As an agency, we have the responsibility and the possibility to initiate dialogue and be the link that brings our clients and other organizations together for a meaningful purpose, because brands are here to change the world
The BalCannes festival gives awards for marketing creativity and courage, as well as for the regional agency of the year. McCann Beograd was recognized as the best with three campaigns. Jelena Jazić, Managing Director, said for D&C that she is proud of her team, which has received strong encouragement to put its ideas into action even more persistently. Each of these three campaigns addressed social issues – topics that initiate public dialogue. The “Stay Clean” campaign, done in collaboration with the Exit Festival, targeted young people’s awareness by showing how narcotics reach consumers in a shocking and provocative way. The shocking effect, in this case, was necessary: “In order to make this campaign stand out, we wanted to shock the public and approach this issue in a different way. Anything that is even slightly reminiscent of “teaching a lesson” and parenting methods, unfortunately, has no effect on the younger population.” For an agency with long standing credibility, such moves can be risky due to the sensitivity that accompanies a social problem. “We are a part of I&F Grupa as well as McCann worldwide, and we think a lot about everything we do because it affects our credibility. It was clear to us that it was important to be shocking in order to raise awareness of the problem.
The decision indeed was bold, and the entire company stood behind us to help us carry out this campaign to the end.” Breaking the “pattern” refers to another campaign as well, called “I Disown my child”, which targets parents of children belonging to the LGBT+ community. The idea was born from the traditional Serbian saying, “I will disown you through the newspaper”, and it was followed by the bold countermove – in printed media, classified ads featured parents who publicly declared that they would never disown their children because of their orientation. “I was particularly pleased that we received very few negative remarks. Unfortunately, lack of acceptance will always exist, but I get the impression that the awareness in Serbia related to this issue is slowly changing.”
The slogan elicited positive reactions and was accepted as the slogan of this year’s Pride Parade: “Accepting the slogan has given the campaign a broader significance and we are proud of that – especially of the fact that our partners from the “Da se zna!” organization and the organizers of Pride Parade understood the depth and significance of the message.” The third campaign, “Baby Chooses Where”, was created and carried out for the Rosa brand. This time, the agency tackled the current topic of breastfeeding in public, and once again made some bold moves: “We used one traditional medium in a different way, by showing breastfeeding live in the studio, which has never been seen before in our media. The research has shown that a large number of women have no problem with breastfeeding in public, but they are ashamed of the reactions of others and therefore avoid doing so. The goal of our campaign was to present breastfeeding as a natural occurrence because “Baby Chooses Where”. With these campaigns, agency shows that brands can begin important changes in society. This is, as she remarks, something consumers expect from brands. Therefore, awareness of social issues, as well as sustainable development, became the backbone of a new era of marketing development: “Based on data from the McCann research ” Truth About Global Brands”, as many as 81% of consumers believe that global brands have the power to make the world a better place to live in, and 77% think brands will create positive changes faster than governments– that is, authorities. It is important for us to raise awareness among our clients about this, to help them “find their place”. Based on a thoughtful and grounded strategy, we design and create ideas that aim to influence changes in the society, give meaningful roles to brands, and be profitable.