Should we like other's good campaigns?

I recently caught myself enthusiastically recounting to an innocent person who has nothing to do with marketing one campaign that wasn’t even ours. I praised their insight, stated that the observation they started from was rooted in reality and how sorry I was that I didn't remember it myself. I concluded that the realization did not delight me, but that the idea was great and that it was enough to make me happy with what I saw.

Last month, I shared someone else's ad on my Instagram story, which made me laugh and I thought that everything was done perfectly - the script, the actors, the humor, the message - everything was in place. I had no objections, and I always have them, unless I indulge in the story so much that nothing matters anymore. This video drew me into its story and I was not the only one. I shared it, and so did my friends because the message was warm and human. I thought once more about how we can do something similar again and how I want to be a part of such a project. Even in this case, the goal was to change consciousness and bad social habits, so I was also ethically attracted. Comments on the video piled up to indicate the existence of a problem and show that this campaign was necessary and successfully implemented to initiate dialogue.

One of our clients organizes a gathering of its digital agencies where we go through achieved results. Although in theory, this could easily have turned into a public humiliation of the one who "failed", it never happened. At these gatherings, I rejoice when I notice that someone is asking the right questions (what I think are the right questions), offering a new perspective, and when I notice that we are exchanging experiences, and not trying to destroy each other and show how smart we are.

I believe that rejoicing in other people's successes is the right approach that helps us become better, both on a personal and agency level. Competition is useful if it encourages us to work on ourselves, but if we begin to believe that we are much better or worse than others, we enter a phase of stagnation, and we can be an inspiration to each other.

At this year's Digital Day, there was talk of constant progress and unification, our gathering around the same goals. These ideas are almost certainly inspired by the Covid-19 crisis and the clichéd we are in this together messages. However, we are still together, and the basis of togetherness is to learn from each other, to applaud each other, but also to criticize each other in good faith because then we will not make the same mistakes just because they have become the norm or they (currently) pass. None of what we do is and should be a one-man show. And finally, as we have repeatedly pointed out, we should not let anything pass just because it’s popular, since we also have the ethical responsibility for the content we create.

Author: Natalija Jovanović, Senior Content Manager