Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
Source: Poslovni dnevnik
At the round table organized by the Poslovni Dnevnik “Quo vadis? Signs of the direction of the development of the advertising and PR industry”, experts from both industries, Dunja Bua Maričević, director of Pragma communications; Davor Bruketa, creative director of Bruketa&Žinić OM; Petar Pavić, director of digital media at the Real Group; Ivan Pakozda, executive director of Millennium Promocija Plus; Mario Lovrić , director of Universal McCann; Dario Drmač, head of digital marketing at Unex; and Darko Bakarić, digital media director at Media Polis Group, discussed where the industry is heading.
They discovered how fast trends are changing, what the primary activities are of agencies that survive despite the new trends, how to reach the target audience and what media to choose, as well as how to see the new tools and technologies as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. HURA’s research, Agency Census 2014, showed that the primary activity of the agencies remains their creativity, given that the structure of revenues shows that 31 percent is achieved through creative. The participants say that the trend continued in 2015. “The importance of the creative industries for the GDP of Croatia is huge, and the trend is such that they contribute even more than key industries such as the pharmaceutical and wood industries. Years of experience and knowledge certainly contribute to that, and the development of new tools and technological advances should not be seen as an obstacle, but rather an opportunity,” said Dunja Bua Maričević, director of Pragma Communications.
Pavić: Media that survive today are those that have an established editorial position. In the sense of advertising, the press is a very valuable medium, and the media brands and newspapers that will survive will be those that manage to fully transform into digital media.
Dario Drmač, head of digital marketing at Unex, agreed with the statement that creativity is the key, especially in the digital sector. “We simply have to offer creativity to the end consumer,” said Drmač. Ivan Pakozdi, CEO of Millennium PR Plus added to claims that the general impression is that the market situation is getting better. “The market is waking up and we are seeing a growing number of requests for services. Another new trend that we observed in the past year is an increase in the number of projects financed from EU funds. The PR industry was greatly affected by the fact that after 2012 you couldn’t work with state-owned companies, so we unfortunately lost this sector even though we did a good job, and who knows if that will change in the next four years. We, as an agency, managed to grow even in this period, but it can be felt that agencies are missing this sector,” Ivan Pakozdi said.
Lovrić: We are still a traditional nation and because of this newspapers have a future. Newspapers continue to have an impact on attitudes, and it’s very important to advertisers that the press writes favourably about them, regardless of whether it will bring sales.
Davor Bruketa, creative director at Bruketa&Žinić OM, claims that the industry has been growing since the beginning of 2013, and in the last quarter of 2015 its growth was striking. “Agencies today are increasingly offering integrated services, because that’s the only effective way forward. Clients are finding it increasingly difficult to coordinate 6 or 7 specialized agencies. In addition to the traditional creative, digital, PR and media agencies, which are increasingly stepping out of their specific frameworks and offering integrated solutions, some new providers have appeared such as media newsrooms. Despite the expansion of the competition, I have the impression that we are still operating well,” said Bruketa.
Regional reshuffling
Mario Lovrić, director of Universal McCann, notes that when it comes to media investments the market has dramatically fallen since 2008, but in the last two years there has been noticeable growth. He points out that Universal McCann works as an agency with international companies that are currently undergoing regional ‘reshuffling’, and that they are increasingly working on projects together with colleagues from the region. “Digital is definitely growing with us. We are now in the third phase, which is the most important, and the biggest investment is yet to come, as well as some fundamental changes. This currently involves the employment of new staff, investments in technology, and when all this is finished, even greater growth will come. An ad in print and an ad in digital are not the same. The fragmentation is huge and for a campaign to be successful on the internet you need to invest as much as in other media, if not more,” said Petar Pavić, digital media director at Real Group.
Bua Maričević: The value of the brand, the company’s values that are transferred to the employees of the company, who are also ambassadors of the brand, this is what is important. We in the agency think about what the client has to say about current issues and we look for the story in that.
