Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
In the very first paragraph I want to express my opinion and impressions about the just completed festival of creativity Golden Drum, which in the second part of last week was held in Ljubljana. The team which organized it did a tremendous job, and for that they should be congratulated. SOZ and Paideia did grandiose work already by virtue of keeping alive the festival that has been dying for a couple of years now. Mojca Briščik (SOZ) and Mojca Majhen (Paideia) fought like lionesses to do as much as they can and as better as they can in the conditions set before them: a festival on its last legs, a short deadline, a modest budget and lacking experience in organizing such a big event … Could it have been better? Yes! Could it have been bigger (more participants and works)? Yes! Was it the best that could be done under the circumstances? YES!!!
Two Mojcas must now be prepared for blows over the next ten, fifteen days, often below the belt that are sanctioned even in boxing. Who will criticize them the most? Of course, those who did nothing for the Golden Drum to succeed. Those who spent their days peacefully in their agencies, while the Golden Drum was happening in Ljubljana.
It was almost an organized boycott of Slovenian agencies who prefer free sea, alcohol and sex (which was always plentiful in Portorož). Of course, the boycott was not organized, but almost as if it was. How come at least some agencies didn’t sent their people to the Ljubljana Castle even by accident? There were some, but they could be counted on the fingers of your two hands. The fact that they didn’t come to the Golden Drum speaks much more about the agencies than the Golden Drum – it speaks about the situation in the Slovenian advertising industry. The fact that of the entire region, not a single Slovenian work won an award tells us that the Slovenian agencies certainly need to sit at festivals and learn. They have problems with clients who do not understand their creative ideas? Golden Drum in Ljubljana was a great opportunity for the agencies to invite their clients to the festival, to learn a little bit – and they most certainly had people to learn from there. But no. It’s easier to boycott the Golden Drum than survive the thought that there is no more the leisurely five days in Portorož.
Everyone is guilty for such a harsh attitude of the Slovenian advertising industry to the Golden Drum. Even the media that very modestly covered the events at the Ljubljana Castle, as if it was something about the industry of lead and steel, and not about the advertising industry – the bread and butter of all the media.
Speaking of media, it is possible that this year’s Golden Drum could be remembered for giving birth to a new medium of the advertising industry of Croatia, and perhaps the region. At the meeting which Mojca Majhen organized after the regional panel on pitches, there was a long discussion between Dunja Ivana Ballon, director of HURA, and Marjan Novak, chief editor of the Slovenian Marketing Magazine. After a very detailed analysis of one issue of Marketing Magazine, Dunja asked, “Could you do such a magazine for Croatia?” “Yes, of course we can,” Marjan replied. Was this the first step in the creation and launch of a new print media of the advertising industry in Croatia? Why not? The Croatian industry needs its own medium. Marjan Novak and his team are certainly a good choice. Marjan is a journalist with long experience at the BBC, who is well informed about the situation in the regional advertising industry and I sincerely believe that this would be a great magazine. On the other hand, national associations of the advertising industry of the region (HURA, UEPS, SOZ and MAAM) are looking for opportunities to establish cooperation on the development of national industries. Perhaps the model of cooperation between HURA and Marketing Magazine would also be good for the UEPS with a vision to create a regional magazine.
Today I write only about the most important impressions. The Golden Drum is our theme of the week, so we’ll write something about it every day.