Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Photo: Slobodan Jovanović Coba
Photo by: Vladimir Miladinović Piki
Slobodan Jovanović Coba is an eternally young veteran of the communications business. He began his career in 1991 and as a partner he has been part of some of the most interesting independent creative companies in Serbia, such as the Trans:East, ICPS Infinity, Frame Media. Since 2003 he has been the owner of Coba&Associates agency, perhaps the first agency in the region devoted strictly to branding. He’s one of the founders and a creative director of the design portal Designed.rs. The Coba&Associates portfolio abounds in a number of important regional identities, various packaging designs and numerous successful campaigns.
Media Marketing: What are the characteristics that your business has retained since its foundation to date?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: From the very beginning we focused on the brand and branding as the basis of a modern business. We did not work on the creation and placement of advertising messages, but wanted to create a basic story and direction that any future campaign should contain as a value and line of action.
The brand is the main carrier of the message and an integral part of the DNA of any company, and careful attention to it facilitates control over the brand itself and enhances its reputation. It has always been our starting point. For every project. Design, as a modern means of communication, enhances this feeling, for the owner of the brand and for the consumer, so we always try to make our design strong and distinctive.
Media Marketing: What do you think about in the morning as you go to work?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: Nothing in particular. But I’m always happy when I set off to work because I find my coworkers stimulating. Every day brings us something new.
Media Marketing: Clients have changed throughout the years that you’ve spent in the communications industry. How would you describe the client of today?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: Today’s client is well informed and more sophisticated than 25 or so years ago when I was starting out. Our services are unique and we usually organize and develop everything that has to do with the project in close collaboration with the owner or the CEO. This important element simply must be in the hands of someone who makes executive decisions. Therefore, the client is usually a partner and part of the team. On the other hand, technology has enabled a large number of people to have access to design, and many have started taking real engagement and its value too lightly. This is natural, since the client is always looking for the best way to profit. Unfortunately, the area of promotion, which sells their product, is always the first to suffer.
Media Marketing: Where do you see the biggest changes in work since you started?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: In decision making. Business has become very dynamic and digital environments have given everyone the opportunity to quickly toss out solutions and, which is worse, semi-solutions. There are a lot of those. Great ideas, but poorly executed because of lack of time and money, and very often even because of the client’s level of education in the practice of marketing. But that just tells us that the approach should be changed, that ideas need to be modified and be more effective and easier to use. On the other hand, there are projects that are worked on thoroughly and over a long time. Sometimes even too much so, but then there is a space that allows reflection and better understanding in strategic terms. It allows stepping aside, experiencing and creating additional narratives in communication that qualitatively raise the value of the product – but also the cost of “production”.
Media Marketing: What is missing in the market that would make your work truly enjoyable?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: A system that encourages people to create new values, open production facilities and develop ideas that change the world and our consciousness. Major projects carry a huge responsibility, and therefore the focus is more pronounced and the final product is more impressive.
Media Marketing: What’s your team like?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: The best. I believe that one needs to have luck in finding associates, and what is most important to me is that there are good people around me. They bring a good atmosphere and thus create a basis for creativity and enjoyment in what we do. We are a small, compact community.
Media Marketing: Is there something you couldn’t do without in the studio?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: I like team work, although I’m quite an introvert. The daily questions as you pass by, and “What do you think about this or that,” or “How about…”, “Oh look how beautiful this is!” and “Could this really do the trick?” …
Media Marketing: This spring you will unveil the new visual identity of the studio. What do you actually mean by the new slogan: “Transformative experience”?
Slobodan Jovanović Coba: Everything that we do, our strong points, the things in which people recognize our expertise, all that lies in fact in a transformation of approach to business. Visual, brand identity is the embodiment of change. We present that very accurately and it’s no wonder that although we are a relatively small team, we work with the largest companies. Delta, Victoria Group, Mirabank, Viceroy Hotel, Medigroup, Carlsberg, Philip Morris. All of them contacted us at a time when they were undergoing structural change, and we successfully transformed and improved their brands in line with their new business policy.
Branding is moving in the direction where design is an essential element of portraying something called the Leadership Intention. It’s here where the Transformative Experience has found its place. Visual culture has contributed to faster and easier communication, target groups have become more complex and picky, and communications companies need to create platforms for clients that keep track with the times and the pace of change and decision-making, without damaging the brand in the process.