When people start leaving their homes again, they will need to be won over again

Below is the commentary in regards to the Coronavirus impact on the media communication and advertising industry, by Dali Bungič, Luna TBWA Ljubljana, Daniel Ackermann, Degordian, Brankica Janković, Aquarius i Nikola Parun, Ovation BBDO

Prepared by: Ekrem Dupanović

Dali Bungič, Director, Luna TBWA Ljubljana

This is a situation we have not seen before, and I feel like I’m in a bad movie. We’ve been working from home since last Thursday (Friday was our first day).

As soon as we received the first information about the infected in Slovenia, we started with technical and safety preparations for working from home. From Friday, we are all in home offices, similar to most of our clients. From the first day, we call for responsible behavior not only during work hours but also in private time. I am ready to claim that our associates are a good example to everyone around them.

Regular college and project meetings are conducted daily via video calls. Despite the fact that we are mostly dressed in tracksuits, we are as diligent as every other day and, above all, we remain optimistic.

We are aware that the world will change through this experience. Our values, our view of the world, and what is truly important will change. Every crisis also brings something positive. I believe that we can all influence positive changes, and it would be good to do everything in our power to change the world for the better – both through personal and professional responsible behavior, as well as through persistent work and optimism.

We are paying great attention to agency culture in this situation; we motivate people not to communicate too much via emails but through videos; we use the “tools” available to us from our network (workplace) and thus have the ability to be in constant local contact, as well as with our colleagues around the world. This gives us the opportunity to monitor how our colleagues around the world are dealing with this situation – both in a psychological and sociological sense, as well as in business and professional terms, as they are, for example, in Asia already in the second phase and we can see what they are now facing.

Daniel Ackermann, CEO, Degordian

The situation is not changing day by day, but hour by hour. There is enormous uncertainty. For now, we have not felt much in regards to budget cuts, but some projects have been halted. Clients are also in an uncertain situation and find it difficult to make decisions at this moment. What is good (at least in the case of us majority digital agencies) is that the digital segments of the clients’ businesses are mostly having excellent results, even better than before the crisis. Web shops are recording increased sales (some even several times higher than usual), and there is also increased information flows via websites and similar. All in all, at this moment, we see a trend of clients reducing offline budgets and increasing digital ones.

All our offices have switched to working from home. Luckily, we have very good equipment and tools, and employees sometimes practiced this way of working before, so the transition was not problematic. Everyone is a bit shocked by the isolation, but we are aware of the situation and more motivated than ever to do great things to help Degordian, the industry, and the entire region get through this crisis together. We have also developed an excellent support system for our employees when working from home, and we will soon share all about it externally, hoping it will help others.

Brankica Janković, CEO, Aquarius

From this week onwards, we decided to be good students and listen to the recommendations of the authorities. Most of the agency works from home, only us that are “on-duty” are here, in case a quick reaction is needed.

As far as the market is concerned, I think this will reflect not only on advertisers and agencies but also on the rest of the economy. People staying at home is a big hit on consumption – a crucial cog that, if jammed, can cause long-term damage to the entire system. It’s terrible that no one can still predict the consequences, and that’s somewhat scary.

On the other hand, this too shall pass. Brands could, if people massively enter isolation, lose the much-needed direct contact with the consumer (and we know how narrow the attention span of today’s consumer is). Here, if anywhere, is a chance for the advertising industry – when people come out of their houses again, they need to be won over again. Therefore, the need for advertising will increase. Internally, we say: here come pitches, here come new jobs!

Nikola Parun, PR Manager, Ovation BBDO

We share the fate of the entire market in these extraordinary circumstances. Currently, the most important thing is to preserve public health to the greatest extent, and it’s on all of us individually to responsibly approach the measures prescribed by state authorities, the medical profession, and other relevant local and international institutions. Medical staff bear the heaviest load of the pandemic everywhere, including here, and they are having the hardest time today; we all need to give them the greatest possible support.

The coming period will be difficult for the entire economy, and our responsibility is to help mitigate the shock and normalize our clients’ operations afterward. We follow the instructions of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and other relevant institutions. Regarding work processes, they are adapted to the recommendations so that we can work with clients at full capacity, our availability remains unchanged, as well as our readiness for new victories. And we wash our hands constantly. 🙂