Baltic advertising industry: optimism mixed with caution
Before BalticBest, we interviewed nine Latvian and Lithuanian agency leaders about the key industry trends shaping 2026. Hando Sinisalu summed up the conversations around three themes: AI’s real limits, where growth actually comes from, and whether the industry still believes its own good news. AI: useful, not creative Almost nobody here thinks AI has replaced […]
Urmas Villmann (Kontuur Leo Burnett): It doesn’t really matter whether the budget is large or small
Interview with Urmas Villmann, Creative Director at Kontuur Leo Burnett (Estonia) and a member of the BalticBest 2026 jury, is conducted by Anu Pillesson. The BalticBest competition is built around a simple idea: small countries compete with other small countries. Similar budgets, similar teams, and the same pressure to make every idea work harder. But […]
Egle Klekere (Deep White): No one ever told us to be boring
Interview with Egle Klekere, Founder at Deep White (Latvia), is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. What is your view on the role Social Media vs traditional media in PR. Is traditional media slowly dying? To be honest, a few years ago I was on a similar track. I saw that media relations played a smaller role in […]
The submission DEADLINE for BalticBest 2026 entries is EXTENDED: September 2
The joint creativity festival of the small Baltic nations, BalticBest, has undergone a thorough makeover – and now entries can be submitted for judging completely free of charge. The goal is to make the competition more accessible, more useful and more valuable to agencies, clients, studios, filmmakers, designers, media agencies, and independent creative professionals from […]
Aldis Ozoliņš (Guilty Ogilvy): The agency is like insurance for quality over the long term
Interview with Aldis Ozoliņš, Head of creative at Guilty Ogilvy (Latvia), is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. Aldis Ozoliņš has worked for 5 different ad agencies in Latvia over the years: DDB, or Magic as it’s called now, McCann, Ogilvy, Not Perfect, and after that, Havas. And now back in Ogilvy You’ve worked across many agencies […]
Dovilė Dovidavičiūtė (Sons & Daughters): Our creatives still come up with better ideas than AI does
Interview with Dovilė Dovidavičiūtė, Managing partner Sons & Daughters agency in Vilnus, is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. What kind of animal is your agency, compared with others in Lithuania or the Baltics? We run two agencies under one roof, with almost the same name: Sons and Daughters, an integrated communication agency, and Sons and Daughters ID, […]
Ralfs Vilands (Rud Pedersen Group): No More Long-Term Planning: Latvian Companies Now Think in Quarters
Interview with Ralfs Vilands, CEO/Founding partner at VA Communications Rud Pedersen Group and Strategic Partner at VA Government Rud Pedersen Group, is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. How is the PR & Comms business climate right now in Latvia? Any notable trends? There are essentially no long-term investments at the moment. A lot of companies are […]
Jānis Kuprašovs (WKND): Generic Influencer Content Is Erasing Brand Identity
Interview with Jānis Kuprašovs, Creative Director at WKND (Latvia), is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. How is business doing this Summer? I think “mixed” is the right way to put it. I’ve heard from other agencies that they’re short on clients, even though they’re working hard. For us, summer has been a bit quieter than last […]
Rimantas Stanevičius (Milk): The importance of small companies in agency business is growing
Interview with the BalticBest jury member Rimantas Stanevičius, Creative Director at Milk (LT), is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. You said you are in the middle of the pitching season. What does pitching actually look like these days? It depends a lot on the situation and the client. Inflation has actually worked in our favor in […]
Kristaps Deics (McCann Riga): Anti-Marketing Will Take Over
Interview with Kristaps Deics, BalticBest 2026 jury member and the Creative Director at McCann Riga, is conducted by Hando Sinisalu. Has anything this year struck you as genuinely innovative in marketing – something mass audiences might not know about yet? Honestly, you probably won’t want to hear this, but I think AI is making everything boring. […]
