This year’s Days of Communication will be remembered for creative campaigns, good times, HURA’s crazy organization and hours of intellectually tickling lectures by some of the world’s greatest experts – mostly about artificial intelligence. And while they all announce that we should prepare for the onslaught of AI and the associated layoffs, and advocate the adaptation and inclusion of AI in the creative process, this was maybe the last time we had a chance to admire ideas and campaigns created by the man himself. We believe that in the next few years, there will also be an award for the best campaign created by AI, we just don’t know who will come on stage to accept it.
Days of Communication, held in beautiful Rovinj, started with the great Edward Snowden, for who we weren’t quite sure would fit into the world of marketing and creativity for which we gathered. Although his venture was fascinating, brave and historic, it is now a part of history that has little effect on the creativity and positioning of brands in the domestic, regional and world markets. However, we think that his lecture was just an intro to the program and what we would hear and talk about during the 3 days of the festival, which was pushing the boundaries of personal, industrial and collective thinking.
At first glance, the lecturers at DK2023 do not have much in common. From an American influencer of Croatian origin who propagates self-love and the presentation of reality, through PR legends, bestselling authors, and creative and conceptual artists, to futurologists and whistleblowers, it was expected that there would be a lot of different lessons. However, the main lesson from all of them, individually and collectively, is courage – to be creative, to say what we think, to think what we want, to propose ideas to clients that they do not expect, and not to be afraid of new technologies but to try to use them and include in our creative process. One of the most inspiring lecturers, Rory Sutherland, sums it all up fantastically in one sentence: “Exploit what you know and explore what you don’t.” The campaigns that made it to the finals of this year’s BalCannes, Effie and IdejaX awards are precisely those campaigns and colleagues who already had this revelation, because every one of them, whether they were made for well-known or lesser-known brands, made both clients and themselves, and the public change their minds, learn something new and push the boundaries of public thinking, and with that they set some new standards that those who are preparing for the future award shows will have to reach and surpass.
And while the jury had its own award criteria, the visitors will remember those who pushed their personal boundaries. Several of them had such an effect on us. Primarily, it’s the #BoliMePipi campaign, where colleagues from the Imago Ogilvy agency cleverly used all the prejudices that people have, as well as current actors on the public scene, to promote a product that we all know well, Pipi beverages. Conceptually, visually, and strategicly – the campaign not only pushes the boundaries but also sets new ones, and quite high. Another campaign that deservedly won a lot of awards is Otkrij Varteks because it managed to “raise from the dead” a brand that everyone, including us, had written off. Recycling of the image and reuse of a once famous brand is the basis of the 21st century – we should not throw away what we have, but find new means for it and preserve tradition. And since everyone was talking about AI, the only ones who seem to have already “caught the wave” of modern technology and used it in the creation of the campaign are our colleagues from Bruketa&Žinić&Grey who did something for their client Croatia osiguranje that has not yet been done in this region. Instead of putting their logo with a boring slogan on city lights and led panels like every other insurance company, they used that space to offer people the opportunity to measure their stress levels through AI. And it only took a minute or two, because we’re all in a constant rush and don’t set aside more than that for ourselves. For those who show a high percentage of stress, Croatia osiguranje offered the possibility of a free examination at the nearest health facility to start therapy as soon as possible. Although the Brigometer campaign only won bronze in the Health and pharmacy category, in our humble opinion it is the winner of the entire festival – partly due to the creativity, usefulness and courage of the client to do something unprecedented in this region, partly due to the use of artificial intelligence. We think and sincerely hope, that they are just an announcement of what awaits us at some of the next award ceremonies.
And as for artificial intelligence and its conquest of the world and our workplaces, one of the speakers, James Whittaker, a futurist, the original geek and perhaps the most inspiring lecturer at the festival, made it clear that AI is as creative as the human race because it uses what we already know. The only difference is that it uses all the knowledge, and we stick to what we have learned and know, stubbornly believing that we cannot learn from others because we know best. And if what he said is true, which is that we have a maximum of 10 years until AI takes over our industry, and that only those who learn to use it in their daily work and creation will “survive”, then there is no more time for fears and thinking about whether and what will happen, but it is time to make changes in our creative industry so that we do not have to look for new jobs. Let’s end with the words of another inspiring lecturer, Thomas Kestler – “It’s not enough just to say you’re going to change. You have to be bold and take steps to do it.” Because AI is knocking on our door, and we don’t have time to think.
Photo credits: Matija Habljak/PIXSELL, Dubravka Petrić/PIXSELL, Emica Elveđi/PIXSELL, Smartvision – private archive
