V + O Communication recently celebrated 10 years of work in Serbia and on this occasion made an internal review of what had been done so far. They were more than satisfied with their own achievements
We at V+O Communication recommend all our clients to be proactive in thinking and to constantly work on building their reputation. It does not have to be too expensive, nor too ambitious, but it is important that it has a certain strategic direction and that it is continuous.
Some of your campaigns have been adopted as examples of good practice and communication standards worldwide. Does this mean that the communication market in Serbia is not far behind the global market?
– Projects we have carried out on the Serbian market for some multinational companies such as Coca-Cola and Yazaki have been presented as examples of good practice at the European and global level and adopted as communication standards for the whole world.
On the other hand, with various ministries and institutions, through carefully planned and even more carefully implemented projects, we have established some standards that are still in place today. From creating a communication strategy for a negotiating chapter on the environment, supporting the launch of a nationwide campaign to prevent obesity, to the establishment of some communication standards for various companies and institutions. All this speaks in favour of the fact that the marketing and PR sector in Serbia do not differ much from the regional and world scene.
As there is a black sheep in every flock, so it is in our communications industry, there is a huge offer, but relatively few professionals who are really devoted and do their job responsibly
Is a complete absence of communication less bad than poorly conveyed messages?
– We live in a society of modern technologies where everything has become available and where information spreads rapidly so that if a company decides not to communicate, there is a high likelihood that someone will do it for them, which is as bad as sending a wrong message. It is very important that the reputation you build is well designed and strategically planned, to really help the company to position itself properly on the market and achieve its goals. This has a lot of advantages.
First of all, for a company with a good reputation it is easier to attract good staff, they have greater customer loyalty, not to mention the importance of reputation in the case of due diligence.
However, we see that companies, whether from ignorance or lack of awareness of the importance of communication, often unconsciously endanger their reputation or they begin to deal with it only when there is a crisis in the media and the public. It’s a reactive approach. As professionals in this field, we are here to help them in these situations to better survive a crisis.
We advocate proactive thinking. When things are set in this way, we reduce the possibility of error, and if there is an unforeseen situation, the plan to deal with it already exists and the reaction will be timely, which gives us the possibility of minimizing the potential consequences.
We see that many agencies are closing down because they failed to adapt to the demands of the new age. What must a successful agency offer a client today?
– With all this in mind, companies will be interested more and more in a holistic approach to communications, to have agencies like V+O, where they will be able to get all-around service in one place. On the other hand, the digital will become much more important, and some new specialized services will become more interesting. Last but not least, the absolute commitment to the client is crucial.