Miro Antic, Partner and Co-Founder, M2Communications

New Challenges – New Market

Consumers are the ones who increasingly rapidly process information and make decisions, and our industry is the one that should, in an original way, create a bridge between brands, products or services, and consumers. In this regard, our domestic market is at least a decade behind some neighbouring countries, says Miro Antic, Partner and Co-Founder of M2Communications.

How do you envisage the business climate for the functioning of agencies in 2016?

Advertising agencies have been confronted by great operational challenges in recent years. The constant trend among customers is: more, faster and better for less invested funds and resources. The slogan “the strongest survive” has forced agencies to raise their standards, change their mindset and learn to cope with many difficulties. It is thankless to predict whether there will be a noticeable shift for the better in 2016. It is essential to advance the business climate in our country and for Serbia to gradually fix its competitiveness on the global market. As things stand, agencies must themselves create new markets and the potential for further development of communications services. The boldest agencies will also turn towards the global market the fastest, with a fully integrated approach and the strategic management of talent.

2. Does Serbia have adequate infrastructure that would enable agencies to implement global trends and standards, and thus effectively service the needs of advertisers?

   This is the age of instant communication and the great din emanating from the endless waves of information that wash over us every second. Consumers are the ones who rapidly process information and make decisions, and to ensure that decision is the best it is not enough to be just an impulse, rather you also need a certain type of experience, or interactions between brands, products or services, and consumers. What our industry can offer in the best way are precisely models for the creation of experiences, or experiences and sharing them.

   From the perspective of a creative and “event” agency, the domestic market is at least a decade behind some neighbouring countries, while any comparison with the biggest and the leaders is almost unimaginable. The problem is not only in technological and infrastructural capacities or budgets, but rather also in the perception or incomplete understanding of specific areas of market communications, among those in this process who are often the decision makers. Customer requirements are high, and the level of development of communications services must have adequate growth in order to provide efficient, innovative and original solutions. In order to ensure this growth, it is necessary for companies to more clearly oversee their own market potential in relation to the importance of the role of the marketing industry in society and the economy of a country. As such, greater investment is also essential.

3. How do your activities differ from those of your competitors and what makes you stand out on the market?

   A specific “coolness” factor, as part of the company culture, is something that customers and partners recognise and is why they like to be involved in our story, which is comprised of imagination, ideas and good “vibes”. We nurture friendly relations with clients and have a distinctive approach to work. Creative power, artistic sensibility, the view that something that acts beyond the boundaries of feasibility should not be reduced to a reasonable level, but rather push back those boundaries, as well as attention to detail, are some of the key features in the work of our teams. We constantly look ahead and utilise effective solutions in a unique way, such that we can boast of a rich portfolio and recognition in the world of communications. It is important for us that we are also recognised on other markets as a “high-end” agency, for which originality and quality represent a unique selling proposition. With a high level of quality of operations, we shape trends and transform ideas into communication projects that inspire and drive to action.

    

   CorD Magazine, February 2016