When slowing down becomes a radical decision: McCann Sarajevo on the industry, risk and boundaries

The communications industry today is changing faster than it is willing to admit. There is more content than ever, less attention, and the pressure to produce more, faster and cheaper has become the new normal. In such an environment, the key question is no longer how to make a campaign more visible, but how to remain meaningful, responsible and professionally consistent at all.

Through a series of interviews, we are trying to map where the industry truly stands: how much it relies on individual effort, where systems crack under pressure, how creative risk is being redefined, and which boundaries are the hardest to set today. The focus is not on ideal scenarios, but on the real conditions in which communication is produced.

In that context, the interview with McCann Sarajevo offers a perspective from an agency that does not see change as a one-off reset, but as a process that requires clear positions, structure, and the willingness to openly question some established practices. In an industry that constantly demands more, more ideas, more speed, more adaptation, the decision to slow down, say “no,” and preserve team integrity becomes one of the rarest, yet most radical moves.

In conversation with Vesna Vlašić – Managing Director, Edin Bešlić – Creative Director, Enisa Haznadarević – Project Manager, Enisa Mandra Sadiković – Digital Lead, and Amra Jusović-Alihodžić – Creative Project Manager, we open topics that rarely get space in industry discussions: from attitudes toward pitches and creative risk, through realistic expectations of consumers, to the question of how to maintain clarity, responsibility and professional integrity in a time of content hyperproduction.

Vesna Vlašić, Managing Director

1. If you had to sum up 2025 in one strategic decision you would make again, and one you would make completely differently today – what would those two “plot twists” be?

I would again make the decision not to react panic-stricken to market jolts. In a year when many were changing direction every week, we chose to remain consistent with what we know how to do best: strategy that makes sense and creativity that has a reason. That may not always be the fastest path, but it is the only one that doesn’t end in a dead end.

What I would gladly change is the belief that quality will always be recognised on its own. 2025 taught us that if you don’t tell your own story loudly and clearly, someone else will tell it for you, and very rarely in the way you deserve.

2. What this year most forced your agency to grow up, and what allowed it to play again like a child?

We grew up when we realised that we no longer have to prove that we exist, nor justify ourselves. That we don’t have to accept every brief, every dynamic, every compromise. Adulthood came with the ability to say “no” without fear, but also without drama.

The child in us returned when we deliberately moved away from expected solutions. When we allowed ourselves to make mistakes, to test, to laugh at our own ideas before someone else judged them. In those moments, the most sincere creative sparks emerged—precisely the ones that make us still do this job with the same excitement as on day one. And you will be able to see the products of those playful experiments in the period ahead.

3. If the Adriatic industry were a publicly traded company, what rating would you give it entering 2026? And why should investors (or should they not) hold onto the shares?

I would give it a BB- speculative rating with pronounced growth potential, but with a chronic management problem. This is an industry full of exceptional talent that has learned how to survive, but is still learning how to grow systemically. Knowledge, experience and courage exist, but they are often neutralised by the habit of playing below one’s own capabilities, out of fear of standing out too much. Investors looking for security, predictability and clear dividends should probably seek more stable markets. Those who understand that the greatest returns are created in phases of transition, when structures are breaking and new standards are only just forming, should stay and insist on change from within. In my view, the regional industry can make a significant leap. BB- can soon become something much more ambitious.

Edin Bešlić, Creative Director

4. Which idea in 2025 made you stand up from the table and say: “Okay, this is why I still do this job”?

The campaign that motivated me was “Closer to Nature,” which we did for Perutnina Ptuj. For me, it represents a victory for the good side of the product, the part that goes in the right direction, just like the slogan we created, which points toward nature, closer to it. Through an integrated campaign, we managed to build strong, sincere emotions and showed that when the product is right, communication can be even stronger and more meaningful. The results and the energy with the client were excellent.

5. What was your biggest creative risk this year, and did it pay off in the way you expected… or in a way you couldn’t have predicted?

The biggest risk was not taking risks. Operating in a rather safe mode. That is also my biggest regret from this year. But the year was such. It imposed challenges that pushed boldness and braver moves aside. Sometimes that is also a reality you have to face, even though you know it’s not ideal.

6. Which creative weakness does the regional industry persistently conceal, and what would you do if someone appointed you to “expose” it during 2026?

The region has for some time been facing the fact that creativity is no longer a closed circle inhabited by selected fanatics of design, communication and art. With the use of AI, almost all walls have been torn down, but the same happened earlier, when every smartphone gave people the right to add “photography” next to their name. The biggest challenge today is educating clients: teaching them to recognise, explain to themselves, and long-term value true creativity, one supported by strategic thinking, not short-term, quickly fabricated publicity sensations.

