Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
My first interview with Miša Lukić was six-and-a-half years ago. That occasion was the award for the best agency in the Adriatic region, which Leo Burnett Belgrade had won at the Golden Drum Festival 2010. At the time we dedicated the cover and six pages inside the print edition of Media Marketing to Miša Lukić. I didn’t know him back then. My interview questions reached him in Chicago, and he wrote his answers on his flight back to Belgrade. In the meantime, we met and became friends. That’s probably why this interview has been a year in the making. It’s not a problem to tell a friend: “Sorry, I don’t have time.” It was much easier for Miša seven years ago. One transatlantic flight and the interview was over. But the conversation you’ll read this week – in three parts over the next three days – was made during the course of several flights in the part of the world for which Miša Lukić is now responsible in Publicis One. And all the pieces of the puzzle had to fall into place for Miša to spend a whole week in Belgrade, which is when I got what I needed. Miša usually leaves Belgrade by plane at noon on Monday, and returns home on Friday. That’s why he says at the end of this interview that he spent more nights in hotels last year than in his own home.
Exactly 12 months ago when he was appointed one of five regional CEOs of Publicis One in the world – which is probably the highest accolade that anyone in this region has ever received – he promised me that his first interview would be for Media Marketing. I thought that promise was my reward for keeping silent for nearly two-months, which is how long I lived in a state of anticipation, keeping myself from publishing the news because it had not yet gone through all the filters in the PR department of Publicis One in Paris, and had I published it, I would have created considerable problems for him. But that wasn’t the case; his promise was not compensation for my silence. Now, a year later, I got the interview and we are still the first to publish it. Miša kept his word.
I love the English language. Not because I speak it well (on the contrary, I’m quite lousy at it), but because there is no distinction between the formal and informal ‘you’. One of the golden rules of journalism is that interlocutors should always be addressed with the majestic plural (the formal ‘you’) in the media. Over the next three days, I will exempt myself from the journalistic convention and violate this rule. For those who read this interview in the English version it won’t make any difference, but to you, my dear readers, who read it in ‘our’ language, I apologize for this ‘lack of manners’. In any case I think you’ll enjoy reading this interview today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Media Marketing: In mid-March last year you took over the post of one of the five CEOs of Publicis One in the world, and with it the responsibility for 30 markets. Were you expecting such a thing? Were there any hints that Maurice Levy was considering you for such a high seat?
Miša Lukić: I have had the honor of being offered a high regional position with the Publicis Group twice so far in my career. Eight years ago, I was supposed to take the helm of Leo Burnett in the seventeen countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but I politely thanked them, explaining that with my entrepreneurial spirit and my similar agency leadership style I would not fit into, nor would I enjoy, the corporate world and the rules imposed in such an environment due to the nature of the work and the position.
However, at the beginning of last year when the global CEO of Publicis One, Jarek Ziebinski, offered me the chance to be a Publicis One CEO responsible for 30 countries, the challenge was too great not to accept. Especially since I was told that, alongside all my previous achievements and experience, it was my entrepreneurial spirit that was crucial to my being proposed for this responsible position within the new concept of Publicis One – which has entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial mindset and decision-making at its core.
Media Marketing: What particularly attracted you?
Miša Lukić: Publicis One, as a business model and concept, contains everything that I have advocated and believed in throughout my life. The name I gave to my own agency 15 years ago was Synergy. I taught Integrated Marketing Communications for almost a decade, and most of my creative awards at local, regional and international festivals were for integrated campaigns. I’ve always believed in a holistic approach, so I never divided the agencies I ran into narrow specializations. I even didn’t have a digital department when everyone else was introducing that. I didn’t believe in digital departments, but in digital orientation, as one of my friends commented back then.
As for my new position, the chairman of our group, Mr. Maurice Levy, a global legend in our profession, personally approved my appointment on the basis of a seven-page written explanation stating everything related to my professional work, and my personal life as well.
There wasn’t a single moment when I thought that I would not be able to manage it, but I did feel the huge responsibility, and my only concern was not to disappoint the man who recommended me for this position, Jarek Ziebinski, global CEO of Publicis One
Media Marketing: Were you surprised when you were offered this position?
Miša Lukić: To be honest, even though over the last fifteen years with the Leo Burnett agency I have attended the world’s best senior management programs, and was selected as one of 12 future leaders for Europe, and was therefore a candidate for the highest regional positions, I still didn’t believe that, having refused twice, I would ever be offered a regional position within the group again. It was a particular surprise that this time the regional position entailed responsibility not only for the creative agencies, but also for all media, digital, PR and other specialized agencies within our group, and all that in a region which, in addition to Central and Eastern Europe, includes the Baltic countries, Greece, Turkey and the countries of Central Asia, all the way to Mongolia. It’s a sign of great trust, and an honor which is rarely given to anyone from this area in any industry. I am very grateful for this opportunity. At the same time, I am aware of the enormous responsibility, because I know that I do not just represent myself personally now, but also the country and the region from which I come.
Media Marketing: This appointment changed many things in your life overnight. First of all, because of the conflict of interest, you had to give up your whole ownership stake in the Publicis agencies in Belgrade (Publicis, Leo Burnett, Saatchi&Saatchi).
Miša Lukić: You’re right. The new appointment has completely transformed my life.
