Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
In the advertising industry, there’s always the question what festival awards mean to advertisers? When making their decisions on agency partners, do they consider how successful the agency is at national, regional or world festivals?
For every work that won an award at some festival, the client was the first jury. If they hadn’t approved the work, it would have never reached the festival jury. For this reason, in 2003, at the first No Limit Sarajevo Advertising Festival, the awards were equally given to the advertisers and agencies that created the award-winning work. We were the first. If the trends are to be measured according to the Cannes Lions festival, they introduced these same awards for advertisers three years later. Of course, we aren’t deluding ourselves that we were their example. The pieces simply settled into place, and the clients started receiving acknowledgment for the creativity of works. Last year, in the book The Best of Adriatic Creative Directors, agencies included clients’ representatives in project credits, and now it has become a normal thing.
Today, in the Topic of the Day, we ask the clients what festival awards mean to them, and how prepared they are to give advantage to agencies that won at festivals?
Ivan Šuvar, Marketing Director at Zagrebačka pivovara (Zagreb Brewery)
The awards that Žuja won are a recognition of the profession, and an additional confirmation that what we do is working in the best possible way. The awards also go hand-in-hand with the recognition we get from consumers themselves, and we see this in the brand’s results and its market position for the last 10 years. The awards also give a good feeling both for us and our agency, BBDO, that the road we have taken is the right one, and that it’s the only way we can and must press further, pushing some boundaries. Precisely because we were brave enough with some ideas, and outside of certain frames, that we were also recognized by the industry. As for the awards, they’re a seal of approval and an additional reason to reassess and challenge ourselves anew. The relationship between the agency and us is the key to success, in such an extraordinary, fraternal relationship that day by day strengthens. It’s a relationship with a lot of trust and understanding, and we are all especially proud of this relationship. And when the awards come eventually, as a cherry on top, all that is left to do is make a toast.
Urban Kramberger, Senior Brand Manager, Pivovarna Laško Union d.o.o.
From my standpoint, the stereotypical belief that the agencies and us, as advertisers, are looking at the awards differently is wrong. Awards are important to everyone, although we are governed by different motives. For our company and brand Laško, I can say that awards mean a lot because it’s the industry’s way of telling us that we are doing good things. Which we do. It is important, and it is necessary to draw a clear line tight there – it is the task of the advertiser, ie the client, to know their strategy, to have a clear picture of what he or she wants with his brand. Without this, even the best agency can’t help you. In a nutshell, clear direction has to come from the client, the advertiser, and the perfect execution for the consumer must come from the agency. We can’t ignore that the awards contribute to the reputation of marketing within the company, and the strengthening of the overall satisfaction and feeling of affiliation with the company. That’s my brand!
Vesna Vlahovic Dašić, Marketing Director for Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Bulgaria, Coca-Cola Company
It’s always nice to win an award because it’s a kind of extra confirmation that what you believe in, and what makes sense to consumers, has its value in the industry. But Coca-Cola also rejoices festival awards for a different reason. Namely, it’s not easy to win an award when you are such a powerful global brand on a small market where local effort often goes beyond the framework in which we, as a global company, move. That is why the awards make us happy, because it means that the advertising industry and the consumer goods industry recognize our local quality and relevance of our marketing. When selecting agencies at Coca-Cola, awards aren’t even mentioned as a criterion. I wouldn’t say they are crucial for long-term cooperation, but they certainly are a valuable acknowledgment of good cooperation and a very good occasion for a joint celebration.
Andrej Bele, Managing Director, Coffee Business Unit, Atlantic Group
That is as if you are asking an Olympic athlete how much the Olympic medal means to them. We are exceptionally proud to have our efforts and inventiveness recognized, not only by consumers, but also by the professional public. Last year alone, various campaigns of Grand coffee won seven awards from the UEPS, and numerous other awards and prizes. This year is marked by two EFFIE awards, one of which is silver, and we are particularly pleased because these are awards that emphasize the effectiveness of communication, that is, they recognize all forms of communication that contribute to the success of brands. The awards have come in the year in which we celebrate 20 years of existence in Serbia, as another proof that we are a leader in all areas, both in the quality of our products and in relation to our consumers, which are at the heart of everything we do. It gives us the boost and extra motivation to be even better in the future.
Behind every award, every project, there is a great teamwork. There is no place for individuals, and thereby I also see the company as an individual. Effie awards, as well as all previous acknowledgments, are the crown of our joint work and understanding with our agencies, without which there would be no real creativity or efficiency. During the years of joint work, we have built great mutual trust, which is the most important basis for designing each new project and creating additional value, tailored to each of our consumers. I often like to say that the best is still to come and that there is always room for further progress, and for the near future we are preparing some new surprises.
Sanja Milinović, Director of Direct Marketing Approach Department, Croatian Telecom
Festival awards mean recognition for the agencies and create added value that strengthens the agency brand. My years of experience on the agency side, as well as on the client side, shows that although awards themselves are not decisive in choosing the agency, they are important. Even more so, in most of the competitions I participated in, the qualitative evaluation of the agency included professional awards. Professional awards give recognition not only to the work of the agency, but also to the overall cooperation of the client and the agency, because without good cooperation, mutual understanding and appreciation, there is no chance for excellent works that will win awards.
7 September 2017.
Tomorrow: Young Lions – What we have learned at Young Lions in Cannes?