Enisa Haznadarević, Project Manager

7. Which common assumption about consumers did you have to “smash with a hammer” in 2025 because it was no longer true?

One common assumption about consumers that we had to reassess is that they want exclusively simple messages. However, today’s consumers are not looking for banalisation that is only creatively striking at first glance and serves merely to attract attention, but for clarity with meaning. They want sincere, intelligent and contextual messages that respect their knowledge and experience. When we give them something that is honest, smart or truly useful, they are willing to stop, watch, read and respond. When “simplicity” is reduced to superficiality, it is no longer perceived as care for consumers, but as underestimation, and that is precisely where trust is quickly lost.

Amra Jusović – Alihodžić, Creative Project Manager

8. If you had to predict one psychological shift in the audience in 2026 that will most change communication, what would that shift be, and why is it invisible until it already happens?

The trend of reduced attention toward messages that require additional mental effort has been present for a long time, and so far we have tried to “outsmart” it in various ways. However, it continues into 2026 and results in audiences increasingly choosing based on how they feel while “receiving” a message, and less on what that message “says.” Long-term exposure to overwhelming content and stress leads people to “automatically” filter out content that creates discomfort, worry or tension, seeking emotional regulation rather than sensory stimulation. Brands that offer clarity, consistency and emotional predictability are perceived as safer choices. This psychological shift is “invisible until it happens” partly because the change first occurs at the level of the body and experience—through lingering on content that provides a sense of inner alignment, and only later is logically reflected and, consequently, shown through results and metrics.

Enisa Mandra Sadiković, Digital Lead

10. What was the most unexpected sentence you heard from a client this year, and how did it change your brief, campaign or relationship?

“The approach and expertise are clearly visible in the solution.”

That sentence in itself was not unexpected, but it came as confirmation of what we ourselves felt during the work on the pitch. What was unexpected was the outcome in relation to such feedback. Although we believed we had a strong idea, a clear strategic foundation and a solution relevant to the market context and current trends, the business ultimately went to another agency. That very mismatch between feedback and decision was a valuable insight. It reminded us that in this business, outcomes do not always depend solely on the quality of the idea or process, but often on factors that are not part of the work itself. Instead of experiencing it as a defeat, we saw it as confirmation that it is important to remain consistent with our own approach. Long-term value does not come only from wins, but from continuity and the trust we build.

11. If someone offered you to start 2026 with a single “act of courage”—professional, creative or human—that would completely push you out of your comfort zone and move the industry a step forward… which act would you choose and why that one?

Vesna Vlašić, Managing Director

If I had to choose one act of courage for 2026, it would be a public decision to stop beautifying the way this industry functions, especially when it comes to unpaid pitches. To stop normalising exhaustion, unpaid work and mediocrity masked as ambition. Because an industry is not defined by tools or trends, but by clear boundaries, responsibility toward people, and the courage to say enough.

Edin Bešlić, Creative Director

More than ever, I would sincerely advocate convincing the client of everything I believe in, without compromise. Not out of rebellion, but from a stance defended by strategy and idea. Instead of solutions that move no one, I would choose ideas that carry risk but have meaning and long-term value. Creativity is too often seen as madness and too rarely as a powerful tool that moves worlds.

Amra Jusović – Alihodžić, Creative Project Manager

It may initially sound as if I am “taking bread out of the mouth” of our industry, but my act of courage would move in the direction of giving the audience more space than pressure, which would mean quantitatively fewer campaigns, but deeper ones; fewer messages, but more meaningful ones; less optimisation for algorithms, and more responsibility toward people. Because I believe that the next leap for the industry should be more ethical and humanistic, since in a world where everyone can produce content, true differentiation will become the ability not to abuse attention, but to treat it as a valuable resource.

Enisa Mandra Sadiković, Digital Lead

If I were to start 2026 with one act of courage, it would be consistent transparency in everyday work, in relationships, briefs, feedback and decision-making processes. Not as a principle that is mentioned, but as a practice that is lived, even when conversations are not the most comfortable.

I believe that more open discussions about expectations, limitations, decisions and the reasons behind them would bring healthier collaborations and more meaningful work, less form for form’s sake, and more substance.

If such a way of working is consistently lived in daily relationships, it eventually becomes a reference point, for clients, partners and teams alike. It may not change the industry overnight, but it gradually changes what is considered normal within it.

Enisa Haznadarević, Project Manager

If I were to start 2026 with one act of courage, it would be the decision to focus all our attention on existing clients and projects, instead of spending time and energy on pitches that often do not bring compensation or long-term value. This pushes you out of your comfort zone because it requires saying “no” to the pressure to constantly produce new ideas without long-term effect. Courage is investing in what we already have, building relationships and real value. I believe that such an approach would, in the long run, raise the quality of work, strengthen trust, and show the industry that courage is not measured by the number of pitches, but by the ability to create real value where potential already exists.