Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Darko Ivančević, VP Global Brand Staropramen at MolsonCoors, is an expert in beer marketing. In his opinion, there are two pillars of successful marketing today – integrated marketing communication and experiential marketing. And this is precisely what he will be looking for as the Sempler Awards Jury President.
Media Marketing: You have many years of experience working for beer brands. Which are the main specifics of beer marketing (in comparison to other industries where you worked)?
Darko Ivančević: Beer industry is simply great! There are several reasons for that but if I need to emphasize something I would say — the level of dynamics, consumer’s engagement, and passion that are close to beer environment through sports or music events are making beer industry special. And on the other hand, it’s traditional industry with heritage and history. Amazing life cycle of brands, lot of them are more than 100 years old, but still young at heart.
Media Marketing: Beer brands usually have a very loyal consumer base, often in a strong correlation with sports. What can other advertisers learn from the beer brands – what would be your advice to them for building such a devoted community?
Darko Ivančević: I am a big believer in importance of brand consistency. In all industries, but especially in the beer industry where product differentiation is sometimes not so big, brands can make the difference dramatically. That is why brand purpose and brand truth must have consistent message to consumers and deserve the perception what brand really stand for. Speaking of sport, yes, beer brands are very linked and going very deeply to emotions that sport is creating — it’s about pride, about friendship, about life sometimes. I can probably write a book about Ožujsko and 20 years of strong link with the Croatian national football team, with so many great examples of execution, but strategically one great example of consistency.
Media Marketing: Which media channels are the most important for the Staropramen brand? Is it TV that still rules because of the highest reach or are the online and social media taking it over due to more precise targeting and measurability?
Darko Ivančević: It’s hard to answer. Staropramen is globally present in 40 countries, and each market has its specifics that affect channels as well. Some are even dark markets for beer so usage of TV media is restricted, at least for beer. If you ask me for TV in our region, the answer is yes, TV still rules, best reach, etc. But in the question, you gave the answer for digital and social media. Birds know that this is fastest growing and more interactive media of today and future, and probably will take over everything, or better said will integrate everything. Radio on mobile, TV on mobile, just look at the example of newspapers and digital in the past. Media is still here, journalists are writing, but they need to transform business to survive. The pace of such change will transform media scene – media will stay, channels will change.
There are two pillars of marketing communication I really believe that will make difference. The first one is integrated marketing communication. I am big believer of it, and user as well, especially in the last several years’ of Ožujsko campaigns. They had one message, 360 approach, usage of most engaging channels that creates meaningful connection of consumers and brands. And the other one is experiential marketing. Everything today is about experience so I believe that brand projects that will successfully transfer their purpose to experiential platforms in perfect media mix will win.
Media Marketing: If you had a chance to enter one of Staropramen’s media strategies or projects to the Sempler Awards Competition, which one would it be? Why?
Darko Ivančević: Hmm… It’s too early to apply Staropramen projects, especially on global level while we are still creating foundation for brand global consistency. But invite me next year, I am ready to present some case study.
There are several examples on country level execution of the Staropramen brand in last several years. By the way, an interesting Staropramen success is coming from Slovenia itself. Getting 5% of market share in retail, in very closed beer market as Slovenian, with limited media channel availability, is success and great motivator to build brand further.
Media Marketing: What does, in your opinion, a media strategy have to include to be deserving of the Sempler Awards?
Darko Ivančević: I mentioned before the importance of integrated marketing communication. This would be one of my criteria in jury. Of course, it’s not about getting all the available channels, or in some categories we will have focus on one media channel. In both cases, it’s about having a clear insight and big idea of the project, in one word, full alignment of media strategy with the brand strategy.
Media Marketing: As the president of the Sempler Awards Jury, what will you seek in the submitted entries; what criteria, in addition to the ones that have already been defined, will you observe and what will determine the winning media strategies?
Darko Ivančević: Exactly what I mentioned above. Media follow brands that follow consumers and customers. This golden marketing wheel is making one project better from the other. Of course, we are in business, so optimal investments will be compared with results. It’s not about spending the money, it’s about its return, to create meaningful connections with consumers. On top of that, I will keep one eye on using experiences in strategy.
Media Marketing: Technology is becoming an increasingly important part of marketing/media campaigns and this year’s competition introduces a new award for the best technology approach. In your view, how quickly are advertisers in the Adriatic region adopting new approaches in marketing with the help of artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or augmented reality? Can you give an example of the brand in the region that is very successful when it comes to new and different marketing approaches?
Darko Ivančević: Technology is available, we are living in a small world today, so my opinion is that there should not be such a big difference between our region and others as we maybe perceive. And it will go even closer in the future. The most important thing is to realise that it is all about experiences and connecting consumers. This is a focus of today. I want a consumer to experience my brand world, not to read and see it. I want a consumer to be connected to my brand during all journey, and sometimes technology creates new touchpoints and opportunity. Technology today is great enabler and accelerator of this, and it’s precious for marketing today.
Media Marketing: The SEMPL conference is focused on media trends worldwide and regionally. What are the current trends in the media and communications industry that every marketer should not afford to miss?
Darko Ivančević: Mobile, mobile and mobile… I would focus on that. Mobile means everybody is connected to everybody, in every moment, in almost every occasion. Could you imagine what does it mean for marketing and brands? Probably we think we can but I believe we are clueless where it will lead us. Let’s wait for the future to answer that.