Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
The Electoral Assembly of the Croatian Association of Communication Agencies (HURA) was held yesterday in Zagreb. The Assembly elected Davor Bruketa, creative director and co-owner of the agency Bruketa&Žinić OM, as its new president
This is Davor’s first interview after being elected as President of the Association.
MEDIA MARKETING: You were a board member of HURA for the last four years. Because of your dedicated engagement, I sometimes get the feeling that you have nothing else to do but devote your time to HURA’s projects. Where does this immense energy come from?
DAVOR BRUKETA: HURA’s achievements are primarily the result of the work of many members, who have all individually done great work and devoted their time to help our common interests, as well as the employees of HURA and the former Board. I would single out the former President, Damir Ciglar and Director Dunja Ivana Ballon. Without the solid will of all the members of HURA, nothing would have been achieved.
MEDIA MARKETING: How would you assess the current state of the Croatian communications industry ?
DAVOR BRUKETA: Today there are more people engaged in our industry than ever. There are PR agencies, digital agencies, creative agencies, media agencies, internal agencies, media houses, individuals and various ad hoc groups. A good portion of them are not members of the HURA. It’s a very challenging situation because we need to find a new platform where we can find a common denominator for all true industry stakeholders and protect everyone’s common interest.
MEDIA MARKETING: Now that you have undertaken the responsibility of the leading role in the Croatian association for market communications for the next four years, what will be the focus of your work, what is your program?
DAVOR BRUKETA: The new Board, consisting of Andrea Štimac, Mario Fraculj, Božidar Abramović, Daniel Ackerman and I, first and foremost need to continue all of the successful projects in which a lot has been invested already. These include Days of Communication, which has achieved the highest level in its educational activities, BalCannes , which is a regional event that celebrates creativity and gives agencies from across the region the opportunity to present themselves to clients, and the HOWtoWOW school as well. If we can keep up the same level of activity, it will be a success.
On the other hand, it’s necessary to integrate and somehow expand the HURA platform to all the other stakeholders in the industry, as I mentioned in my previous answer. That’s neither an easy nor a quick process, but since we all do similar work, our business will be a lot easier if we identify and acknowledge our common interest and work together to achieve it.
The next key issue for the industry are new markets, and the export of our know-how, first and foremost to Western Europe, because as part of the European Union Croatia is a natural part of this great market. Currently we all do everything, and most agencies still generate most of their income in the domestic market, with very limited opportunities for growth. If we want to grow into the EU market, we have to find niches and specializations that will enable us to. As potential new markets, I also see the Middle East and North America, where many agencies are already operating. I would like to find a platform within HURA’s educational program, through which we could share knowledge – for example, on the functioning of the individual markets, how to access these markets, and how to create new space for growth.
And finally, we will try to talk about initiating certificates for specific skills and services, wherever possible, similar to the European Advertising Certificate (EAC), which we already have, the only program with international recognition for the professional certification of young professionals in the field of marketing communications in Croatia.
MEDIA MARKETING: The end of the business year is near. What was this year like for Bruketa&Zinic OM and for other agencies in the group?
DAVOR BRUKETA: The year was good, we especially grew in the segments of branding and design of retail space. What has become absolutely clear is that an agency that is not digitalized can’t be an agency. Each of our projects is deeply entrenched in digital technology and we are currently integrating our digital and non-digital services. A campaign where the creative director, digital distributor and strategic planner do not monitor results on a daily basis, is a campaign that doesn’t exploit all that technology offers.
We have succeeded in becoming a sort of a one-stop-shop for brands who want integrated communications through all points of contact with consumers. At the same time, depending on the budget, we tailor communications to the specific channel on which the existing resources will bring the greatest return. In addition, digital tools have enabled us to monitor in real time the results of campaigns and adapt them to achieve the best possible result. We have realized projects on which we have successfully applied this model, such as the campaign Future in Adris (Budućnost u Adrisu), which recently received the Masterweb Award for the best web marketing campaign, or even the more recent campaign for Konzum Click, Konzum’s new e-store.
Apart from Adris and Konzum, B&Ž has also realized projects during the year for its other clients: Maistra, TDR, Heineken, Podravka, AutoZubak, Franck, Pliva, Tele2 and numerous other smaller projects, for example, the Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb City Libraries, the Initiative for the Introduction of Civil Education in Schools and the Croatian and Slovenian Paralympic Committees. Brandoctor, Brigada, and B&Ž have worked together on several large-scale integrated projects for Croatia Insurance.
Apart from that, Brandoctor has implemented the successful branding of the largest manufacturer of children’s shoes, Froddo, it is servicing all of our agencies in all countries, it is working on several major tourist brands and with foreign investors. Brigada is working on numerous interior design projects of for offices and retail shops, events, restaurants, and some of their clients are bio&bio, Span, AutoZubak and Booking. In Vienna this year we had a complete change of team, and the office became financially independent with accounts for brands such as Silhouette International, Hofer, WAG, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and the international paper industry Mayr-Melnhof. The agency in Baku is struggling with the consequences of the devaluation of the Azerbaijani currency, and is working for brands such as Hilton, Holcim and Borusan Makina. Popular Bruketa&Žinić OM in Belgrade has won some great pitches this year, but more about that when the time comes, while some of their regular clients are Oil Industry of Serbia, Jaffa and Avon.
MEDIA MARKETING: When you look back at the last 12 months, which memory brings you the greatest joy?
DAVOR BRUKETA: I remember three events – first when we got the news from the Zagreb Tourist Board that the mobile application Zagreb Be There was voted the best digital tourism promotion in Europe at the tourism festival in Paris, then when we got an email from the magazine Lürzer’s Archive that we were included among the 200 best packaging designers in the world, and finally when Brandoctor was included in the global REBRAND Hall of Fame, shoulder to shoulder with only a few other, much larger global branding agencies such as Interbrand.
MEDIA MARKETING: And what would you like to forget?
DAVOR BRUKETA: I can’t remember. :)
MEDIA MARKETING: What do you expect of next year? Will it be better than this one?
DAVOR BRUKETA: I expect first of all that our campaigns will have even better results now that we can offer a truly integrated service, delivered by people with many years of experience in the non-digital communications working on the same team with digital experts. We will have more hires in the field of digital technology. I also expect that the new technology will make it easier to find people who are vulnerable to the problems which our clients provide answers to, so that we will naturally fit into their conversation by offering our product or service as a solution. Campaigns designed in that way are not only far more effective, but advertising itself ceases to be a nuisance and becomes something desirable. I hope that many of the interesting ideas that we are developing within the agency will be successfully implemented during 2016 and that with them we will help someone in their business or in some other positive change.
