Lucia K.MartinSTRAVADoby Fatru 2021
Ostredok
5/9
- Distance
- 16.4 km
- Time
- 6h 12min
The highest point of Veľká Fatra: fog on top, sun below.
doby hory a diferent labs case study
a hiking challengeturned movement
Climb the peaks, post a photo from every summit, earn the medal. We built the brand, the platform and the community from zero, on organic content alone.
- hikers
- 27,000+
- summits reached
- 127,000+
- in the first two years
- €390K
- visitors to the platform
- 206K
day zero
no brand, no audience,no budget
Spring 2019. A challenge nobody had heard of, no followers, no email list and no money for ads. Without attention, it would not survive its first season.
how it worked
mountains,turned into a game
Three months, six to nine peaks, one medal. The rules fit in one sentence, so people could pass them on.
01 / 05
pick your mountains
Nine ranges across Slovakia, each with six to nine peaks and three months to climb them.
Malé Karpaty, 8 peaks
Krížna1574Ostredok1596Ostrá1247Tlstá1370Lysec1380Šíp1170Rakytov1567Ploská1532Borišov15100 / 9 peaks
3 months · summer 2021
9/9 ▲
14,834trees planted by the end of 2020, one for every hiker
the platform
a website that becamea social network
We did not build a sign-up form. Every hiker got a profile, a medal shelf and a feed of their ascents, and people followed, liked and cheered on each other’s summits.
The profile page as it worked on dobyhory.sk, recreated with a sample profile and our own photos.
profiles
Every hiker’s summits, medals and challenges in one place.
the feed
Likes and comments on every ascent, so each summit got a small crowd.
hall of fame
The best ascents of the week on the homepage, a reason to post a good photo.
Strava
Routes, distance and elevation pulled in with one click.
visitors to the platform
daily, 20 Apr 2019 to 26 Nov 2020
- 206K
- users
- 457K
- sessions
- 1:56
- minutes a visit
Doby Tatry launches
Doby Tatry Winter
7.7K in a day, summer 2020
the strategy
a movement,not a campaign
Instead of selling tickets with ads, we gave people who love the mountains a reason to go, and a reason to talk about it.
- 01
a brand from scratch
The name, the visual identity, the website, the copy, the medals and the story behind the challenge.
- 02
organic first
Photos from Slovak peaks, captions about getting outside and overcoming yourself, and a clear way to join.
- 03
people, not ads
Every participant was featured, reshared and thanked, so each one felt part of a tribe and brought friends.
- 04
a loop that feeds itself
Every summit photo was proof for the hiker and an invitation for everyone who saw it.
the results
€390Kin the first two years
From a €20 and then €30 entry fee. Every season bigger than the last, with almost every hiker found through organic social media and word of mouth.
summer 2019
Doby Tatry
5,000 hikers
€20 entry, €200K in 2019 with the winter edition
winter 2019
Doby Tatry Winter
3,500 hikers
€30 entry, in snow
summer 2020
Doby Tatry 2020
6,300 hikers
€30 entry, €190K in 2020
2021
Doby Hory 2021
13,000 hikers
nine ranges across Slovakia, from Malé Karpaty to Poloniny
- hikers and trees planted, 2019 to 2020
- 14,834
- visitors to the platform
- 206K
- visits
- 457K
partners
brands wanted to bepart of it
From the general partner to outdoor gear, drinks, insurance and a railway: brands that wanted to stand next to the movement.
general partner
platinum partner
platinum partner
main partner
main partner
main partner
main partner
main partner
partner
partner
partner
partner
partner
partner
partner
partner
partner
media partner
partner
partner
partner, Jdi do hor
partner, Jdi do hor- your brand next?we build communities brands want to be part of
the community
27,000 peoplewent hiking
And they brought their phones. Every summit photo was free reach, proof and promotion we did not have to produce ourselves.
- Instagram followerstoday, @dobyhory
- 14.2K
- posts under #dobyhoryon Instagram
- 5,719
- Facebook9.9K followers and a 5.1K group, Nov 2020; since closed
- 15K
Instagram figures from public data, 29 Sep 2026. Facebook from the project’s own report, Nov 2020.
48 hours, 104 kilometres, 6,819 metres climbed, €35 on parking, 6 days, 6 peaks, 6 beautiful days in the Tatras… Thank you for a perfect summer, thanks to this amazing challenge.Thanks to Doby Tatry I climbed my first peak in the High Tatras, then five more, and I know there are many more places I have to go.Thank you Doby Tatry for this beautiful challenge. I enjoyed every single peak, and thanks to you I had a summer full of memories.
bannedthe twist
too viralfor Slovakia
The challenge got so big that Slovakia’s government and nature-protection authorities stopped it. It lives on in the Czech Republic as Jdi do hor, with 1,000+ hikers since 2021 and up to 5 % of every entry going back to nature.
the film
see it in74 seconds
what it means for you
we built itfor ourselves first
Doby Hory was not a client project. It is our own idea, grown into a national phenomenon with exactly the skills we now offer: branding and positioning, content and storytelling, a product people use every week, organic growth, community and UGC, and a funnel that turns attention into paid participation.
more case studies
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