We Understand Changes and we Embrace Them

We Understand Changes and we Embrace Them

Next year, Ninamedia celebrates its comingof-age - the 18th anniversary. This

company has not only changed the ways in which it performs its core activities in order to adapt to market trends in the media segment, but has also been constantly expanding its service portfolio, while investing in new technology and people. As of this year, Ninamedia is in the software industry too with its partners from UnderIT and the company sees this a great opportunity to expand its service portfolio in a completely new direction. Symbolically speaking, Ninamedia's new business centre is the foundation on which the company's development plans are based. The implementation of the latest technical and technological solutions has created prerequisites for the formation of NIMMA HUB - a unique business hub where, as a result of the cooperation with partner companies, Ninamedia will provide an integrated answer to the needs of modern-day businesses in the regional market. "This automatically generates new plans and new goals", says Dragan Radić, Founder and Director General of Ninamedia. Media segment, an area in which your company operates, is prone to changes and open to different influences. How do all these factors affect your business and how difficult is it to adapt to them?

- Certainly, different media trends affect the changes in our line of business, which is not necessarily a bad thing. For us, these changes bring constant learning, improvement and advancement. Today, it is much more complex and complicated to monitor and analyse media, primarily because the number of media has increased with the arrival of online media, but also because there is a more complex perception and need for analyses so that the emphasis that is currently on traditional, one-directional messages and the feedback from the press, TV and radio can be supplemented with the reactions from the users, who, in effect, have become media unto themselves.

Apart from increasing the number of media that we are monitoring, the emergence of online platforms has also generated a need to analyse the opinions of users via their comments on web portals, and their reactions on publicly available social media that are not expressed only in the textual form. Also, the ways in which a message is conveyed have become quite diversified so nowadays, we are not only talking about information that should be analysed and presented in a comparable way, meaning in the form of text, word and sentence but also about emoticons, likes, shares and video of GIF/ meme reactions.

The expansion of the media platform has also increased the volume of our business and multiplied the number of services we provide. Could you compare today's Ninamedia to the one from 2008 when you embarked on the pronounced development of the company's new services? - Ninamedia's evolution has been marked by the company gradually specializing in different segments. By closely following technological changes and market needs, we have managed to attain a 70% share in the national media monitoring market, which includes monitoring of electronic, print and web media, social media and media exposure analyses. We are highly positioned in the field of market research, opinion polling, and translation services, and we have our own media production. During the last two years, we have been actively involved in event organization, or more specifically festival organization. As of this year, Ninamedia is in the software industry too with its partners from UnderIT and the company sees this a great opportunity to expand its service portfolio in a completely new direction. Thinking back from this time distance, I can see that we have been reacting instinctually for the majority of the 17 years of our existence - expanding our service portfolio, cutting back on our logistics expenses, and investing in technology and infrastructure, primarily into our employees.

Who are your key partners? How important is the data that you collate for them? How integrated are your services with your clients' operations?

- Our clients come from different areas - from real market stakeholders like companies and non-profit organizations to state institutions, public companies, individuals and the media. Ninamedia's team is at their disposal 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This is something that is recognized and appreciated. We tailor our services to the needs of our clients and approach everyone with equal importance.

How do you view digitisation in Serbia from your company's perspective and how does new technology affect your inter-

Mediasphere is an area of constant change. Opportunities are great providing you know what is your goal and which way to direct your resources. Our advantage is that we conduct deep media analyses which is why we are the absolute leader in what we do

nal organisation and the way in which you work?

- As I have stated in the beginning, all changes in mediasphere affect the way we do business in our company. Next year, our company is celebrating its 18th anniversary and in that period, we have gone through various processes. The most important thing is that we embraced every change that came our way and never lagged behind. This year we have moved into a new building, which was purposefully designed to fit our industry and the activities that we do. Also, this is a state-of-the-art building of this type on a regional scale which means that we are already a step ahead of the changes that might come our way.

How would you describe the business climate in your line of business? Is there room for further business growth in this context and have you been contemplating expansion?

- In terms of the business climate in mediasphere, you have to bear in mind that this is a segment that has been perpetually developing. Opportunities are great providing you know what is your goal and which way to direct your resources. Our advantage is that we conduct deep media analyses and that we are ready for whatever change might come our way. I am not sure that there are many companies that can boast this considering that we are the absolute leader in what we do. Ninamedia's new business centre is the foundation on which the company's development plans are based. Apart from further enhancing the quality and efficiency of Ninamedia's current services, the latest technical and technological solutions have created prerequisites for the formation of NIMMA HUB - a unique business hub where, as a result of the cooperation with partner companies, Ninamedia will give an integrated answer to the needs of modern-day business in the regional market. This automatically generates new plans and new goals

Do you think that business associations are now more agile in the way they are organized and in lobbying for economic changes?

- Our country does have associations that comprise of top-notch experts; people who are at the helm of serious companies and are expanding their businesses thus positively contributing to the economy. Maybe these changes are still not visible enough but they could and should serve as an example of a good business format so that, speaking long-term, economic changes could achieve positive results.