphere, no more lockdowns, beautiful weather, and a beautiful city, rather than the vaccine. Thus, we created a small campaign highlighting these benefits, providing a guide for visiting Belgrade and Serbia. Overall, we learned that successful campaigns require continuous adjustment based on user behavior, and that unforeseen behaviors can be opportunities for innovation. We are grateful for the steep learning curve and the chance to contribute to the safety and wellbeing of individuals who lacked access to vaccines in their own countries.

90 - 100 days 

cca 30k USD