Day two of the festival showed what communication looks like when it’s bold, honest and fully in sync with the times we live in.
From capturing attention to escaping the creative comfort zone through innovation, day two of DK was packed with topics that matter to communicators, digital pros and creatives alike.
Photo: Zvonimir Barišin/PIXSELL
The second day of the festival was truly sealed by the performance of Dietmar Dahmen, a world-renowned expert in transformation, innovation and the future of business, who once again pushed the boundaries between lecture and performance on the festival’s main stage. With sparklers and fire, he set the stage ablaze — not for show, but to ignite a new spark of ideas and open space for creative shifts. Accompanied by the audience’s euphoria, the moment was rounded off with the sounds of the iconic Firestarter: You have to hate the status quo to be able to change it. Be radical, create what artificial intelligence cannot—be an AI DJ, add your own unique twist, Dahmen concluded.
From there, our speakers on the main stage took us even deeper into the now. Karen Nelson-Field, one of the world’s top experts on attention economics, broke down why attention is the new currency — and how to earn it in digital chaos. Then Blair Enns, the global authority on selling creative services (and known across the industry as the pitch guru), deconstructed the traditional agency sales model and offered a radical alternative: clear principles, brave choices, and pricing that reflects real value. His talk was sharp and lean — just like the method he champions.
Blair Enns confirmed my thinking: you can’t be innovative and efficient at the same time. Personally, I prefer innovation over efficiency because it’s more exciting than simply making money. The secret lies in finding the ‘sweet spot’ in the tension between innovation and efficiency, commented Damir Ciglar (Imago Ogilvy), a member of the DK Organizing Committee.
Photo: Emica Elvedji/PIXSELL
After Enns challenged the crowd to rethink how we sell creativity, the stage was taken over by Amber Case powered by ENNA. She studies how tech becomes an extension of our bodies — and how that constant connection affects us emotionally, socially and physically. Instead of looking at technology from the outside, she dives deep into how it changes, shapes and even overwhelms us. As a leading expert in calm technology, she laid out a future where tech doesn’t distract us but quietly supports us in the background. What appears to be reality is flattened behind this glass screen. We are experiencing a loss of dimension, a loss of texture, a loss of color – the illusion of life is slowly fading, shared Case, calling on designers, engineers, and brands to develop technologies that are intuitive, compassionate, and in service of humanity. She emphasized: The mind is made to crave what is real, exciting, and funny.
Photo: Marko Lopac
Later, Michael Corcoran took the spotlight — former head of social at an airline brand that became a cultural icon through brutally honest tweets and fearless online presence. He shared how they weren’t chasing likes — they wanted a reaction, any reaction, as long as it was real. Generation Z seeks authenticity and reality – humor often serves them as a way of coping with trauma. If you want to succeed, you need to be either funny or offer an escape from everyday life.
But the day doesn’t end there. In true DK spirit — where the best conversations often happen after hours — we’re heading into Midnight Mutterings: Too Late Insights — an informal, late-night Q&A with our speakers. This time, it’s hosted by Galeb Nikačević Hasci-Jare and tonight’s guest is none other than Michael Corcoran.
Photo: Zvonimir Barišin/PIXSELL
And this was just one slice of Friday. More than 30 sessions were held across the festival—from must-hear panels like AI Beyond the Hype: Strategic PR Before Shiny Tools, to On Influencer Marketing by IAB Croatia: Is Your Feed a Lie?, to our returning regional favorite Creativity: The Business of Ideas II and a powerful conversation on consumerism: Beyond the Checkout: The New Rules of Consumer Trust powered by Studenac.
Featured photo: Marko Lopac
