If anything has defined the communications industry in recent years, it is the feeling that the rules are changing faster than we can check whether the old ones are still valid. AI is accelerating processes, clients are asking for more for less, markets are becoming more sensitive to global shocks, and creativity is constantly trying to secure space beyond mere content production. The question is increasingly being raised whether today it is more important to build a stable system than individual campaigns, a system that can withstand uncertainty while keeping the idea as the central value.
For Represent Communications, a regional integrated communications group within the Represent System, 2025 was precisely such a maturity test. A year of digital business transformation, redefining market priorities, losing certain major projects due to global political decisions, but also winning new clients and strengthening the internal network that today connects four regional markets. All this is happening as the company enters the celebration of 25 years of existence.
About the previous year, industry dilemmas and expectations for 2026 spoke key people of the group: Jovana Cakić, Executive Director Represent Communications, Nataša Božinovska Mirkova, Managing Director Represent Communications Skopje, Jaan Amir Alić, Director Represent Communications Sarajevo, Ivana Bobičić, Director Represent Communications Podgorica, Vladimir Ćosić, Creative Director Represent Communications Belgrade, Emilija Zaevska, Business Development Director Represent Communications Belgrade, Tamara Ivanković, PR Director Represent Communications Belgrade, Marija Mijatović Miletić, Head of Digital Represent Communications Belgrade, Monika Milinković Kostić, Operations Director Represent Communications Belgrade.
Jovana Cakić, Executive Director Represent Communications
1. If you had to summarise 2025 in one strategic decision you would make again, and one you would handle completely differently today, which two “plot twists” would those be?
In Serbia, the entire year behind us was a kind of “plot twist,” with many new roles for all of us. After such a storyline, it is not always easy to draw big conclusions, but essentially, if the year repeated, I would again launch a complete digitalisation of the business with my team. No, this is not the generic “use crisis for growth” narrative, but a fundamental decision to make huge and difficult changes and focus on ourselves. That is exactly what helped us “tighten the network” within the team, we connected better, accelerated processes, increased productivity and introduced new tools into our everyday business. That left more space for creativity, imagination and “the real things.” Everything that is actually the beauty of our job.
As for moves I would not repeat, nobody is flawless, and hindsight rarely brings glory. We embraced every decision and step, and I do not believe we would do anything fundamentally differently. Why? Because even in this difficult year we showed that some collaborations go beyond business, and beyond that there is not much else in agency work.
2. What pushed your agency most this year to grow up, and what made it play again like a child?
When you operate for 25 years at this level, you have long outgrown most “childhood illnesses,” some, honestly, more than once. What pushed us most to “grow up” this year was the pace of growth and the complexity of work. We built an even stronger integrated community across four markets, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, pooled resources, formed cross functional teams and raised delivery standards as one regional system.
The best proof of that maturity is that we independently delivered a world class project such as The Ocean Race, from idea to execution, at the level expected on the global stage.
And what made us “play like children” again was precisely that improvement and development. When you constantly learn, test and push boundaries, the curiosity that made us fall in love with this profession returns. That mindset also led us to finish the year by winning a client such as Lidl.
Ultimately, we developed a Represent network of 130 incredible people who, I will allow myself some immodesty, create wonders every day.
Nataša Božinovska Mirkova, Managing Director Represent Communications Skopje
The year 2025 started strangely but with enthusiasm. We were not aware that geopolitics would affect our clients abroad and thus change our path toward fulfilling our ideas. The new path that opened for us was essentially the path that forced us to see how far we had come in growing up, how productive and efficient we are, where our focus should be and how to play again with a new growth strategy. We played, we made mistakes, we kept learning all the time, and today I believe we are much stronger and more committed than before.
It was challenging. Situations we did not expect turned into serious experience that pushed us to draw a new strategy that sustained us through 2025, and we seriously continued building it in 2026, for which I am confident we are on the right path.
Jaan Amir Alić, Director Represent Communications Sarajevo
We were playful like children until geopolitical developments reached our creative oasis in Sarajevo, the moment newly elected US president Donald Trump decided to halt funding through USAID, with which the Sarajevo branch of Represent had two major contracts. Such a cut put us in a position to cry more like children than play, but we encouraged each other and went through the full repertoire of common phrases, from every crisis being an opportunity, to not crying over spilled milk, to the eternal you never know why something is good. The only perspective we could not adopt was the half full glass one, because in that revenue line it was empty.
