Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
The program of this year’s Days of Communication is abundant with excellent topics, lectures and speakers who will share their knowledge and experience with the audience. However, everyone is most looking for the Effie Croatia, IdejaX and Mixx awards. Among those who are impatient are the agencies that entered their works, and even those who haven’t, just to see what is happening on the Croatian advertising scene, where they stand, and how their competition is doing. Of course, the awards are eagerly awaited by the clients as well, because these are reward for them as well. In fact, they are most deserving of the fact that some if these works will take home the awards. Not only because of their budgets made the campaigns possible in the first place, but simply because the client is the first and most important jury. If they had not accepted these ideas, the works would never have reached the festival jury.
This year’s juries will be led by Ivan Šuvar, director of marketing and consumer excellence at Zagrebačka pivovara (Effie Croatia Jury), Jelena Fiškuš, Creative Director at Studio Sonda Vižinada (IdejaX Jury) and Sanja Đekić, Head of MBA MediaCom (Mixx Awards Jury). It is up to them and the other members of the juries to choose the best of the best.
We talked with the jury presidents in order to find out the latest information before judging.
Media Marketing: As president of the Effie Jury, you will propose the criteria to be applied to the other members. What will you insist on when it comes to awarded campaigns? What conditions will they have to meet?
Ivan Šuvar: Criteria are clearly set and defined, and are unrelated to the position of the jury president. Since the jury consists of top experts in the field of media, communication and marketing, I’m sure the quality of judging and award-winning works will be really the best. The evaluation consists of two parts, and in the jury process, special attention is paid to the strategic challenges, the campaign goals, the realization of the idea and especially the results.
Media Marketing: Have you already had the chance to see the entries, and if yes, are you satisfied with their quality?
Ivan Šuvar: Works and entries are more numerous than ever, so this year has broken some of the previous records. I have to admit that all the entries are very good, and it was really a challenge to choose the best.
Media Marketing: When we compare the quality of works that win awards at Euro Effie and the quality of works in Croatia, where’s the difference, if any?
Ivan Šuvar: I believe that with each passing year agencies and clients are increasingly paying attention to the quality of their entries, and their number grows year after year. The market in Croatia, in every segment, is quite developed and competitive, but the results achieved by brands are impressive. Telecommunications, beverage and many other areas, many other categories, achieve results that push the entire market forward. And precisely with such trends, through strength of all of our brands and their campaigns, I am convinced that they don’t lag at all in terms of the quality of works behind the European level. Some of them – for example, the last year’s Grand Prix winner (Scratch for a Reason by BBDO Zagreb for Zagrebačka poivovara), was also shortlisted at the Euro Effie.
Media Marketing: The most interesting part of the competitive segment of Days of Communication are the IdejaX awards. Which criteria will you apply in judging the entries?
Jelena Fiškuš: Criteria are clearly stated in the rules, and they are: attractiveness, media neutrality, originality, relevance of ideas, market specificity and market relevance. There is a reason why the competition is called IdejaX – it means looking for ideas that don’t necessarily depend on classical media channels or production capacities, and that is what is most interesting in the whole story. I like to see solutions that torture the brains and that won’t let creatives sleep. I want to see the solutions that can happen even with minimal budgets, and then they have to be especially witty, or those that use sizeable budgets to their maximum potential to put forward something new and original, of course, always in line with what the client needs. Each creative in the jury has their own attitude in choices, and that is fine, because diversity promotes discussion and development, but it is clear that we are all expected to take into account the character of the competition and the criteria set out in the rules. I would like to see true IdeasX among our award winners.
Media Marketing: From the peace and quiet of Vižinada you daily follow the events in the Croatian advertising market. How would you rate creativity of advertising in the last year?
Jelena Fiškuš: I would be most happy if I find some idea among the entries that will surprise me, and teach me something that I haven’t been able to see before – one which I didn’t have the chance to see before because it perhaps didn’t have some big budget for PR or advertising, or is more of a corporate (closed) nature, or with a local character … Only then can we have an insight into the real state of things.
Media Marketing: Have you already had the chance to see the entries, and if yes, are you satisfied with their quality?
Jelena Fiškuš: The joy of going through and judging the entries comes next week.
Media Marketing: Digital is developing very dynamically, and in this category you have increasing number of entries each year. What will you insist on this year when choosing the most successful ones?
Sanja Đekić: Changes in the competition reflect the industry that changes daily, so this year we introduced a new category, Best Search, a more structured application form and two rounds of jury. In the first, selection round, the jury evaluates only written applications, and in the second, final round, which takes place live, we will judge both written application and a video summary. Our wish was to facilitate and structure everything from the application to the jury process itself, which was aimed at increasing the number of applicants, and since this year we have 13 new applicants, I think that we have succeeded in that. The jury is composed from experienced digital experts. We analyzed their specialties to have an expert in the jury for every of the 10 competitive categories. In the first selection round, we wanted to have only a written application with goals, strategy, creativity, performance and results to avoid suggestive and subjective impressions from a short form of video summary. The goal was to have a well-prepared jury who had already read and rated the works, as well as a smaller number of works on the final, one-day jury meeting, so that the jury could better assess them.
Media Marketing: Have you seen the entries, and what is your comment on them?
Sanja Đekić: We have thoroughly reviewed and evaluated the works. We have 46 shortlisted entries. In the competition we have big and small brands alike, we have competitive brands, modern technologies… Applications are of high quality and the results are great.
Media Marketing: How do you envision the development of digital advertising? What trends are most evident?
Sanja Đekić: The entries are a reflection of global trends in advertising and use of tech. We lag in nothing, and in terms of results, given the Croatian scale, we are probably even better. Applicants have used advanced programmatic advertising, advertising focused on sales results with great results, innovative and technologically advanced presentation of brand content, and even product placement in video content we consume online.