Bruketa also pointed out that the total cost and effort related to publication on the internet is far greater, while Dunja Bua Maričević noted that the production costs are also high. “The internet is not a single channel. It’s not like a TV ad. Digital has a certain ‘width’ to it. The market is growing, and creativity and new technologies will further accelerate all of this,” said Darko Bakarić, digital media director at Media Polis. Lovrić stated that it’s hard to convince clients to invest in digital, but that task is still easier today than a year or two ago. “Measurability on the internet is higher than in the traditional media, and it will definitely grow even further. An important role here is played by us, the agencies, who must encourage clients to make investments there because they will certainly pay off. We have to convince them that it is a good investment, and data and metrics come in handy in such cases,” said Lovrić. Bakarić followed up by claiming that while the internet offers almost unlimited possibilities, the whole story requires effort and money, software customization and expert people.
Drmać: Empirical experiments should be conducted. We implemented one such campaign for a week, and after three days the shelves were cleared of the product, which the client didn’t expect.
“All of this brings us back to that basic question: Is the internet a cheaper option? No! The price will go up because everyone expects that the internet will say what we have done, where and how, and what is important for us are the people who will interpret the data, and the technology that will enable it. The key is to find that balance. Television is by far the cheapest channel per unit of lease, but, on the other hand, you should look at its audience and try to find yourself in it. The balance of investments in the internet, technology and people is key. Internet is a platform that allows one-on-one measurement and it’s a challenge to find a metric that is most relevant for a brand or a service. Many today look at the wrong metrics, unaware that clicks are not a measure of the effectiveness of campaigns,” warned Bakarić.
Pavić shares this belief, and said that the wrong metrics are the worst possible thing, and that the industry has only just begun to use the right metrics in the digital channels. Pavić added that only one percent of the data that the internet offers us is used at the global level. “Demands today are far higher, and you must deliver far more than before. It’s the only way for all of us to grow together and it’s a challenge for all of us,” said Drmač. Dunja Bua Maričević warned of the fact that the internet has also brought transparency. “We have become so exposed, so transparent, and we have to pay attention to the importance of communication, business and corporate culture at all levels. The internet can be a major boost if we use it properly,” said the director of Pragma Communications.
Client education
According to Pakozdi, it’s now easier to work with clients than in the early days of digital advertising, when likes and clicks were seen as the key to a successful campaign. “When you tell them to allocate part of their budgets to internet advertising, most people will automatically think of social networks, without thinking about the other available channels on the internet. An important area is the education of clients on the go. Their attention should be drawn to the trends, the benefits and how something will be important in their business,” Pakozdi believes. Dunja Bua Maričević believes that another important element is the content, that the task of agencies is good creative innovation in communication, and that is what will make the difference. She noted that the tools offered to us should be used, and that the maximum should be drawn from them for mutual benefit.
Pakozdi: The PR industry was greatly affected by the fact that after 2012 you couldn’t work with state-owned companies, so we unfortunately lost this sector even though we did a good job, and who knows if that will change in the next four years.
“Through a smart, measurable strategy that is consistent with the advancement of technology, you can achieve results. Although everything is fragmented, it’s possible to do classic advertising and lead consumers to the purchase,” Pavić said. Bruketa commented on how the present campaigns are far more complex, and agencies have the opportunity to sensitize people to a problem through native advertising, and offer them a solution. “The campaign today is a relevant story, interesting enough to the end user for them to get actively engaged in it. In order for this conversation with the user to be successful, advertisers should establish different internal structures in order to be able to respond to feedback from the market in real time. Today, communication and campaigns are the joint work of agencies and clients,” Bruketa believes.
Pakozdi points out that even if a campaign is the best in the world, we must not stop reminding the public of the main ‘problem’ and the background of the campaign. Here, PR comes to the fore, whose task is to further boost messages that are communicated through the creative part of the campaign. Lovrić warned, however, that constant adjustments are important in this business. “Over the years changes have come to media agencies, so we first had the trend of separation of special digital departments, followed by the trend of integration because it’s very important that the agency has a person who takes care of all the media investments of a specific client in one place,” said Lovrić.
Bakarić: Internet is a platform that allows one-on-one measurement and it’s a challenge to find a metric that is the most relevant for a brand or a service. Many today look at the wrong metrics, unaware that clicks are not a measure of the effectiveness of campaigns.
