diferent labs 🧪 DOBY HORY

Hiking Challenge Turned

Viral Outdoor Brand

DOBY HORY

Total followers

37,900+

from 0

Gained across all social media

About The Project

Doby Hory is a hiking challenge brand that turns climbing Slovak peaks into a gamified community adventure.

5M+

People reached

250K+

Website visits

24K

Participants

127K+

Mountains conquered

intro

Doby Hory started as a simple idea: turn Slovak mountains into a game. Hikers had 2–3 months to conquer 6–9 peaks, take a photo on each summit and upload it to the website to earn a custom medal – and help plant trees in the Tatras at the same time.

With zero ad budget and no existing community, the project went viral. In its very first challenge, over 5,000 people joined and generated around €200,000 in revenue in two months. Over the next three years, Doby Hory grew into one of the biggest hiking communities on Slovak social media – built almost entirely on organic content.

highlights

services

video shooting

video editing

photography

content creation

vide ads

creative direction

social media strategy

social media management

paid ads

branding

brand strategy

PR & media outreach

tv / radio / magazines

merch & t-shirt design

+15,900

+22,000

instagram

gained followers

facebook

gained followers

instagram

+15,900

gained followers

facebook

+22,000

gained followers

the problem

No brand, no audience, no media budget

When Doby Hory launched, there was:

no existing social media presence,
no email list or community,
no paid ads budget,
and a new product people had never heard of.

The challenge itself was powerful, but without attention, no one would register – and the project would die after the first season.

the problem

No brand, no audience, no media budget

When Doby Hory launched, there was:

no existing social media presence,
no email list or community,
no paid ads budget,
and a new product people had never heard of.

The challenge itself was powerful, but without attention, no one would register – and the project would die after the first season.

the strategy

Build a movement, not a campaign

Instead of pushing “tickets” with ads, we positioned Doby Hory as a movement for people who love Slovak mountains and want a reason to get outside.

Key steps:

Brand from scratch – name, visual identity, website, copy, medals and story behind the challenge.
Organic-first social strategy – inspirational photos from Slovak peaks, motivational captions, and clear CTAs to join the challenge.
Community “growth hacks” – personally messaging people to reshare posts, using UGC from participants, featuring their stories and posts, and making every participant feel like part of a tribe.
Simple, viral mechanic – “conquer these peaks in 2–3 months, upload summit photos, get a medal and plant trees.”

Everything was designed so people would want to talk about it, tag friends and share their own progres

the strategy

Build a movement, not a campaign

Instead of pushing “tickets” with ads, we positioned Doby Hory as a movement for people who love Slovak mountains and want a reason to get outside.

Key steps:

Brand from scratch – name, visual identity, website, copy, medals and story behind the challenge.
Organic-first social strategy – inspirational photos from Slovak peaks, motivational captions, and clear CTAs to join the challenge.
Community “growth hacks” – personally messaging people to reshare posts, using UGC from participants, featuring their stories and posts, and making every participant feel like part of a tribe.
Simple, viral mechanic – “conquer these peaks in 2–3 months, upload summit photos, get a medal and plant trees.”

Everything was designed so people would want to talk about it, tag friends and share their own progres

community

From 0 followers to one of the biggest hiking communities

Over a few seasons, purely through organic content, we grew:

Facebook: from 0 to 22,000+ followers
Instagram: from 0 to 15,900+ followers
Reach: more than 5,000,000 people during campaigns
Website traffic: over 250,000 visits
Participants: around 24,000 people registered across all challenges

The feed was driven mainly by strong visuals (mountain photography) and emotional, motivational copy that spoke directly to hikers: overcoming limits, seeing Slovakia differently, and doing something good for nature.

Doby Hory became a media topic on its own – covered by regional tourism boards, lifestyle media and blogs as a fresh way to promote domestic tourism and support reforestation in the Tatras.

community

From 0 followers to one of the biggest hiking communities

Short-form content made Talpa House go viral, but we knew a house is not an impulse buy. So we produced long-form “trust builder” videos: real homeowners in their underground houses, talking about light, moisture, safety, bills and everyday life. These testimonials on YouTube passed 200k views and became the key asset for serious buyers who needed proof, not promises.

The Result

From zero to a €250k+ brand driven by social media

The very first challenge reached 5,000+ participants and generated about €200,000 in revenue in two months.
Over three years, Doby Hory grew into a €250,000+ project in total revenue.
The entire acquisition funnel – awareness, community building and registrations – was powered almost exclusively by organic social media.

For many people, Doby Hory became the hiking challenge in Slovakia – a brand they associated with mountains, medals and planting trees.

Community Content

When your audience becomes your media team

Doby Hory didn’t just get likes – it took over people’s feeds.

Thousands of hikers tagged us in their stories and posts on Instagram and Facebook, and tens of thousands of photos appeared under the #DobyHory hashtag. On YouTube, hundreds of user-made videos documented people conquering the peaks, unboxing medals and sharing their experiences.

This user-generated content became a self-running engine: every new post was free reach, proof and promotion we didn’t have to pay for or produce ourselves.

What this means for you

We know how to turn an idea into a community and a business

Doby Hory wasn’t a client project – it was a solo project built from scratch and grown into a national phenomenon using exactly the skills we now offer as an agency:

branding and positioning,
content strategy and storytelling,
organic social growth,
community building and UGC,
funnels that turn attention into paid participation.

If you have a strong idea, product or experience – especially something community-based – we can use the same playbook to turn it from “nice concept” into a living brand with real revenue and a loyal audience.

more case studies

Talpa House

Turned Talpa House from a niche weird underground house into the trusted, top-of-mind brand.

Views

8M+

Paid leads

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