Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
The Slovenian Advertising Festival – SOF will be held at the hotel Kempinski Palace Portorož on April 12 and 13. SOF is and remains the central event of the advertising industry in Slovenia, which connects the entire Slovenian marketing profession annually, rewards the best, and through congressional program opens discussions on current issues in the field of market communication.
With two weeks to go before SOF, we talk with Mojca Briščik, Executive Director of the Slovenian Advertising Chamber, which is the organizer of the Festival, and President of Golden Drum.
Media Marketing: SOF is coming in two weeks. Is everything ready and are you satisfied with the number of entries and delegates?
Mojca Briščik: The number of entries exceeded our expectations, although this number is slightly lower than last year, with 366 submitted works (30 less than last year). The most interesting insight after the review of entries is the fact that it’s difficult to forecast which agency most stands out with the quality of their work from the past year. As far as the competition is concerned, this year there will be a fierce fight. The jury led by Mitja Petrovič has their work cut out for them. I believe that nuances will decide in the end. And since we are mentioning figures, we are very satisfied with the current number of registered participants, which indicates that, regarding the perception of the festival in the eyes of the profession and the general public, the level of trust every year grows further. SOF is an event that opens the festival season and offers an overview of the past advertising season, and every year offers a congress program that is tailored to its participants.
Media Marketing: What would you single out from this year’s program?
Mojca Briščik: This is always an ungrateful task because all the content and speakers are carefully selected to include areas that are interesting not only for our agency colleagues, but also for advertisers and media.
This year’s attention will certainly be attracted by hot discussions/roundtables that will be led by Slovenian experts. Sašo Dimitrievski (Pristop) will talk to his guests about the assumption of responsibility for proposed solutions to clients, discussion between Cene Grčar (Pro Plus) and Dr. Roman Berčon (Votan Communications) and their guests will tackle the question of whether native advertising may be even an illegal practice, while on the other hand, there will be a debate on influencers – what is their actual role, and how powerful it is. Branka Bizjak Zabukovec (Futura DDB) will lead this debate.
Data will be discussed by Jason Romeyko, global creative director of Serviceplan Group International and Janez Rakušček (LUNA \ TBWA), together with Manuel Wenzel, Creative Director, TBWA \ Switzerland.
Among foreign guests, who will not leave us indifferent, I would also mention Filip Vizzotto, senior director for Central / South Europe and Africa at Shazam in the UK, Thomas Kolster, author of Goodvertising from Great Britain, Ron Creagan, founder of Endangered Species, also from Great Britain, who will talk about whether brands are on the verge of extinction. Within the Creative Mornings, Gregor Žakelj will host Portuguese artist and illustrator Rita Gomes, who left her mark with directness and colourful language on her blog Rita Bored. Anyone interested in a more detailed program can visit www.sof.si where they can see who will climb the festival stage at the Kempinski Palace Hotel.
Media Marketing: This is your chance to invite all those who haven’t yet registered for SOF. What message would you like to send to them?
Mojca Briščik: SOF is an event that you simply cannot miss. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the best in the industry, to listen to excellent speakers, to meet with colleagues from the industry and beyond, and to spend two evenings to unwind, because the Festival is also an opportunity to have fun.
I would also mention that as part of the closing ceremony we will present the awards Advertiser of the Year and the Advertising Personality of the Year, which this year goes to Enzo Smrekar.
The winners of the Young Creatives competition will also be announced on Friday night. Together with our partner A1, we will once again provide our Young Creatives registration fees for the Cannes Young Lions competition, and the company CMT will provide them with accommodation in Cannes. They will drive there in a brand new Peugeot 3008 GT LINE. On top of all that, NLB will give each of them 500 euro for pocket money. With such support, they will go to Cannes absolutely care free. The total prize value is somewhat less than 6,000 euros.
Media Marketing: You conduct parallel preparations for the SOF and Golden Drum. Then, the SOF ends and you focus all your efforts to the Golden Drum. There’s also the Effie Slovenia. In the meantime, you work on other projects of the Advertising Chamber. How do you keep up your stamina?
Mojca Briščik: In fact, we “drive” all the projects throughout the year. The nature of the job is so dynamic that there is not much time for relaxation (laughs). We learn on mistakes, both our own and those of others. In addition to the projects you mention, under the scope of SOZ there are also: MOSS – website visits measurements; SOZ Academy, members meeting Good morning, advertisers! and the Advertising Court, which plays a very important role in Slovenia, as evidenced by the fact that every year it has more and more work. As a chamber, we are very active in the area of regulation.
First of all I would touch upon the Effie project. Its mandate for 2018 has been taken over by president Barbara Modic and director Marjana Lavrič Šulman. First edition of Effie Efficiency Days has proven that the contents from the field of marketing communication efficiency are both desirable and appreciated. The event was extremely successful.
As for the SOF and Golden Drum festivals, cooperation with the agency partner Paideia Events is already well established and very transparent, as these are two very big and recognizable festivals, even on an international scale. We drive both festivals in parallel throughout the year, because both renew their competition program each year, as well as the red thread of the congress program. Although SOF is currently upon us, we already know the complete composition of the Golden Drum jury (seven months before the festival), the competition brings many novelties, and soon we will reveal the first speakers, together with the renewed competition and jury – immediately after the SOF.
Let me just briefly return to Paideia Events. Collaboration is deepening and growing. It is a partnership that builds on the ‘win-win’ perception and synchronous monitoring of the set goals, which we set together and which are very ambitious. Together with Mojca Majhen, Director of Paideia Events, and with the support of the SOZ Steering Committee, I believe that modesty in our business isn’t something that moves the boundaries and doesn’t open up new opportunities. Only dosed brazenness is the true recipe for new solutions and, ultimately, for new victories.
Media Marketing: Who are the sponsors of SOF? Who provided you the greatest support on this front?
Mojca Briščik: I’m grateful to all the partners who, together with us, co-create SOF. Among the biggest ones I would list: Europlakat, A1, Osiguranje Sava, Drogu Kolinska / Atlantic Grupu, Lidl Slovenija, Triglav osiguranje, Hofer, Mercator and Pro plus.
Media Marketing: Golden Drum celebrates its 25th birthday this year. Will the program match the jubilee occasion? We all expect a true spectacle!
Mojca Briščik: In cooperation with the agency LUNA\TBWA, we have redesigned the visual identity of the Golden Drum, and, as I already said, we reconstructed the competition. The changes relate primarily to the outcomes of the approach to assessment. There are still two pillars / two juries, but their work will be evaluated from two angles. They will no longer only ask “what we are doing”, but above all “why we do it”. According to the Golden Drum Competition Council, composed of Uroš Goričan (Pristop), Petra Krulc (Grey Ljubljana), Janez Rakušček (LUNA/TBWA), Mitja Tuškej (Direct Media), and President Stojan Pelko, this will be a different but a significant step towards a more programmatic approach that the Festival will build in the future.
Again this year we will invite young people to the traditional competition for Young drummers. Their response each year is remarkable, and the creative solutions of young creatives are very interesting and above all innovative.
The congress program will touch on the current issues we are facing, such as: how technology will mark creativity or impact on it; if I was to quote Les Binet (Adam & Eve DDB), who will prevail, Deloitte or Disney – how much of the former and how much of the latter is the true recipe for success; what will be the role of branding in the future; as well as “brand experience”, how will the industry’s attitude towards consumers change in the future, etc.