Personal confidence and justified faith in the team soon showed that a crisis really can be a new opportunity. With dedication and proactivity we gained new clients. Part of this specific growing up, both personally and professionally, was another realisation that we live in a world where certainty hardly exists anymore, least of all in agency work, but that knowledge, creativity and commitment always find recognition and a path forward.
Ivana Bobičić, Director Represent Communications Podgorica
In a year full of uncertainty and sudden changes, we grew and matured most in situations that forced us out of our comfort zone. Precisely in that space, through everyday learning and flexibility, we learned to adapt faster to unexpected turns and opportunities, to make bold yet thoughtful decisions and to understand that change is most often a natural transition toward something new and better.
What brought us back to childlike curiosity and play was creativity itself, the part of the job that made us fall in love with PR in the first place. Some new clients brought new angles, industries we had not navigated before, and new communication perspectives we are developing together.
As a particularly inspiring project we would highlight creating the new Represent website, a project where we had complete creative freedom to show who we are as a team, our expertise and what makes us different.
Within the team during the year we consciously encouraged thinking outside established frameworks, giving space to ideas that might not have seemed “safe at first,” but were fresh and different. That return to brainstorming and looking at things from another angle introduced a new dynamic into our everyday tasks and reminded us that one of our greatest strengths lies precisely in the mix and balance of our differences, especially a culture that nurtures and supports freedom of personal creative expression.
Jovana Cakić, Executive Director Represent Communications
3. If the Adriatic communications industry were a stock listed company entering 2026, what rating would you give it and why should investors keep or sell their shares?
I would keep buying shares again and again and advise others to do the same because this industry and the whole region are driven by incredible energy, enthusiasm and passion. Every day I meet people whose work drives them to extraordinary limits. Giving up is rarely an option, and adaptability is perhaps our greatest value. Clearly my rating is high, even if it is not always reflected in numbers. Sometimes it is worth taking a risk and playing with your heart. After all, taking risks is what makes everything more exciting.
Vladimir Ćosić, Creative Director Represent Communications Belgrade
4. Which idea in 2025 made you stand up and say “This is why I still do this job”?
During 2025 I saw and experienced many ideas that not only reminded me why I do my job, but also why I still live in my country and why I do not lose hope in humanity. What is unusual is that these ideas did not come from professionals in our industry nor were they distributed through classic advertising channels, yet at their core they were raw, uncompromising, emotional IDEAS. All of them came from protesting students and citizens in Serbia, and I continue to admire them while waiting for their delayed effect to move society forward and change the world for the better.
Emilija Zaevska, Business Development Director Represent Communications Belgrade
5. What was your biggest creative risk this year and did it pay off as expected or in an unexpected way?
From my perspective, the biggest creative risk this year would have been ignoring the AI expansion because it quickly proved that with new tools a good idea is no longer expensive or slow but can be realised faster, more agilely and with more variations than ever.
In practice this was confirmed by our campaign for banning the use of pyrotechnics where the main protagonists were our AI pets. From one central idea we generated multiple formats and iterations, visuals, video cuts, copy variations, and tested them without traditional production bottlenecks. AI did not replace creativity, it shortened the path from idea to execution.
But the same risk had another side, avoiding the trap that AI can do everything. The biggest danger is not AI itself but endless testing of tools, accumulating variations and settling for results that seem “good enough” but dilute the concept. That is why we consciously set a rule, AI is an accelerator, not an author. If the tool does not significantly improve quality or speed, we do not stay in that loop.
Vladimir Ćosić, Creative Director Represent Communications Belgrade
6. Which creative weakness does the regional industry keep hiding?
For me, the biggest weakness has been the same for decades, the organisation and conditions of pitch processes, which are constantly on the edge of the impossible and unacceptable, yet we all accept them, often happy just to be invited. Behind that weakness lies an almost mythical inability for union style professional association in our industry, locally and regionally. I intend to seriously address this issue next year, though I will not reveal my tactics just yet.
Marija Mijatović Miletić, Head of Digital Represent Communications Belgrade
7. Which consumer assumption did you have to break in 2025 because it is no longer true?
The answer might be that consumers want brilliant creativity or multiple pieces of it to drive them to landing pages. However, everyone forgets the basic idea of our job, to offer consumers simple solutions to their needs or problems, or even create a need and convince them it answers something they did not know they needed. It is nice if we entertain consumers along the way, but entertainment alone will not drive conversion.
