Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Adnan Arnautlija
Today we bring you an interview with Google’s Creative Lead for Russia. During the 25 years career, his creativity traveled the continents, and picked up praise wherever he landed. He helped Young & Rubicam become the most awarded Russian agency two years in a row and led the global creativity for Barilla before joining Google.
Marco Cremona is no stranger to the Golden Drum, and this year he is coming to hold the speech on the second day of the 24th edition of this international festival of creativity. His lecture is titled Communication in the Goldfish Era, in which he will give some pointers on how to creatively survive in a world of shrinking attention span and overcome the challenges in communication today. You can read some of it in the interview below, but for more you will have to come to the Golden Drum in Ljubljana, from 18 to 20 October.
Media Marketing: You have been in the advertising industry for 25 years now, and have left your mark not only in different agencies but on different continents as well. But what were your first steps in the industry? What attracted you to it?
Marco Cremona: I owe my choice to my dad, who was also a Creative Director and a copywriter. When I was a kid, he used to take me to his office and I remember how mesmerizing it was to look at rooms full of colored markers and drawings and big books full of beautiful images. And what struck me even more was to see the people there: feet on the desk, jeans and t-shirts, merry spirit: it really felt like the place to be. Not to even mention when he took me to set: that was real magic!
Media Marketing: Is creativity universal in any part of the world, or does it take some adjusting when changing the entire setting in which you work?
Marco Cremona: I always thought that the more universal the idea, the better. Because of my background, I have many friends from all over and being able to share my ideas with them without the need for a local premise is fantastic, because they can relate to it immediately and appreciate it. With the passage of time and the proliferation of creative ideas though, genius loci became pivotal because it opened new strategic directions, new briefs and thus new creative opportunities.
Media Marketing: Are you familiar with the creativity in our region? What would you say are the advantages/disadvantages for creativity in our region?
Marco Cremona: I lived in Russia for six years so I’m definitely more familiar with that region than with the rest of Eastern Europe, but in these years I often participated to the Golden Drum so I had the luck to feel the pulse of the region. I really appreciate what Romania in particular has been able to achieve, with the incredible contribution of people of the caliber of my friend Adrian Botan (hall of fame at Golden Drum by the way). Anyway, the advantages lie exactly in the very peculiar culture, which allows to venture into unexplored territories in terms of problem solving and creative output. The downside is that often budgets are not comparable to some other markets.
Media Marketing: During your career you have won numerous awards. Cannes, Clio, D&AD, Epica, Eurobest… all of them have recognized your work. How important are these awards for creatives?
Marco Cremona: Our job is very subjective: if I have an idea and I think it’s amazing while you think it’s awful, it’s impossible to establish who’s right and who’s wrong. So, for me awards have always been an indispensable way to prove that at least you know what you’re doing. Awards are usually downplayed by people who are not talented enough to win them.
Media Marketing: At the Golden Drum, you will talk about Communication in the Goldfish Era. What are the main challenges facing communicators now, and how can they deal with them?
Marco Cremona: The main challenge is to have the humbleness to unlearn old paradigms and to study what’s happening today. It’s not easy because it takes curiosity, determination and a lot of work. But we either go in this direction or we go home. The beauty in all of this is that we can keep our minds flexible and fresh and that for the first time we as creative thinkers have rational tools to persuade clients about the creative choices we make. We can back our ideas up with data, with research, with tangible reasons and this makes our profession more valuable and gives us an authority that through the decades has been stripped away from us.