Momchil Zakhariev, creative director of independent agency NEXT-DC, Bulgaria, joined MARKETING jury of international advertising festival White Square 2021 and shared his opinion about current industrial questions.

—2020 has been challenging for the communication industry in every country around the globe. What professional experience or lesson that could be named as a discovery have you got?
—Working from home is overrated. Advertising agencies need live communication to keep the team spirit and chemistry alive. And don’t get me started on the brainstorming sessions over Zoom…

— The projects of your agency again and again have been award-winning at international advertising festivals around the globe. Is there any formula for success, or is it like playing in a casino, when you don't know which bet will be the winning one?
— Since I don’t have many awards from international festivals, I can confirm that it is exactly like a casino — you can participate but it will cost you a lot and you probably won’t win anything.

— Do you have a project in your portfolio that is particularly special to you, perhaps the one that was a prize-winning at ad festivals, or, vice verse, a project that stayed unnoticed despite its significant results? If so, why this project is so special to you?
— It is a non-advertising project that happened by chance. One of Sofia’s central streets was under construction for more than a year. Together with drone and travel photographer Dimitar Karanikolov we set up a tennis match on the site and shot it aerially. While some people believe this performance is what inspired the municipality to finally finish the construction, I think the project could’ve gone beyond Bulgarian borders: https://vimeo.com/348940973

— You are a jury member on the White Square Festival 2021, and you have already been a jury member on various international creativity festivals. Can you name one or more key evaluating criteria of entries for you and why?
— Festival entries feel more and more cut-and-dried . I am always on the lookout for case films that can surprise me and avoid cliches like “We created the first ever…”.

 — The international advertising Festival "White Square" is one of the largest creative festivals in Europe. The business program of the festival includes workshops in marketing, creativity and branding, media & digital, based on speaker's cases that demonstrated high results in different countries markets, and is rich with hot marketing practices and relevant insights around the world. Are you going to give a talk at the festival, and if so, what ideas will you share?
— I am going to give a talk on creative blocks, burnout and impostor syndrome. Since I currently show signs of all three, my idea is to use the time until the festival to try different techniques to overcome these struggles. The lecture will feature  successful experience of unblocking myself creatively.

— What would you advice to young agencies to become successful? Does the participation in festivals could help them to achieve their goals? What do they need to stand out from the other participants at the festival?
— Coming from a young agency, I can confirm that participation in festivals is priceless in shaping your vision and learning how to execute and present ideas to an international jury.

We remind you that White Square 2021 entry system for is now opened for submission into 7 contests, 129 nominations оnline until May 17. Till April 15 all the participants are provided with special participation fees.