Brand silence once meant neutrality, whereas today it increasingly signals a stance. According to Harvard Business Review, based on Edelman Brand Trust analysis, nearly two thirds of consumers choose or reject brands precisely according to their stance on social issues. At the same time, fatigue with perfect, sterile campaigns is growing – audiences increasingly respond to communication that is real, sometimes imperfect, but sincere.
In the space between social responsibility, creative risk and the need for authenticity, the regional campaign “Till Death Do Us Part” also emerged, launched by McCann Belgrade with the aim of raising awareness about femicide prevention. The project, realised without a traditional budget but with a clear social impulse, showed how communication today can also have a broader impact beyond the industry itself.
About what the balance between creative courage and responsibility looks like today, where the industry still looks for excuses instead of solutions, why audiences increasingly tolerate brand neutrality less, and what psychological and cultural shifts we can expect in communication during 2026, we spoke with Radojka Bošković – Managing Director, Jana Savić Rastovac – Creative Director, Dušan Antonijević – Senior Strategic Planner, and Jelena Urošević – Group Account Director.
Radojka Bošković, Managing Director
1. If you had to summarise 2025 in one strategic decision you would make again, and one you would take completely differently today – what would those two “plot twists” be?
The accelerated pace of the industry often requires quick decisions. In moments when expectations are further intensified by external circumstances, it is not a bad idea to pull the handbrake. A strategy of making rapid decisions, although sometimes necessary, does not always prove correct. In contrast, a strategy based on understanding and a balanced approach more often brings long-term, more stable and effective results.
2. What pushed your agency most this year to grow up, and what made it play again like a child?
Although numerous external influences took away some of last year’s carefree spirit, we managed to play through bold ideas and recognised projects, new partnerships, as well as old ones renewed and confirmed by years of trust and shared successes. In fact, we play whenever we free ourselves from the weight that restrains that play.
3. If the Adriatic industry were a company on the stock exchange, what rating would you give it entering 2026? And why should investors keep (or not keep) their shares?
A strong company with pronounced growth potential. Sometimes it is best not to make sudden moves but to “freeze” the shares and wait for the potential to fully materialise. I think this is such a moment.
Jana Savić Rastovac, Creative Director
4. Which idea in 2025 made you stand up from the table and say “Okay, this is why I still do this job”?
You won’t hear me saying this sentence to myself after watching a great campaign, although in 2025 there were several. Good campaigns are a “smile in the mind”, confirmation that we are not alone in the sea of pop-culture products. I will say it more often in the invisible moments of creation, in that subtle spark that connects synapses in the insight that right now, at this moment, we have collectively touched magic. The birth of an idea is the greatest excitement. That is why I am in this job.
5. What was your biggest creative risk this year, and did it pay off in the way you expected… or in a way you could not foresee?
Our biggest risk and great satisfaction this year was launching the regional campaign dedicated to femicide prevention “Till Death Do Us Part”. We coordinated and implemented the campaign from Belgrade across eight markets in our region where AMA Group operates, with creative and media agencies, civil society organisations, fashion designers, partner agencies, media, activists and ordinary people. The risk of launching a campaign without a budget and with a strong gut feeling paid off in an incredible public response, the enthusiasm of our collaborators, and media openness to cover this topic. Our decision to address a complex social issue through fashion, through an unexpected channel, proved to be a good one. We are empowered only when we are educated, and therefore education is the focus of our campaign.
6. Which creative weakness does the industry in the region persistently hide, and what would you do if someone appointed you to “expose” it during 2026?
The greatest creative weakness is excuses – that intoxicating filler we rely on too often, and there are always many excuses. Excuses that it’s not the right time, that deadlines, social circumstances, risk, boards, price, lack of budget, or the mystical being “the consumer who won’t understand” prevent us. Excuses are easy. Answers are hard, but they are worthwhile.
Dušan Antonijević, Senior Strategic Planner
7. Which common assumption about consumers did you have to “break with a hammer” in 2025 because it was no longer true?
That brands and influencers should remain undefined in relation to social events surrounding consumers. Both globally and locally, it has proven that consumers no longer allow such luxury and carefully observe who understands and respects the circumstances of their lives. And they notice even more carefully who remains silent. Consumers find it important that the brands they choose participate in the same world they live in, that they are present and go through good, bad and stressful moments together with people. It is important for them to recognise someone of their own, but also someone who has the courage to take a stance in today’s world. They want to know what brands stand behind and how they see the reality surrounding us, because it is a world we all share. Ultimately, it is important that brands are not indifferent.
8. If you had to predict one psychological shift in audiences in 2026 that will most change communication, what is that shift, and why is it invisible until it happens?
For a long time, brands have tried to find ways to make things easier for us, do things instead of us or speed up what we do. However, it is also human nature to struggle a bit. It is perfectly normal to face obstacles, for things not always to go smoothly, for some friction to exist. It is in our nature to feel satisfaction when effort helps overcome a problem. People have grown tired of perfection, polish and ease. When everything is easy, always consistent, in its place, it quickly becomes boring. And I think we have slowly but surely grown tired of seeking ways to escape into ideal scenarios.
2026, and the years that follow, will be a true search for imperfect, unpolished, authentic experiences. Experiences that are not rational, that we sometimes cannot even explain, but that simply make us feel something and feel human. Experiences that bring us together, include us, and genuinely give us a chance to have fun. We will have to be ready to plan more flexibly, constantly not only to follow but to participate in culture, and above all to be less serious and more ourselves. Not to communicate to consumers, but to create together with them, solve problems together, and have fun together.
Jelena Urošević, Group Account Director
9. What is the most unexpected sentence you heard from a client this year, and how did it change your brief, campaign or relationship?
I will just tell you that when the client said “We agree, go ahead” about something we presented boldly, which was not foreseen in the original brief, it changed the course of the project.
From one assignment we created another, from a service relationship a partnership.
Okay, it’s not that we didn’t know what we were doing because we clearly presented the effects of what was proposed. But we didn’t know what the reaction would be, because such steps always require a dose of courage. And it was excellent. And so, instead of staying within the framework of the initial task, the brief opened up, and with it the campaign.
That one unexpected sentence changed the direction of the project. The result was the most awarded YouTube series for youth at last year’s festivals and confirmation that the best work emerges when a client understands and supports the logic behind change.
10. If someone offered you to start 2026 with a single “act of courage”, professional, creative or human, that would completely push you out of your comfort zone and move the industry one step forward… which act would you choose and why?
Jana Savić Rastovac, Creative Director
Let’s abolish the four-member family in pastel sweaters sitting at dining tables in ads.
Dušan Antonijević, Senior Strategic Planner
To stop asking whether something is too bold, and every time we face that dilemma, choose the bolder option. I believe our region is rich in creativity and life energy, and it is up to us as an industry to embrace it – not only to look up to the best global examples, but to create them ourselves.
Jelena Urošević, Group Account Director
I would choose honesty, something we often lack. I connect it with courage, because honesty has become a true “sporting discipline”. It means saying something works, accepting reality and supporting a good but risky idea. It is not easy to be honest, but like any muscle, honesty needs exercise.
