Balticbest producer talked to three Lithuania-based creative directors to spot the main trends in the Lithuanian advertising scene this summer.
Brand collaboration
Mantas Velykis, Executive Creative Director at Clinic 212 Creative Group said that the new trend in the Lithuanian market is brand collaboration: different brands joining forces for a campaign. “It’s pretty common in other markets, but Lithuania was quite late to the party,” adds Velikys.
Mr. Velykis gives some examples: “The sweets manufacturer Pergale collaborated with one fashion brand to relaunch one rather old cookie brand. The other example is the collaboration between Ecodenta toothpaste and Vytautas mineral water.”
Marketing budget growing again
Mantas Veilkys: “The good news is that after the big drop in marketing budgets during the COVID pandemic, the companies are starting to spend money on advertising again.”
He adds that the agencies are growing organically, with the market. More brands are starting to advertise, the main growth comes from small and medium-sized companies.
Smaller companies are finally paying attention to digital marketing
Antonio Bechtle, Creative Director and Partner at Bechtle & Milzarajs: “Finally, the clients understand the importance of digital marketing. They do not try to put all information on an outdoor ad or TV clip, but use traditional media to drive traffic to their website.
Of course, several big clients have done that already for some time, but finally, the small and medium-sized clients are starting to understand this.
Bechtle adds that the clients are increasingly interested in influencer marketing, but very often do not see this as a part of overall marketing, but as something separate.
People changing jobs, increased competition
Dominykas Zilenas, Creative Director at Ogilvy Vilnius tells that during the pandemic, many people have made life changes, changed agencies and changed jobs.
Mr. Zilenas: “Many have started their own business, so we see the growth of micro agencies.
All agencies need a workforce, the competition for talent has increased. And the competition for clients has also increased, I see more players on the pitches.
He points also out another trend: “Brands are becoming more socially responsible – not as much as in the US yet – but the trend is slowly growing in Lithuania also.”
Branding vs performance marketing
When speaking about the need of start-up companies to achieve quick sales results, Dominykas Zilenas predicts that the traditional advertising agencies who so far have specialized mainly in branding, need to develop their performance marketing skills and services.
Startups steal talent from the ad industry
Mantas Velykis thinks that the main problem in the advertising industry is the shortage of people who want to work in advertising. “I was recently looking for two months for one candidate.
Startups are sexier and they offer bigger salaries than ad agencies
Although we have an advertising school in Lithuania called Atomic Garden, the students are headhunted by startups who offer junior positions with senior salaries,” tells Velykis.
There is also a PR crisis or perception problem in the advertising world. “Agencies were famous for long working hours and stressful work in the 2000s and 2010s, but young talent no longer accepts that. Although the work environment in the agencies has improved, the image of ad agencies has not changed yet,” adds Mantas Velykis.
