Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Asja Dupanović
Aneta Nedimović is a Digital Creative Strategist at New Moment New Ideas Company Belgrade. She grew up in Australia where she received her Bachelor of Journalism/Psychology and Masters in Business. After working in marketing and as a freelance journalist for several years it dawned on her that an advertising agency was full of creative people and that’s where she should continue her career. Nothing is more inspiring that being surrounded by creative minds. She thought two changes were better than one and so changed both career and country at the same time. She came back to her home city, where she naturally gravitated towards New Moment, the most awarded creative agency. She was the digital strategist for the award-winning Red Ball project for Hemofarm Foundation. Her other clients and projects have included the Marina Abramović exhibition The Cleaner at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, Rajićeva Shopping Center, Procter & Gamble, Under Armour, Lufthansa, Lidl, Belgrade Waterfront and Eurobank. She looks forward to the day when Black Mirror becomes our digital reality because it is both frightening and amusing at the same time. For digital, the limit does not exist.
MM: Where does your interest in the communication industry come from, inspiration to work in ad agency and why New Moment?
Aneta Nedimović: I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up but in retrospect the signs that I would end up in advertising were there all along.
Age 7: I really loved watching toy ads. Not for the toys but for the ads.
Age 12: I put my heart and soul into a school project to create a rainforest tour package. But I didn’t stop there. I created a multi-channel advertising campaign, going so far as to make interactive billboards…because how else would anyone know about my imaginary tours?
Age 14: Discovered Santa Clause was created by Coca-Cola. This made me question everything I knew to be true and how much of it was marketing.
Undergraduate at university: After getting my degree in Journalism/Psychology I realised I enjoyed writing, and writing about writing, but didn’t want to be a journalist. I loved psychology but couldn’t see myself as a psychologist. Convenient, right? What interested me the most was understanding human behaviour and attitudes, what makes people tick and how they can be influenced.
Postgraduate at university: After a year of working in marketing I felt I was heading in the right direction. So I did a Masters in Business. That’s when it happened, week 4 in Fundamentals of Advertising. Sparks flew. It was like a Hollywood movie. This was it. This was going to be my life.
Holiday in Serbia: After working in marketing for three years I was vacationing in Serbia when out of nowhere I was curious about the ad industry in Serbia. I started looking into Belgrade agencies. New Moment seemed like the perfect choice for me, the best agency in the Balkans, great clients and lots of awards. This was before all the Cannes Lions – I knew it was a winning agency and I knew I would work there one day. The rest is history. It was manifestation and laws of attraction in action. Doors opened and everything aligned.
MM: You like dark British sci-fi series Black Mirror which investigates modern society in the not too distant future, the impact of technology and its unexpected consequences. What in your opinion is the best part of digital marketing and the use of new technology and tools, and which part of digitalization can impact negatively on society?
Aneta Nedimović: Despite being science fiction, Black Mirror doesn’t seem too far off from the reality that awaits us. Technology is here to solve our problems, but the series explores what happens when technology becomes the problem.
Instagram removing the following tab and hiding likes is evidence that technology is already proving problematic and impacting our mental health and social behaviour. On the other hand, digital is still in its infancy and Black Mirror merely hints at what possibilities lie ahead, it is up to us to control the technology instead of it controlling us.
Black Mirror inspires us to consider what marketing and advertising would look like in this new world, but let’s not forget that with Holograms, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, the future is already here and we have only scratched the surface of what can be done for brands using this technology. The best part of digital marketing and using the new tech tools available is that we are only limited by our imagination, if we can dream it up, it can be done.
MM: In the industry, we place so much emphasis on digital platforms, do you think clients are doing the same?
Aneta Nedimović: Brands throughout the world have levelled up their digital communication, dedicating large portions of their marketing budgets to digital and experimenting with new digital technology/tools/trends. In Serbia, many clients are still at the basic level of using digital channels for communication. They are happy to spend money on TV ads and even for billboards, but when it comes to digital are not so forthcoming with opening up their wallets and letting us create digital experiences for their consumers – despite us having creative ideas for their brand and digital being the best way to reach and target consumers. We still have a long way to go until digital is the main pillar of communication in the eyes of the client.
MM: What are the biggest challenges in your role in the agency? How do you deal with them?
Aneta Nedimović: The biggest challenge is accepting that ‘the client is always right’. Sometimes it seems like we understand the client and their consumers better than they do and so the challenge lies in explaining our vision to them. Articulating ideas and the value of those ideas, is an art form and a skill. Although it is disappointing when a client does not accept an idea (especially due to budget constraints), it’s important to not get disheartened because on the flip side we’ve had fantastic examples of synergy between agency and client. That moment when we build a relationship where the client completely trusts us, our judgement and our ideas, is when the magic happens.
MM: What are your go-to resources when you are lacking knowledge or inspiration?
Aneta Nedimović: I recommend everyone create their own ‘swipe files’. This is your personal collection of examples for your field that provide inspiration, such as copywriting, email headlines, online sales funnels, landing pages, Facebook ad templates, webinar scripts, Instagram story animations etc, the list is endless. A lot of the Facebook and Instagram ads I get served is for digital marketing and often they have useful downloadable lead magnets. In exchange for my email address I have gained a lot industry resources.
Adweek is my favourite industry portal, it showcases all the major trends advertisers should be aware of as well as sharing inspiring case studies from around the world.
I recently, started reading A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young, even though the book was first presented to students in 1940, well before the digital era, the ideas are timeless. It is an inspiring book on generating ideas on demand for any topic. The second book I recommend on finding inspiration is Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon.
MM: As communicators, we have the power to influence individuals and society. With that power comes a great responsibility to act positively, encourage change for the better and inspire humanity. As an industry are we still just a part of the problem? How do you as a young leader see the youth setting a course for the industry to be part of the solution?
Aneta Nedimović: Times are changing. Millenials are ‘woke’. The youth cares about the environment and social issues. Perfection is out of fashion, imperfection is now in. People want to see down-to-earth brands they can relate to. Brands are expected to have story, a part of that story includes giving back to the community. It is our job to guide brands and help them navigate this new era of ‘woke’ consumers by assisting them with connecting with consumers as well helping them find opportunities and ways to give back to and/or support the local and global community. It’s not just a matter of adding a CSR activity in the yearly marketing plan, it’s about the brand being known as a socially/environmentally conscious brand, because that is something consumers value.
MM: What are your interests outside of agency life? Aneta Nedimović: I get a thrill from learning something new and challenging myself. Therefore, I am often starting new hobbies and side projects.
Aneta Nedimović: For the past year I’ve been one of the main organisers of Z6NE BGD, organising trap nights in the best Belgrade nightclubs. For true trap fans, the name alone should be enough to signal what music will be played, but for those that don’t know, Zone 6 is a district in Atlanta, USA, and is the birth place of trap music. What started as a monthly event is now a weekly event.
I have a passion for photographing buildings, specifically, 18th century neoclassical architecture as well as Orthodox Churches and Monasteries especially those that are Morava, Raška and Baroque styles. In both cases I find the forms aesthetically pleasing and as a bit of a history enthusiast I am fascinated by the story of each building. I take photos with a Polaroid camera. The limited film stops me from taking hundreds of photos, instead, forces me to focus and appreciate all angles before taking that one photo.
