Full rooms, real questions and a program that stopped pretending communication is simple — day two of DK2026 made one thing clear: decisions, not ideas, are where everything starts to fall apart (or finally make sense).
Foto: Matija Habljak/PIXSELL
From 7 to 10 May in Rovinj’s Hotel Lone, thousands of industry professionals are once again testing what actually works when communication leaves the slide deck and hits the real world. Day two didn’t go for big statements, it went for the needed ones: how decisions are made, what strategy is actually for, where creativity gets its value and how far influence goes before responsibility kicks in.
Foto: Matija Habljak/PIXSELL
STRATEGY IS NOT A DEPARTMENT — IT’S A DECISION TOOL
Mark Pollard didn’t attempt to reinvent strategy or add another layer of theory to it; instead, he reduced it to what it is supposed to do in the first place. In a room full of people who use the word daily, he pointed out how often strategy exists as a format that looks convincing on paper but fails when it needs to guide an actual decision. The gap between what strategy says and what it enables became the real focus, raising a simple but uncomfortable question: if it doesn’t help you decide, what exactly is it doing there?
Foto: Matija Habljak/PIXSELL
CREATIVE VALUE STARTS WITH POSITIONING, NOT EXECUTION
Chris Do moved the conversation away from the work itself and towards everything that happens before it. Pricing, positioning and the way creatives define their own value were treated not as side topics, but as the core of how that value is ultimately perceived. Chris pointed out how the brand with the best story wins so hat story are YOU telling? Instead of focusing on execution, he broke down how creatives present themselves, how they negotiate and where they draw boundaries, making it clear that these decisions shape the outcome long before any deliverable exists. Inspiring, he advised how you’re probably two connections away from someone who could change your life. Just have the courage to ask.
Foto: Vana Katančić
WHAT ACTUALLY BUILDS A BRAND DOESN’T COME FROM A PLAYBOOK
A conversation between Mate Rimac, Damir Sabol and Davor Bruketa avoided turning success into a formula or a clean narrative. Instead, it showed what it looks like when product development, market realities and communication intersect in real time, often in ways that are far from linear. The discussion made it clear that the decisions shaping growth rarely follow a predictable path, and that their logic only becomes visible once the outcome is already there.
Foto: Lucija Očko/PIXSELL
WHERE INFLUENCE STARTS TO REQUIRE ACCOUNTABILITY
The panel Regulating Influence: Do We Need New Rules for the Creator Economy? powered by the European Commission, brought together policymakers, regulators and industry voices to address a question the industry tends to avoid until it becomes unavoidable: where influence ends and responsibility begins. Transparency, disclosure and the real impact of communication were not treated as abstract principles, but as issues that require clear rules and consistent application. In a space where creators, brands and platforms operate with overlapping interests, the discussion pointed to the growing need for alignment, not just in intention but in practice.
Foto: Marko Šeper/PIXSELL
THE HIDDEN PROCESS BEHIND GETTING THAT “YES”
What Actually Gets Approved: The ‘Yes’ Formula went into the part of the process that rarely gets documented but defines most outcomes. Rather than focusing on ideas themselves, the panel unpacked what happens between the moment an idea is presented and the moment a decision is made, including the role of budgets, risk tolerance, internal dynamics and timing. What emerged wasn’t a formula that could be easily replicated, but a clearer understanding of how predictable these processes actually are. Ideas don’t fail randomly; they fail within systems that follow their own logic, most of which remains invisible from the outside and rarely makes it into the final case study.
You ready for the last day?
