10 years of the advertising industry in Central and Eastern Europe – Creative leaders

Over the past decade, the advertising industry in Central and Eastern Europe has experienced significant transformation, and this evolution has reshaped the role of creative directors, requiring a balance of strategic, managerial, and creative skills to adapt to fast-paced digital environments. we_can has published extensive market reviews of the CEE media market for 10 years now, and to mark this occasion, we have asked creative directors at our partner agencies to share their experiences on the changes in the advertising and media markets of the CEE region since 2014.

Our creative directors all agree that client expectations have also shifted, with increasing demand for high-quality outputs delivered faster and for less, alongside a need for strategic and innovative solutions. Award-winning creativity now emphasizes social impact and efficiency, while also demonstrating the complexity of storytelling across multiple platforms. As the pace of change accelerates, staying ahead of trends, filtering hype, and drawing inspiration from real-world experiences remain essential strategies for navigating the next decade of creativity in advertising. we_can creative directors also share campaigns they're most proud of: these highlight the power of creativity to inspire and connect: from socially impactful projects like the Blindjourney campaign to regional successes like Podravka’s instant soup campaign. If you want to learn more about how these changes shaped the market and how we_can partner agencies adopted in the past decade, check out our detailed article at our content platform, we_know!