Digital ‘revolution’
Bakarić pointed out that in the marketing industry, digital has had the greatest impact on the change of the entire industry. “People today are doing a job that didn’t even exist before. A process of integration is taking place. There is no mobile and digital strategy, it’s all become one – a global strategy. Digital is the generator of most tools and features. We have the native, we have the social, we only need to know how to choose the right tools for a particular brand,” said Bakarić. Bruketa and Drmač mentioned that sometimes they do experiments for clients to see whether one Facebook status can affect sales, and the results sometimes surprise even them. “Empirical experiments should be conducted. We implemented one such campaign for a week, and after three days the shelves were cleared of the product, which the client didn’t expect. This should certainly be done in laboratory conditions, where it can be measured, because it shows and demonstrates to clients that it’s possible,” Drmač said.
Pavić on the other hand warned that the internet user doesn’t know when they are addressed by the corporation and when by the brand, for them all of it is an experience that will affect their perception of the brand. He argues that the differences in strategies depend on the industry and the advertised product. “Content marketing is great, but sometimes it’s more important just to create a good standard campaign,” said Pavić. They agreed that, depending on the target group, attention should be focused on different media. For young people, for example, TV is a ‘second screen’, and cell phones are their ‘first screen’, and campaigns need to be created accordingly. Bruketa pointed out that campaigns that are ‘not talked about’ on unpaid channels are not an option today. “Today, a high-quality TV spot costs between 50,000 and 100,000 euros, but the most important thing is to create a campaign that will be talked about,” said Bruketa. Lovrić added that television is not the ‘second screen’ however, because we watch it to take a break from the cell phone, to relax, and to be entertained.
“As far as advertising is concerned, it (TV) will have no problems. If ads weren’t working, there wouldn’t be investments of EUR100 million in TV advertising. Television has a space in which it is the dominant media – the ‘prime time’. Although it sounds stereotypical, it’s a medium that is more followed by women and the elderly, and the target group aged 15-30 sees it as a ‘second screen’,” said Lovrić. Bakarić followed up on this, commenting that television is really just a display device, but the content is selected by the user. TV produces and follows audience. It’s adaptable. If a drop or migration is observed, the program will be adjusted. Dunja Bua Maričević argued that the client must have the backstory of the product, without which there is no success. “The value of the brand, the company’s values that are transferred to the employees of the company, who are also ambassadors of the brand, this is what is important. We in the agency think about what the client has to say about current issues and we look for the story in that. We want our clients and brands to become relevant and leaders in the creation of opinions on what they do,” said Dunja Bua Maričević. While many argue that print media are fading into history, and that this form of advertising is not cost-effective, participants at the roundtable disagreed.
Transformation of the press
“People still love it when someone edits their content. Media that survive today are those that have an established editorial position precisely because it’s important for people what information and stories are placed by them. In the sense of advertising, the press is a very valuable medium, and the media brands and newspapers that will survive will be those that manage to fully transform into digital media,” Pavić highlighted. Drmač followed up with the statement that quality is also important in this area, while Pakozdi pointed out that we are still a traditional nation and that because of this, newspapers have a future. “Newspapers continue to have an impact on attitudes, and for advertisers it’s very important that the press writes favourably about them, regardless of whether it will bring sales and results for a brand or a product,” argued Lovrić. When asked about the best platform for marketing products, their answer was unanimous. The choice of the platform depends on the product and the budget. However, clients in our market still prefer to play it safe.
“Croatian society is not a society that allows mistakes. The internet allows us to err relatively cheaply and to learn from those mistakes,” argued Bruketa. Dunja Bua Maričević said that clients are not willing to take risks and noted that all the public campaigns that are remembered have always been ‘on the edge’ and that customers must be made aware of that. “Our responsibility is the relevance of information. We are continually convincing persons to take action and information in the media is very important to us. Today you can find anything with search tools; ethics and professionalism have to come to the fore if companies want to exist in the market in the long run,” Dunja Bua Maričević said.
They also reflected on what small companies have to do if they want to be successful. “A small brand, if it has a great story and has found a way to stand out from the masses, can do an excellent job,” said Drmač. Bruketa jumped in, saying that even when the story is good, it must be inclusive, it must have continuation, and Bakarić pointed out that the story must primarily be true and ‘hold water’, otherwise it will not find its way to consumers. In the end, they wondered whether the country has enough perception for the utilization of creative potential. They agreed that none of them have any great expectations and that they wish for fewer barriers and lower para-fiscal levies, and that they be allowed to do their job. “It’s pointless to talk about the state here. That’s a communal framework. Everything is up to us,” Bruketa concluded.
