Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
The fourth KAKTUS Festival of Integrated Communications will take place on November 12 and 13 in Belgrade, organized by the Marketing Mreža. Organizations, companies, institutions and festival agencies can report their best individual and integrated campaigns in 25 categories. Deciding the winners of this year’s KAKTUS is an expert jury of recognized and distinguished professionals from creative, PR and digital agencies from Serbia and the region. As in previous years, KAKTUS 2018 will only celebrate those ideas that go beyond the boundaries of the obvious and despite the difficult conditions inspire and produce the most effective communication with the target groups. Entries are open until September 20th.
On the occasion of the competition for the KAKTUS 2018 awards, the organizers of the festival talked with Serbia’s jury president Jana Savić Rastovac, the creative director of McCann Belgrade agency.
#kaktus 2018: How do you evaluate the marketing communications market in Serbia and how much is it truly integrated?
Jana Savić Rastovac: An integrated campaign implies meaningful use of several channels of communication for the purpose of transmitting the product / service message and opening up dialogue with the people we want to reach by this message. There are many ways to take integrated brand approaches out of the standard pattern of TV spots, billboards and social networking. I think that Serbia has quality and strong brands that need to engage in more courageous and different communication, which will include more active brand integration with purpose, sustainable development, collaboration, e-commerce, branded entertainment. Integrated is everything that is connected within a meaningful whole, not what is repetitive across channels.
#kaktus 2018: How much our agencies, and clients, are truly ready for brave and innovative campaigns? Are we afraid, and of what?
Jana Savić Rastovac: Trust is the key word here. One study by the magazine Contagious showed that the most innovative and bravest brand campaigns take place after a long-standing relationship with the agency. Perhaps a bit discouraging, but certainly important information, is that for an unusual experiment in communication, it sometimes takes a whole decade of partnership with the agency. Large brands in our market are ready for great steps, some of them have proven this past year, with innovative approaches to media space, radical pivots in the production expression, and campaigns that link to goals of great importance to the wider community. I think this is a very good sign.
Fear should not exist, fear is always paralyzing and leads to conformism. Agencies should not be afraid to present their thoughts. If it is well thought out, there is a valid reason for its existence, it is brave and different – an idea should never be self-censored in the agency. Our clients are our partners and we have a duty to be active and proactive in this partnership. Working on a good and unusual campaign is a highly demanding and difficult process, which involves the willingness of both sides to take certain risks. I am optimistic and I welcome the readiness of leading brands in Serbia to take more and more of these risks. The results are visible and good.
#kaktus 2018: Slogan of this year’s festival is “Idea is nothing without execution”. Is it really like that, and can ideas ‘survive’ without quality execution?
Jana Savić Rastovac: Execution is very important. Devil is in the details. Still, execution is nothing without the idea. For me, an idea is queen of everything, and even more important than execution today is perhaps the PR for the campaign itself.
#kaktus 2018: Why is it important for a market to have a national creative festivals, and why should the trade stand behind it?
Jana Savić Rastovac:
Festivals are mirrors, meeting places, and crash courses in growth. Nothing gives an overview of the annual production as a festival. At the festivals we can see where we stand and who we are – absolutely clearly, just as it is, outside the agency walls and our own impressions of how good and successful we are. McCann supports all festivals in Serbia and the region. We believe this is important and necessary, and participation in the festivals contributes to the development of the domestic industry and therefore we are actively present at the KAKTUS Festival since its inception.
#kaktus 2018: What details will you focus on when assessing works, and what kind of works do you expect this year in the competition?
Jana Savić Rastovac:
For me, the idea is most important. I’ll take into consideration the context of the brand, the market, the brief – everything should be taken into account. I think that as a jury we should reward the best and the most innovative. Our choices will speak not only about us, but about the level we want to see, the level to which we strive, the criteria that should lead the entire communication market in Serbia. I invite agencies to sign up for the festival and present their ideas in a focused, smart and courageous manner.
(Entries for the KAKTUS 2018 awards is open until September 20. Conditions of the competition, propositions and categories, as well as the application form and the Rulebook on the work of the jury, can be viewed on the website www.kaktus.rs.)
