What is needed is a place where one can get insight into projects in the whole region, to meet, compare, and be confronted with results, as well as the results of their competition. BalCannes is one such place.
Interview conducted by Ekrem Dupanović
Application submission for this year’s BalCannes, overview of creativity in advertising that is taking place as part of the Weekend Media Festival, has nearly started. Last year, based on the overall achievements of the submitted work, Media Marketing awarded McCann Belgrade the Agency of the year at BalCannes, which made McCann Belgrade the first Agency of the Year in the Adriatic region. Now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of that fact and announce this year’s BalCannes. We will be talking to Olivera Perković, Managing Director of the McCann Belgrade.
BalCannes is one regional overview of creativity in advertising. Do you find that agencies and advertisers are in need of regional competition?
I think that there is certainly a need for a place where we can get insight into projects in the whole region, to meet, compare, and be confronted with results, as well as the results of competition. We all do business in similar circumstances, so this is an excellent opportunity to assess the quality and dynamics of the market and our industry in general. This is also an excellent opportunity for advertisers to weigh the work of their agency, as well as work of others, and look into trends, innovations and certain issues related to our industry.
McCann Belgrade became the first regional Agency of the Year at BalCannes last year. How was this success received by your employees, clients and friends?
We are proud to be the first agency to hold this prestigious tittle. This is relevant for us because it comes from professionals as confirmation of quality and recognition for achieved results. Awards are important for motivation. Our agency team was joined by a few new, young people in the Creative Department last year – I am happy that awards present incentive and inspiration for them. Even though it seems as though awards as such are only relevant to the Agency, they also mean a great deal to our clients as confirmation of our relationship, trust and working together. We have experienced success of one campaign resulting in establishing cooperation and new projects with new clients, thus the importance is multifaceted.
Will McCann participate at this year’s BalCannes as well?
Most certainly! For years now, we find it important to present our most relevant work in Rovinje, along with specific projects that exceed everyday work of the agency. We hope to submit a number of high quality projects this year, too.
Next month, Cannes Festival will take place. McCann’s projects will take part in it. Are you expecting some serious results? Lions seem to be rather fond of you.
Our project “Taxi drama” for the Yugoslav dramatic theatre, which was very well received at the last year’s BalCannes, is signed up for three categories at the Cannes Festival. We are aware of the quality and competition at the international scene, so we remain cautious optimists. Perhaps it is a good sign that we were awarded at the strongest worldwide platform – New York Festivals competition, as the only representative from the whole region. We are also proud to be the first agency in Serbia to with the Lion in Cannes at all. Whether Lions will continue to be fond of us this year is yet to be seen. In any case, brilliant ideas are the greatest joy of this line of work. If they are recognized through prestigious awards, then that is a great honor and inspiration for us.
The interview is published at the following portal: http://www.media-marketing.com/intervju-dana/olivera-perkovic-ponosni-smo-sto-smo-prva-agencija-koja-je-ponela-laskavu-titulu-balcannes-agencija-godine/
