Digital Day Lite, ndikimi ndërkombëtar i një tregu rajonal

The decade in which we live is a decade of change, adaptation to digital communication, sophistication of marketing and of all professionals in the creative and communication industry; however, the change in the coming age will happen at the speed of light.

The Balkans is turning into a hotbed of exponential growth in the digital marketing sector. On June 3, this trend was confirmed by an event of regional importance. In Belgrade, the tenth edition of Digital Day Lite was held. Traditionally organized by the IAB Serbia Association, this year the conference also broke a number of records in terms of audience and distribution by the media. Among the main guests and lecturers, our country was represented only by the CEO of VATRA, one of the most prominent agencies in Albania. Gerton Bejo, spoke in front of an international audience about the challenges that help us grow more.

In the photo: Gerton Bejo, CEO of "Vatra"

The context in which this event took place is flourishing. The marketing and advertising industry in Serbia, especially in Belgrade, is turning its eyes to the advantages of the digital world. Serbia is becoming a regional champion in digital marketing. More precisely, last year, digital marketing experts in Serbia spent a little more than 56 million euros on their campaigns. This market has grown by 19.5%, a figure that gives Serbia third place in Europe. Within a decade, the Serbian market has grown up to six times.

The purpose of Digital Day Lite in its tenth edition was to analyze the changes that the digital industry has undergone over the past decade. Unlike a few years ago, when we waited 3-12 months to calculate the effectiveness of a classic campaign and had other indicators and terms for measuring the audience and results, now we get every reaction and feedback in real time: from print media sales, audience sharing, etc., now CPCs are clicks, shares, impressions, engagement and through digital marketing, we can calculate the return on investment in real time.

Are we witnessing an unprecedented revolution? To answer this fundamental question, panel discussions were held during the conference, four main lectures were held and two case studies were presented, by representatives of leading global and local digital companies.

Among the excellent speeches of international experts from prestigious companies such as TikTok and Burger King, guests in the hall and online followers also attended a lecture by the founder of Vatra, Gerton Bejo. He emphasized that in today's times, agencies feel under pressure to develop both of the following skills simultaneously: "...to be technically strong and at the same time creative. Neither of them can be done without the other. The transition of traditional agencies faces a challenge, which requires creative people to embrace technology, because design and digital agencies are now responsible for converting investment into profit opportunities.

Nowadays, pressure is also exerted on Graphic Designers, because the latter must be updated quickly with new techniques and technologies in order to keep pace.

Today, universities cannot design long-term educational programs for creators, due to rapid changes in technology and rapid implementation; therefore, the advancement of the creative industry has been largely left to self-learning and self-taught work by universities.

The contents try to "target" an audience that no longer has privacy, since the network is like a "supermarket" without doors or borders: it's called social. Now, the approach to design has also changed and this is related to our senses. Design used to be static and everything was acquired through one sense: sight. Today, design involves stimulating all the senses through sight, hearing, movement... Content has only one purpose: to "attack" the senses.

With everything happening before our eyes and at breakneck speed, the adaptation of different generations to the new codes and conditions is a special challenge. Currently VATRA employs staff born in the digital context and staff coming from a generation educated with traditional methods. This diversity has turned into an advantage. The generation's "confrontation" with each other, mainly in doing things at the same pace over time, has brought more creativity and quality to the agency's clients.

The more time that passes, the faster the changes will happen and the more people who want to be challenged will have such challenges in the new decade that has begun.

Meanwhile, the agencies must get out of the "reptile" state. To respond to the dynamism and unstoppable empowerment of technology and everything else that this development will bring (positive results or the opposite). The expected change will bring us strong challenges. To survive, marketing agencies will need to transform into giant design, service and content production machines.

We have to get used to the idea: innovations and events that until now have been developed in the space of 10 years, in the future are expected to happen in a much shorter time... Perhaps, in the coming years, the dynamics of evolution will make us experience a whole decade in one year. As never before in human history, the concept of time and space now has a different meaning.

Are we ready for this evolutionary stage? Maybe yes, maybe not. Nevertheless, we are well aware that changes can occur at any moment, even as we speak; many things have already progressed.

Many agencies have chosen to step out of their comfort zone; some of them are still in survival conditions, while some others have moved forward sailing into the future. Therefore, to explore the human within us (the agencies of the future), we will first have to "fight the reptilians" within us (the agencies of today).

One thing is certain: the more and the faster the changes happen, the more people willing to be challenged will face unimaginable and extraordinary battles in the new “future” that has just begun for all of us, for all like-minded people, for humanity as well (our audience).” - said Bejo during the conference.

Digital Day Lite had regional and international impact in traditional media (TV & Radio) and across the web. A number of media wrote about this event, such as Revista Progresive, which describes VATRA as "the leader of digital marketing in Albania". Serbia Business and BiznisTelegraf, which published very accurate and detailed information about the event, devoted special space to Bejo's lecture. News on Digital Day Lite was written in 5 different languages. Among the articles in Albanian, English, German and Serbian, there were also articles in Portuguese. The event was reported by journalists coming from more than ten countries and countless media outlets from all over the Balkans.