By: Ekrem Dupanović
Davor Bruketa, as President HURA, was certainly one of the busiest people at the recent Weekend Media Festival because of BalCannes and the meeting of the national associations of the advertising industry which he hosted. Despite all of this, he claims he had great fun.
Media Marketing: Now when the passions have calmed, and adrenalin subsided, what is your assessment of this year’s BalCannes?
Davor Bruketa: I was always interested in how advertisers evaluate projects. At most competitions projects are evaluated by creative directors, at Epica this is done by journalists, and at Effies agencies and advertisers. At BalCannes, we got an exclusive evaluation of experienced advertisers in the region. For me, this assessment is important because all of this is done for those advertisers. In addition to the existing jury of journalists who look at projects from their own perspective, opinion of advertisers gave new substance to the festival.
Agencies responded to this opportunity with an increased number of entries, and there were also 15 agencies that have not previously participated.
Media Marketing: Are you satisfied with the decisions of the jury? Opinions among creative are divided, so you can hear that “Why would advertisers assess creative ideas”, although advertisers are always the first jury for every creative idea.
Davor Bruketa: It’s not the “creative idea” that is assessed here, but the overall quality of the project. If creative directors are interested in what other creative directors think about their work, there are numerous local, regional and global festivals they can enter into. At BalCannes, they can find out what advertisers – people for whom these works are done – think about their projects. If this isn’t important to them, then this is not a festival for them.
Media Marketing: You’ve seen the presentations of Top 25 BalCannes creative campaigns. Your assessment on the creativity in our region?
Davor Bruketa: There’s always room for improvement, but I am glad that advertisers have recognized that solutions should be sought outside the usual framework.
Media Marketing: Members of boards of national trade associations from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia met again in Rovinj. Did you just chat over lunch and good wine, or was there some serious talk? Maybe about the upcoming panel on pitches at the Golden Drum?
Davor Bruketa: Thanks to your efforts, and the efforts of colleagues from other national associations, we made the first steps to raise and equalize the standards of the profession in the region. We are launching an initiative to improving the pitching process that will allow advertisers better and easier selection, and will reduce costs of getting a job for agencies.
Media Marketing: Do you share the opinion that this was the best Weekend so far?
Davor Bruketa: Weekend is traditionally good, and for me it was definitely the most fun.
Media Marketing: Apart from the showcase of Top 25 BalCannnes campaigns, what will you remember most about this Weekend?
Davor Bruketa: I’ll remember the gypsum lions that were drying in the sun on the morning of the awards day. In this part of the world we love doing things last minute. It excites us :)
