An interview with Rasa Misiūnaitė, Head of Strategy of Milk (Lithuania).
What is the biggest challenge in your work today, what keeps you up at night?
The biggest challenge for quite some time is finding the right balance between short-term tactical projects and long-term brand-building activities. Currently, tactical projects occupy way too much energy and time. It is now very common to develop creative platforms and set the rules for communication to make everyone’s lives easier. Although it is a good intention, it sometimes works the other way around. The development of creative platforms’ is usually a long and exhausting process with lots of overthinking included. By the time communication rules are finally set and approved, they might lose relevance and energy in the ever-changing context. The healthier approach is to allocate time and energy to think of where your brand is going while remaining open about how to get there.
How do you generate creative ideas? Please offer a tip.
Great ideas can come in many ways. You can create a brilliant concept using various creative techniques while actively working on it from 9 to 5. You can also let your subconscious help you, especially if you are busy and lack of time. I recommend digesting all the relevant project information as soon as possible. Ask account or a planner to brief you as soon as they receive client’s info (you will read the fancy brief form later). Let the information ferment in your head. Your subconscious will work on it while you will deal with other projects. It sounds counter intuitive and even lazy, but it works.
Also, I suggest occasionally escaping the bubble of advertising agency. It’s obvious, and we still tend to stick here way too much, even after hours. While marketing events might leave you with the after taste of “it all sounds painfully familiar,” do something off-topic and collect more diverse experiences. Metaphorically speaking, don’t go to the zoo if you want to feed your brain with new triggers. Better visit a jungle.
Please recommend a book, website or podcast about marketing/advertising/creativity.
I recommend reading “Why Does The Pedlar Sing?” by Paul Feldwick. The book discusses the link between advertising and entertainment. You will have a great time reading this small book and understand why nowadays advertising is less effective and less liked than ever. If you have never read Paul Feldwick’s work, you will be pleasantly surprised by his simple, down-to-earth language with almost no marketing buzzwords. Also, since AI and its tools are a hot topic now, having a fresh look at “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” by Yuval Noah Harari would be a good idea too.
The interview was conducted by Hando Sinisalu.
EXTRA INFORMATION
- Adwards creative competition win gives you points for Baltic Agency of the Year ranking! (read more about ranking)
- Winning any prize at BalticBest and become part of shortlist gives you more points for Baltic Agency of the Year ranking!
BalticBest 2023
You can find rules HERE.
Submission deadline: 09.08.2023
Shortlist published: 18.08.2023
Live judging and awards announced: 23.08.2023
