Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
As you are reading the third part of the interview with Miša Lukić, you have the privilege of learning some exclusive news: as of this month, all Publicis One agencies in the Adriatic region are connecting into a single agency, which will be managed by a five-member management team. This change comes nine months ahead of schedule. Find out why, and what guided Miša to make this step, which will be followed by several more similar steps in the region for which he is responsible.
Media Marketing: There were changes in the Adriatic region as well. How important is our region in the part of the world for which you are responsible? Small or not at all, given the size of the budgets?
Miša Lukić: Given the size and the number of countries for which I have overall responsibility, the Adriatic region, by its financial indicators, is not among my first priorities. Although it contains eight countries, in financial terms it represents less than 10% of the budget for which I am responsible. This, on the other hand, does not mean that we won’t concentrate on this region in the future, and give our best to provide top quality service to our clients. To prove that this is not just empty talk, I have a piece of exclusive news for Media Marketing.
As of this month, Publicis One will fully connect all its assets in the countries of the Adriatic region, from Slovenia to Macedonia, into a single agency. This is a revolutionary transformation and means a huge change for the better, both for clients and for employees. No one has ever done such a thing in this area – not even affiliates that have a single owner – because this change doesn’t mean consolidated financial and operational reports and cooperation between the countries and agencies in them, but a real fusion of all the resources and talents.
Media Marketing: You got a nickname in Paris because of that.
Miša Lukić: Because of this idea I was dubbed Tito in Paris. This integration will mean that from now on, all the resources in the Adriatic region will be consolidated and clients will be able to count on all those talents and resources no matter which country they operate in, which had not been available to them before. You will soon get the official information about the new regional management team and other details related to this organizational change.
The plan is to implement this type of synergy in other regions as well, in parallel with the integration of our creative, media and digital brands within each country. It was a logical move, given that my extended region counts thirty countries and that it was necessary to create additional synergies among the countries to make resource management easier and more flexible, and to give clients the maximum value regardless of the country they operate in. My plan for the next three years is to integrate the countries where there is an economic logic for their connection. This would mean that in the wider region, instead of 30, we would have 5 markets and the same number of leaders who will be responsible for these markets.
My goal for the next three years is to double the revenue in the region I’m in charge of, which would be the highest growth of one such region in the world
Media Marketing: How are you planning to implement that?
Miša Lukić: First we started with the eastern region, in which I included the Ukraine, the Baltics, Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries. Turkey itself is sufficiently large and complex to be independent, and the third entity will be our Adriatic region. In the next two years I will create two more sub-regions; one will be a combination of the countries of Central Europe, and in the end we will integrate Greece, Bulgaria and Romania into one unit.
All these changes will provide great synergy, which will be converted into a substantial increase in the quality and efficiency of our work.
Media Marketing: Which of the markets surprised you the most after you got to know all thirty of them?
Miša Lukić: The biggest surprise was that in almost every country there is a hidden diamond, and in some cases even the people in those countries were not aware of its value.
I will mention only a few examples. Hungary: Digital Content Development. Czech Republic: Community Management. Turkey: Digital Media Solutions & Programmatic. Bulgaria: Social Listening & Design Thinking. Romania: Creativity & Innovation.
When we talk about individual countries in my region, in my opinion the greatest potential and challenge is Turkey
Media Marketing: And which of them has the highest potential? Which of them represents the greatest challenge, where you can implement the most of your knowledge and experience?
Miša Lukić: Almost every country in my region has the potential to grow in revenue by more than 20%, and some of them by even more than that. My goal for the next three years is to double the revenue in the region I’m in charge of, which would be the highest growth of one such region in the world.
This can be done in several ways. First you need to introduce new kinds of sophisticated services in the fields of technology and innovation, media services, data performance, business and digital transformation, content development, strategic consulting… which Publicis Groupe is already successfully practicing in the largest countries of the world, and here they would bring a serious shift in the market.
When we talk about individual countries in my region, in my opinion the greatest potential and challenge is Turkey. We already have extraordinary people, brands and capabilities there and, with the additional investments that we are planning, it is certainly one of the most promising markets, where we can make fantastic progress.
Media Marketing: Where did you sleep most often over the last year, in a plane or in your own bed?
Miša Lukić: Neither in planes nor in my own bed, but in hotels.
An interesting thing is that my residence was not supposed to be in Belgrade, but in Prague, Budapest or Istanbul, but I insisted that I stay in Serbia. Even with all my desire to stay in Belgrade, it would not have been possible had I not provided evidence that Air Serbia has direct flights to most of the countries for which I am responsible. Therefore, many thanks to Air Serbia and Etihad!