According to the MM point system, Robert Bohinec received a total of 91 points, mainly due to the highly visible and fun advertising campaign “Leave the Nest” for Vzajemna, which received three gold and one silver award at the 27th SOF. We also (co)worked on the campaign “Put Yourself on the List” of the Slovenian Lymphoma and Leukemia Patient Association and the Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia, which received the grand prize for social consciousness and a gold award for direct communication.

“My Upper Carniolan origin does not influence only my vocabulary. I believe each and every penny the client invests needs to return in one way or another.”

Always in the right place at the right time

That is how Robert Bohinec sees himself, having worked for almost all the largest advertising agencies in Slovenia during his 12-year career. He says that the “Leave the Nest” campaign for Vzajemna, which received numerous awards, is likely the best he ever worked on.

You received most of the points that led to the title of Creative Director of the Year with the advertising campaign “Leave the Nest” for Vzajemna. Why do you think the SOF jury members were so excited about it?

This campaign is possibly one of the best if not the best I ever had the chance to work on. It addresses a relevant problem of the target group, the “mama hotel”, which is inseparably related to the supplementary insurance product. It has a very low-budget way of seizing momentum of the television première of the most watched Slovenian film of all time and convinces its fans, the target group aged between 18 and 26 years, that the advertising campaign is a sequel to the film. Could an advertiser want for anything more? He could. (Laughter)

Due to the topicality of the theme, the popularity of the main characters and the unobtrusive involvement of the users who were able to co-create the campaign, it quickly outgrew its set framework. It got to the point that information about it began to spread virally among the target group.

Campaigns that are so complex while simple at the same time are exceedingly rare in our advertising space, which is why I am glad that the SOF and SEMPL juries noticed and awarded it.

You worked as a textwriter and creative director in pretty much all of the larger Slovenian agencies – you started at Publicis, went on to Mayer McCann, switched to Pristop, and now you are with Futura DDB. In your opinion, what was the biggest milestone on your path so far, what launched you to the very top of Slovenian creative directors?

This year, I am entering my 12th year working in advertising. I am truly glad and grateful for all the opportunities that were afforded me. But the most refreshing was the leap into the unknown when after almost seven years of relatively comfortable work for Publicis I ended up at McCann. There, I had the opportunity to get to know more about the regional McCann, which added to my range and belief that we can create relevant campaigns that can resonate at home and abroad.
I am also lucky to always be in the right place and at the right time. At this moment, Futura DDB combines some of the most talented and kind people from various areas with solid leadership that has understood and constantly supported creative ambitions for decades. My years of experience in various agencies taught me that the latter is what truly matters most.

Among the projects so far, the ones you worked on in the past years, the ones that stand out the most are undoubtedly the “Dog Pookies” campaign that won you international awards, and the “Theatre in the Trunk” project. Do you usually relate to ideas that include a good measure of humour?

I would emphasise presentability and innovation more than the humour. Those were the true merits of the aforementioned campaigns. But since they were both low-budget, we had to reach for the additional measure of humour so they could spread virally online without a penny having to be invested.

The red thread of this year’s SOF was the connection between creativity and business. For a creative director, how important is it to also know about business and not only the business side of advertising?

My Upper Carniolan origin doesn`t only influence my vocabulary. I believe each and every penny the client invests needs to return in one way or another. Creativity, innovation, and relevance are indispensable virtues of each campaign, but in the end, it needs to meet the client’s brief and achieve commercial success.
A good example of this is the aforementioned campaign “Leave the Nest”. In only a few weeks it increased the number of the brand’s followers by an incredible 30 percent. But even more importantly, it turned the recent negative trend of declining sales back on track. Which is why I have great hopes for the campaign at the Effie awards.

What major advertising project are you working on now?

Everyone who knows me well knows that I don`t like to talk about the projects in their gestation stage. I would rather wait for things to successfully realise, and brag about it afterwards. Like in this interview.

Our own Zoran Gabrijan and Žare Kerin, Creative Director of Futura DDB, are also among the top ten creative directors in Slovenia.

The article and the interview with the creative director of the year Robert Bohinec were published on the Marketing Magazin website and in the May issue of MM coming out at the end of April.