Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Asja Dupanović
After acquiring a diploma at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences and a year of experience in a start-up company, Doris Uskoković started working in the media agency Zenith Media Belgrade. She began her development from the position of an assistant to the media planner for several big clients. Today it is with great pleasure that she creates strategies for her own, as well as for potential clients of the agency. She is a team player who loves a day without moments to spare.
MM: Are you in the communications industry because you love this work or because you just have to do something?
Doris Uskoković: This industry has attracted me in college days already, and I was fortunate enough to get a job in a media agency. Although I did not know back then what all this business encompasses, I now believe that an agency is a place to get the widest knowledge out there as we are in communication with both clients and the media and have direct view of all the changes taking place in the market.
MM: What attracted you most to these seas?
Doris Uskoković: I was attracted to the dynamics of this kind of work. I’ve never been able to conceive myself cuddled in a passive job. Everyday changes, projects, plans make my job interesting and encourage me to progress and learn.
MM: What is your specialty in the media agency, the field in which you feel completely at home?
Doris Uskoković: Creating a strategy for clients is a part of the job that is very interesting to me. Analysis of the market, trends, competition as well as the specificities of the target groups fulfill me the most.
MM: You are creating the media strategy of some of the largest agency clients. What is the responsibility for managing a young person with their budgets?
Doris Uskoković: The responsibility is very big. However, whatever work we do, we have the responsibility to the same, and often it feels like the biggest responsibility because it is ours. We therefore need to learn to carry the responsibility with equal importance no matter whether it comes to budgets of 5,000 or 500,000
MM: What does your working day look like?
Doris Uskoković: I learned not to leave anything to memory, so I record every task, in my weekly and daily calendar. The day begins with prioritizing my tasks for that day and planning my working hours. After that, a coffee with colleagues is a must, followed by the execution. Our work is dynamic, so we make plans. The clients, on the other hand, have a laugh and send us new demands.
MM: What is it that young leaders should learn and inevitably adopt from their senior colleagues?
Doris Uskoković: Patience. I think that in this world of instant information, instant glory, instant everything, we have become greedy of an instant career too and wish to have everything right away. This is, most often, not realistic nor achievable.
MM: And what should they definitely discard from that legacy?
Doris Uskoković: This work carries a lot of overtime, renunciation, stress. People are accustomed to such conditions and it becomes a part of everyday life. I find it necessary to try to find balance and go easier on ourselves, as much as it is possible.
MM: What would you advise your peers – to join you in this industry or try to find a better job?
Doris Uskoković: I do not have a general advice for everyone, because we are all different. Not everyone would enjoy a dynamic and stressful job. If they are interested in marketing, a media agency is the right place for them.
MM: What do you consider the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through the years you’ve been living the agency life?
Doris Uskoković: The client is always right, even when he is not.
MM: How do you visualize the future of the media industry?
Doris Uskoković: I believe that a lot of the work we do will become automated in some way, but this will only contribute to improving our customer service in other fields. The future is in more precise monitoring of campaign effects both on TV and digital as well as in other media. As for the media in Serbia, I think there is a huge space for progress, especially when it comes to content. It is currently very limited.
MM: And where do you see yourself in the future?
Doris Uskoković: Given the unpredictability and dynamism of the industry, I can’t tell where I see myself in the distant future. I give the industry time to surprise me. Short term, I still see myself in the agency because I think I can still learn a lot and progress more.
MM: How much free time do you have and how do you enjoy spending it?
Doris Uskoković: Unfortunately, not much. If time permits, I prefer to travel, if not, then I like being in nature or having coffee with my friends.
