Secret formula in a single sentence
The news that I&F McCann Grupa recently acquired a business in Scandinavia, thereby becoming one of the biggest partners within the McCann Worldgroup, sends a strong message that creative industry can be a one of the drivers of economic growth and is a crucial and strategic resource for raising competitiveness within the knowledge-based economy.
What does this acquisition mean for your operations and positioning on the market?
Our business philosophy is based on growth. And by that I mean geographical growth, growth of services, knowledge, clients and, of course, people. When we discussed growth internally, we always wanted to spread our services beyond our region. After 20 years of cooperation, IPG and McCann Worldgroup were satisfied with what Srđan Šaper and our team had done in Southeast Europe, and so they decided to offer I&F McCann Grupa a similar business model in Scandinavia. The idea is to effectively interlink the work and experience of our agency in the south and the north of Europe. A lot of things connect us and we see our opportunity to advance our services in branding, strategy and design, having a diversified talent pool, and also to work more on implementing successful Nordic business practices in our agencies. And, last but not least, we want to present to the business community the benefits of investments in Serbia and our region.
In this time of the globalization of industry, how do you measure relations between global and local market approaches and what will your Scandinavian experience bring you in this regard?
The work principles are the same as they are in every other McCann agency anywhere in the world, and this is our advantage. Our strategic approach is to combine the best of local and global knowledge and experience, and we implement this in our everyday business. This is the only way to truly succeed and create a team that will always respond successfully to our clients’ needs, whether that be in Serbia or, for example, in Sweden. Our Scandinavian experience can only help us grow further. We have always aspired to be the best, not the biggest. With the expansion into Scandinavia, we obtain new services that we did not have in our portfolio, such as McCann Health, a specialized agency for healthcare, or the Scandinavian Design Group, which is recognized for its outstanding design solutions. With their specialized approach to certain segments, we are becoming very competitive and are able to offer companies a service that has a deep understanding of the trends in specific industrial sectors. Moreover, we are able to offer a “one-stop shop”, through which we can respond to the needs of all of our clients by way of an integrated service.
To what extent is your industry recognized in Serbia as an export force of the country?
In Serbia and the region, the potential of the creative industry is not recognized nearly enough. Creativity is a driver of economic growth and is a crucial and strategic resource for raising competitiveness within the knowledge-based economy. For this reason, we are working at the regional level, together with other agencies and associations, to promote the potential and contribution of the creative industry. The advertising industry is the main engine of growth for the cultural and creative industries in Europe, both in terms of revenue and the number of people it employs, and it can be a powerful growth engine for countries in the region. Growth of the cultural and creative industries offers Serbia and the other countries of the region the possibility to integrate much more quickly into European economic and cultural flows, because success is based on innovation and creativity, and exporting services with high added value, not on a cheap workforce and exports of raw materials.
How much could the creative industry contribute to the growth of Serbian GDP and what experience and expertise could I&F McCann Grupa offer in that respect?
At the global level, data from analysis conducted by E&Y shows that the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) contribute 3% to global GDP and 1% to employment. In our country, according to the latest data from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the creative industries contribute 4% to GDP and represent the fastest growing segment of the Serbian economy, with 65% of exports growing in the period from 2008 to 2012. Most importantly, they account for 4% of total employment. I am proud that I&F McCann Grupa employs over 400 talented and highly-educated people in the Southeast Europe region, who could work anywhere in the world but have decided to work here. With our agencies in the region, we collaborate with numerous local brands and contribute with our work to their recognition on foreign markets. All of this confirms the importance of our industry, which is kick-starting other economic branches and is an important stimulus for overall development.
I&F McCann Grupa jedan je od vodećih komunikacionih sistema koji 20 godina uspešno posluje u 12 zemlja jugo istočne Evrope i nordijske regije. Naš posvećen tim čini 600 talentovanih profesionalaca, koji svakodnevno sarađuju na integraciji marketinških kampanja, promotivnih aktivnosti, organizaciji događaja, dizajnu, planiranju i zakupu medijskog prostora, PR, produkciji, komunikaciji u oblasti zdravstva, kreiranju TV sadržaja,kao i na svim formama digitalnog marketinga. Agencije koje posluju u okviru I&F McCann Grupe deo su McCann Worldgroup (www.mccannworldgroup.com),jedne od najvećih svetskih agencijskih mreža,osnovane 1902.godine koja posluje u više od 120 zemalja sveta, i u vlasništvu je Interpublic Group (IPG) (www.interpublic.com) sa sedištem u Njujorku.