Monika Milinković Kostić, Operations Director Represent Communications Belgrade
8. What psychological shift in audiences will most shape communication in 2026?
In 2026 people will expect intuitive, human and contextual interaction instead of generic messages and will tolerate fragmented brand communication across channels less and less. Consumers no longer respond to “another ad,” they want experiences that understand them before trying to persuade them.
This shift remains invisible for a long time because it is not loud. It is not an immediate behavioural change visible in feeds, but a change in expectations. People increasingly disengage from templated or inconsistent content while rewarding brands that connect, listen and respond with context.
Integrated communications will therefore become a key competitive advantage in 2026, one message, one tone and one experience across PR, digital, events, retail and customer care, with content adapting to situations rather than templates. The most successful brands will not be those speaking the loudest, but those listening most carefully and aligning all touchpoints into a coherent human experience.
Tamara Ivanković, PR Director Represent Communications Belgrade
9. What was the most unexpected sentence you heard from a client this year and how did it change your work?
A brief that reads “Can we create something everyone will talk about but spend almost nothing?” always catches us off guard. Not because of the budget but because of the weight of expectations and reputational risk behind it. “Everyone talking” is not just reach, it is also about how they talk, what impression remains and whether the brand gains or loses trust.
Once the initial moment passes and the team gathers, such a brief forces us to think outside the box and rely on what is strongest, idea, reputation and precisely guided strategy. Integrated communications then become crucial so PR, social media, influencers, events, content and community appear as one system with a clear narrative and contextual control. Even a small budget can create big impact because energy is not spent on noise but on a strategically orchestrated story that spreads organically and remains credible.
It is not easy to stop relying on budget and start relying on ideas, but such briefs sometimes bring out the best in teams. Ideally though, they should be the exception, not the rule.
10. If you could begin 2026 with one single act of courage that could push the industry forward, what would it be?
Jovana Cakić, Executive Director Represent Communications
I would love our team to have the luxury of dedicating time, knowledge and creativity exclusively to philanthropic ideas and projects. I believe the industry moves forward when change happens, and such projects often bring precisely that. Of course, there is space even within commercial ideas to find an angle that creates change, and we still find ways each month to go home with a sense of purpose.
Nataša Božinovska Mirkova, Managing Director Represent Communications Skopje
Stepping out of the comfort zone is always difficult but not impossible. For us, 2026 is a year when we will have to leave comfort zones more often because of the goals we set. Changes, however difficult, are always welcome because when we least expected it, the best things happened. Personally I love change and challenges, and I believe the Skopje office has faced many professional, human and creative challenges since its beginning, which has led to organic growth every year.
If I must choose, I would choose a professional act of courage because I believe people are the foundation of our business and the team is key to achieving all goals.
Jaan Amir Alić, Director Represent Communications Sarajevo
Neither I nor the Represent team lack courage or readiness to step outside the comfort zone. What often lacks in the creative industry is trust and courage on the other side of the table, openness to change. Not everything is in the algorithm. The algorithm can bring expected reach but it does not guarantee the message will stay with people.
If I had to choose one act of courage in 2026, it would be creating a memorable campaign with a proper budget and full creative freedom, a campaign that moves beyond usual frameworks and enters the life of the city, including spatial interventions. From stadium performances to hot air balloons above Sarajevo, or even a raft down the Miljacka or another navigable river. The point is not spectacle but proof that creativity can still be an event.
Ivana Bobičić, Director Represent Communications Podgorica
When I think about one symbolic but essentially important act of courage, for me it would be skydiving. On a personal level, it would mean consciously accepting a complete exit from the comfort zone and facing the unknown in its literal form. That moment when you must take such a big step forward and trust that everything you know, everything you have learned and all systems in place will work when most needed. I believe such an experience has a deeper effect than the adrenaline adventure itself. It is a physical experience of confronting uncertainty while trusting that you will manage because at your core you have integrity, experience and knowledge.
Translated into the professional context, in the year when we celebrate 15 years of existence and creation in the Montenegrin communications market, the greatest act of courage is that we remained uncompromisingly consistent with our key business values and principles, based on continuous investment in knowledge and innovation and the highest professional standards.
