A challenge, again, in the coming year will be the (mostly) unrealistic expectations of clients that it is possible to achieve excellent results with minimal budgets, as well as an most common expectation that a company can develop itself thanks to increasing sales rather than investing in education and training!
Agencies, today, often fail to take the place of being the most important partners of the clients overall growth, believes Nataša Pavlović Bujas, Founder&Managing Director at Blumen Group.
Which channels of communication could be utilised to improve the efficiency of budgets intended for advertising?
– By doing business in integrated communications for many years in the past, we have been convinced numerous times that advertising is only one aspect of informing the public, and does not mean proactive communication between stakeholders. Because of that fact, the success of every campaign depends on the knowledge and skills of those who create it to effectively integrate all the elements of marketing communications and public relations, as well as all elements of offline and online communications.
What do you consider as being the “golden rules” of market communication?
– The “Golden Rules” of marketing communications change in accordance with the requirements and expectations of the market. Consumers today are very conscious, critically approaching both products and the way producers communicate with them. The quality of products and services is now more of an imperative than ever before, and communication guided by the true identity of a company and its products is the highest guarantee of successful market positioning.
What are the current issues of the profession and the future challenges that will have to be faced by local agencies in the fields of marketing communications and public relations?
– Local agencies, like our whole market, are a little bit autistic. Today, when communication is considered one of the mandatory skills of each manager and positioning in the market is treated as a basic business discipline regardless of your core business activities – agencies should be the most important partners to companies and institutions in defining and implementing business goals on the Serbian market, as well as on international markets.
We have been consultants to many small and medium-sized enterprises for more than 15 years, and that’s why we’re listed as a consultant in the small business support programme developed in serbia by the european bank for reconstruction and development, as well as a certified consultant for sme development by the former national agency for regional development – today’s development agency of Serbia
It seems to me, however, that they are not fully aware of that fact, nor are they sufficiently prepared for this role today. The vast majority of them are focused only on certain segments of communication – such as advertising activities, media relations, event management and social media.
How do your activities differ from those of your competitors and what makes you stand out on the market?
– For many years ago we have dealt with strategic communication only as one segment of the strategic planning and business goals of our clients. And that’s what makes us different. We have been consultants to many small and medium-sized enterprises, for more than 15 years, and that’s why we’re listed as a consultant in the Small Business Support Programme developed in Serbia by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as a certified consultant for SME development by the former National Agency for Regional Development – today’s Development Agency of Serbia.
For our clients, we create communications platforms, channels and tools that result in growth in profits and the overall growth of companies, and that is what we are recognised for on the Serbian market.