In the business plan, and after a period of fifteen years, in which I was first an independent entrepreneur and then a co-owner in partnership with the Publicis Groupe, due to a possible conflict of interest I had to sell my share to the Group. If you’ve ever been an owner you won’t need to be told what it means to sell your firm and start over as an employee, even if it’s at such a high and prestigious level.
On the other hand, it’s completely different to manage one or several countries, than to manage a quarter of the world. Not only did the new function bring a disproportionately larger responsibility than I had ever had, but I also had to adapt quickly and, instead of playing one game of chess, I had to play simultaneous matches on 30 boards.
There wasn’t a single moment when I thought I wouldn’t be able to manage it, but I did feel the huge responsibility and my only concern was to not disappoint the man who proposed me for this position, Jarek Ziebinski, global CEO of Publicis One. Of course there were moments when I wondered whether I needed all this. But as time went on, I realized what a fantastic job this was for me. All my positive attributes and experiences began to come to the fore and help me to overcome the obstacles, which were lining up like a 100m race with hurdles, with increasing ease. All my previous knowledge and experience in the different areas and different countries and continents where I worked have also helped me a lot. At the same time, I truly love working with people and inspiring them – sharing my vision with them. In the first few months the fact that it has never been a problem for me to make difficult decisions was especially helpful, as was the fact that I have never lacked the determination and will to reach the determined goal in spite of everything. But I still think the most helpful thing was (and still is) the fact that I don’t wake up in the morning thinking about how to keep the job and the position that I have, but I wake up with the idea of doing something big with the great people that I’ve chosen, not only in order to transform Publicis One in the region, but also so that the agency model that we are developing and establishing can be a model that our entire industry will adopt, and open the path to a bright future for our profession. That’s exactly what drives me – participating in making history in the profession that has given me so much, and now I have the opportunity to give something back.
Every organization is perfectly designed for the results that it currently achieves. If you want different results, you have to redesign your organization
Media Marketing: What has changed in your personal life since taking on the new position?
Miša Lukić: My private life has also changed dramatically. I’m usually only in Belgrade on weekends, and, especially at the beginning, that was very hard for me and my wife Dragana, as well as for our loved ones, in which I include family members and close friends. Perhaps it was our mini schnauzer Ogi, who is well known to all my Facebook friends, who suffered most obviously.
After the initial shock, we realized that we needed to adapt to the new situation and now it’s much easier. We have learned to make the time we spend together the best quality time possible, and not to burden ourselves with technical matters and daily trivialities, but to be aware of every moment together and do our best to make those moments full of love, laughter and pleasure. It seems to me that now we are more together than ever before.
In times when we all have to undergo transformation, you can analyze the past, but you have to create, or rather design, the future
Media Marketing: I know that you worked on Business Design and the development of some original projects in this field. Is this now waiting for some better times?
Miša Lukić: As an approach to solving business problems in a creative way, the Business Design became my new professional love five years ago, and this love has not only lasted, but is growing every day. Fortunately, my new position does not require me to give up this love, but even helps me to be in contact with it every day and to be even more successful.
Steve Jobs wisely observed that some people think design means how something looks, but if you look deeper, design is actually how something works. To make something work well you must design it well, and this is particularly the case with complex structures such as business.
Every organization is perfectly designed for the results that it currently achieves. If you want different results, you have to redesign your organization.
Bearing in mind all the transformative changes that have taken place in the last two decades, it is clear that every organization designed to succeed in the last century, is doomed to failure in the 21st century if it doesn’t transform. That’s why we have witnessed that most of our clients are being forced to seriously redesign their business, while they are still constantly expected to show maximum performance. There’s no time for a break, so everything is looking more and more like changing the engine on a plane while it’s in the air.
It is obvious that in this transformation our clients need real business partners – who amount to more than the agencies of today that are trying to solve every problem with a single tool, communication. On the other hand, our clients also need different services than those they receive from today’s business consultants who try to solve their client’s problems by looking in the rearview mirror. The way most of today’s business consulting firms are trying to help their clients is no longer effective, because, in times when we all have to transform, you can analyze the past, but you have to create, or rather design, the future.
Creativity and originality, which communication agencies have, a deep understanding of consumers (people) and social trends, along with sufficient knowledge of the client’s business, can be of great help to the client in this turbulent era, not only in communication but also in all other spheres of their business, especially in innovation.
Business Design is one of the most effective ways agencies can be business partners to their clients in the digital and structural transformation of their companies. Everything I have learned in this area in the last year I’m imparting to the Publicis One agencies throughout the region. Soon, as a result of all our invested efforts, we will open the regional Business Design Centre of Excellence in Sofia, and on the other hand, also in the first half of the year, we are bringing to the region our specialized brand Sapient, through which all agencies in the region will get highly professional knowledge that will help us to be true partners to our clients in the digital transformation of their business, e-commerce, big data analytics & management and strategic consulting. This will take our relationship with the client to a whole new level.
On the other hand, in order to be able to help our clients in their transformation, we first need to transform ourselves. My knowledge and interests in the field of Business Design will be of great help to me in this field as well. The whole industry is at a critical point, where huge changes are forcing us not only to look for new ways to solve problems, but also to seek new problems that our industry can solve.
All in all, Business Design not only doesn’t have to wait for better times, but it’s also likely that there is no better time than now to practically apply it to one of the world’s leading companies which has some of the best clients in the world, ready to transform and redesign their business.
Tomorrow read: This was, if not the most difficult, then certainly the most demanding year of my professional career