Do communications have borders?
V+O Serbia operates under V+O Group, which is present in 6 markets of South-East Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania, Albania, Cyprus and Serbia). V + O Communication celebrated its 10th anniversary in Serbia last year.
Are all the ideas that come from abroad good?
— There is a general opinion in Serbia, and I think in the Balkans as well, that every idea, concept or campaign that comes from „abroad“ is good and everything „produced“ in Serbia is taken for granted. I believe that isolation of our markets that has happened in the past, had an impact on those beliefs. However, this perception is slowly changing with the success of individuals or agencies which are ready to think and act out of the box. My opinion is that communications do not have borders and that good idea is a good idea wherever it comes from. V+O Serbia operates under V+O Group, which is present 6 markets of South-East Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania, Albania, Cyprus and Serbia). Being part of the group allows you to exchange ideas, know-how and case studies in both directions. I am happy to say that our colleagues and our clients are willing to hear and to learn from V+O Serbia experience. Projects and campaigns that we have implemented in Serbia for multinational clients, such as Coca-Cola, have been presented as good case studies worldwide. On the other hand, we have opened the door for European collaboration with other multinationals, such as Yazaki, based on the good job we have done in Serbia. For sure, multinational companies are the ones who provide a huge opportunity for all of us who want to create something unexceptional, to raise communication to a higher level and to benchmark ideas with the best world’s PR minds.
What makes good communications?
— All good PR campaigns are based on adequate research and analysis, strategic planning, careful and dedicated implementation and measuring results. Integrity and creativity are the crucial secret ingredients which make difference.
Copy-paste campaigns were never an option for us. What is V+O communication manner?
— First of all, I would say that the V+O manner of communication is based on mutual trust and understanding of clients’ needs. That helped us to build collaboration with some of our clients for more than one decade. Continuing to learn about clients, industry, trends, the way target groups behave and consume information is an essential base on which good communication strategy has to be built. We are focused on the holistic approach and combining different tools to support our clients. Having that in mind, we are using different tools and approaches which are not typically PR. We are combining elements from marketing, events, guerrilla PR, digital, NGO approach to spread key messages to clients’ target groups. And finally, V+O is developing communication strategies that count. The success of our work is not measured only with the KPIs such us press clipping announcements and number of organized events, even though we have organized more than 1,000 different events. We are measuring our success through the impact we make on society and client business as well. We are proud of the fact that we have saved 100 lives through a campaign that raised awareness about cervical and breast cancer. More than 2,500 young people went through the Coca-Cola youth empowered workshops we have organized all over Serbia and 25% of them found their first jobs within two months. For one UNDP campaign, we have managed to motivate and assemble 135 municipalities in Serbia around one idea. In the end, I would like to conclude with the claim that good ideas do not have borders and wherever they come from they are always making a good impact on society and the clients’ business.