By: Asja Dupanović
Nina Trumbić is the Project Manager for a very diverse range of clients – from Hrabri telefon, through Jägermeister and Iskon, to Atlantic Grupa. She also runs projects for the most demanding client – Señor agency itself. She is said to recognize industry trends before they even become trends and know about every possible app in the world. If they were to print new business cards, Nina’s title, they say, would be The Coolness Consultant.
In her spare time, Nina successfully DJs at Radio 101 and organizes her own parties dubbed Nifty Nina. Regardless of whether you are looking for a recommendation on how to use digital in your campaign or in which club to spend the night, Nina is your girl.
MM: You have been with Señor from its very beginnings. In a very short time, the agency became one of the creatively most recognizable and most original in Croatia. Can you describe this development with a few words?
Nina Trumbić: Yes, almost from the very beginning. I think Señor existed for maybe a year when I joined. It’s very nice to be part of such a story and look forward to every success, meet new clients and get to know new markets. Señor really achieved a lot in a short time, but we never experienced a rapid growth inside the agency. We worked on bringing good quality people and gradually putting a good team together. Everything can be learned, the most important are the right attitude and the will. I think that is why it is good for Señor to grow slowly, growing the team carefully. This team is certainly our biggest asset.
MM: What is it that you point out to the clients as Señor’s greatest competitive advantage?
Nina Trumbić: We have a different approach, and thus bring different solutions to the table. We like to ask questions, explore everything possible and create on the basis of what we found. We care a lot about not only creating the idea, but seeing it realized to the very end. Additionally, we love challenges and creative freedom. With this comes great responsibility, which we offer in return.
MM: You run projects for very varied clients. How do you manage to transform yourself from a Jägermeister to a corporate Atlantic Group in no time?
Nina Trumbić: The greatest advantage of working in the agency is precisely this possibility of jumping from one industry to another, unlike when working on the client side. You have the opportunity to work for completely different brands, observe a much wider image of things. The absolute best for me is being able to apply the insights from one industry in a project of another one.
Of course, some of the clients suit you more than others – Jägermeister, for example is definitely closer to me when it comes to familiarity of the target group, and I am very grateful to the agency for entrusting me this project.
MM: When you look back, what is the dearest memory to you, which project first comes to mind?
Nina Trumbić: I’m not good at looking back, I always prefer focusing on what’s coming, but I will not reveal what Señjor is up to at the moment. It would be such a spoiler. My favourite projects are those which positively influence the changes in behaviour or attitudes, as well as those with brands creating a new market category.
Reci to glasno, is a project I would single out as the most special to me so far. From the very challenge of how to advertise the advertising space, through plannig, setting up the website, waiting to see how the public will react, to the very results themselves.
MM: How do you see the role of young people in the advertising industry? Can you move it forward? Do your senior colleagues allow you to express your youthful daring and enthusiasm…?
Nina Trumbić: The advertising industry is one of the industries in which youth is valued and drives the industry forward, probably unlike it is the case in many other branches. In Señor we listen to someone else’s opinion, learn from each other and do not have this classical senior – junior relationship. Everyone contributes to everything, the courage and openness to change is appreciated, and obviously works.
MM: … and the clients?
Nina Trumbić: We might be lucky, but most of the clients we work with give us a certain amount of freedom. Anyone who doesn’t value enthusiasm should not work in the creative industry.
From the clients, I would definitely like to see more trust, expressed not only towards the agency and its creative solutions, but towards the consumers too – trust that they will understand and accept something new and different. Without this, no changes can occur.
MM: You DJ on Radio 101. Is your relationship with the radio a serious love or just something to fill in your free time?
Nina Trumbić: Well, it is a long-lasting love, for sure. It is what I played with as a little girl, when I still didn’t know of creative agencies. I love radio very much for the ease of transferring information, but also this closeness to the audience. You’re always in someone’s ears. :)
MM: DJing on the radio wasn’t enough for you so you created Nifty Nina’s parties. What do these parties look like?
Nina Trumbić: They have been around for a long time now. Somewhere at the beginning of the University studies, a few of us started organizing and implementing the parties. At the moment I am less and less dedicated to this idea – somewhat due to my age, somewhat due to my work. Still, even after all these years, either before a mini club or festival performance, I still feel nervous and now can appreciate that.
It may seem incompatible with the work I do, but working with brands or performing on a stage, you need to know how to recognize your audience, know how to approach it, how to win its hearts and inspire it to come again.
