Interview with Oskars Klauze, Creative Director at VUCA (LAT), is conducted by Hando Sinisalu.
So I looked at your website, and it says that you are underdogs in top hats. What do you mean by that?
In the beginning, yes – as a new agency, we had to prove ourselves. And it’s true that in most pitches, we were never the obvious choice: always starting from second, third, or last place. But as we got used to win bigger clients, we grew and developed a bit of a reputation as a countercurrent agency, something we still keep alive and in our focus. In practice, that means we’re always trying to differentiate from the sameness of the market. If we notice in ourselves areas where all agencies seem to blur together, it creates a kind of discomfort for us – one we want to move away from. That’s why I mentioned we’re an “agency in constant transition” – because this position requires movement. Even physically. From a cozy boutique office in an Art Nouveau building in the embassy district, we moved to a coworking space in Verde – closer and on the same floor with growing businesses. And now again – to a street-level space with wide-open doors, bringing us closer to people, communities, and everything meaningful happening out in the world. We see ourselves as an agency that’s not a closed club, but a platform for collaboration and exchange. Or – said less pretentiously – like a pub (public house): a place where people can be who they are, laugh, cry, and share freely.
On your website, you position yourselves as different, bold, and as you mentioned, not too serious. But on the other hand, you’ve worked with very serious clients.
Yes.
One might think that if your clients include companies like Maxima or large banks, they would be very Excel-oriented – rational marketing, focused on metrics. And wild, creative ideas usually feel more suited to startups or smaller brands that have less to lose. The big players, you’d think, are mostly motivated not to screw up, so they aren’t as open to bold creative. How do you see that tension?
It’s a stereotype that marketing teams in big companies always want to play it safe. They know that playing it safe is actually a big risk for a brand. Falling into the sameness of industry communication – that’s dangerous. We always have that discussion with clients.
We’re not there to please the marketing department. We work together to figure out how to reach real people – our audiences – and how to connect emotionally. If you just speak to them rationally, you miss something. As Ogilvy said, logic has the flaw of leading everyone to the same conclusion. So we regularly go against logic. We focus on emotional connection.
That’s what we believe makes us different. Sameness exists, and we’ve been fighting against it since day one. It’s one of our core strengths.
You mentioned you’re in a transition. Where do you see yourselves in five years, in 2030? What’s your ambition, both in terms of creative quality and business growth?
We want to be part of the community at ground level. As I mentioned earlier, our goal isn’t to please marketing departments – it’s to be relevant to communities. That’s not something agencies usually do. Agencies tend to be closed-off clubs, operating in their own world.
Our plan for the next year is to become more open – to open our doors to communities, to make our agency a space where people can walk in, have coffee, take part in events, interact with our team, and share their thoughts – whether it’s praise or criticism. Right now, in this office building, we feel a bit isolated from that kind of dialogue.
Now, regarding business growth: Latvia is a small market, with a declining population and a struggling economy – similar in Estonia, maybe slightly better in Lithuania. So where do you see growth opportunities?
We’ve seen many businesses pulling back on communication activities. But in our experience, whenever a competitor does something, it triggers a reaction. Brands that were quiet suddenly feel the need to speak.
So we don’t feel like the market is shrinking – it moves in waves. We might have quieter months, but the business always returns. One campaign can spark renewed interest across a category.
That’s been our pattern. We see growth potential after every successful campaign because new clients approach us. And sure, we lose clients occasionally – that’s normal. But good work inspires. It inspires clients to become active again.
Do you see opportunities to export your services – to take on clients from other countries?
Maybe not by directly pitching to clients in other countries, but through pan-Baltic work with regional brands, we’ve been entrusted with briefs for individual campaigns not just across the Baltics, but also in Finland and Poland. What began as one-off “guest appearances” has turned into a regular thing – thanks to strong feedback on our unorthodox approach, collaboration, and quality. Naturally, that encourages us to think more boldly and strategically about growing beyond Latvia.
What’s your biggest challenge right now as an agency leader – whether business-wise, creative, or people-related? What’s top of mind in late summer 2025?
This isn’t a business challenge, exactly – it’s more creative. The biggest challenge is getting clients to open up their brands to communities. We’re entering the creator era, and it’s a good thing when people can interact with your brand – even mess with it.
Brands are more valuable when people can engage with them, rather than keeping them polished and locked in a metaphorical safe. But that’s tough to explain to clients who’ve invested heavily in brand guidelines and want control. Convincing them to let go a bit – to let their brand live and evolve through people – that’s the challenge.
Right, the issue is about control. Brands don’t want to give it up. And if a creator makes borderline jokes or pushes boundaries, it’s hard for them to accept.
Exactly. But that fear holds back the creator potential. In other countries and cultures, creators are very influential in brand communication. Brands are starting to understand the impact of involving them.
In our region, we’re still catching up to that. Hopefully in the near future, we’ll reach the same level of openness and creative collaboration.
BalticBest 2025
You can find rules HERE.
Submission deadline: 08.08.2025 -> extended until 12.08.2025 5 PM (Estonian time)
Shortlist published: 19.08.2025
Live judging and awards announced: 27.08.2025
