"We are on the outskirts of the world. If you're not in Cannes then you're not in advertising," says D'Arcy Warsaw CD Maciek Kowalczuk, sharing his concerns about the Polish market.

While D'Arcy Warsaw boasts international clients including Fanta, Procter & Gamble, Avon, Era and Amnesty International, Kowalczuk claims the ad life in Poland is a difficult one. He says that along with the Polish economy, which is mired in a difficult recession, spot budgets have dropped significantly.

"I'm simply not happy with the budgets here," he says. "There are two words used to describe D'Arcy: creative and quality. But both require money. We have good ideas but our executions are not good enough."

Kowalczuk says local production companies are not flexible enough with directors or photographers' fees, and the overall quality of production services is low.

"It is too expensive to work with foreign talent, and management on the client side is not stable," adds Kowalczuk.

Despite these hurdles, Kowalczuk has overseen some quality work, such as a spot for Era directed by Lukasz Zadrzynski, that blends actors and simple graphical and back-screen projections. What's more, the agency has embarked on a new venture in the hope of pushing its own creative bounds.

"Every year we have a presentation on art formats called D'Arcy Komiks. We invite several young graphic and comic artists to exhibit their personal work, from fiction to erotic images. The agency generates innovative ideas and obtains inspiration," he says.

D'arcy worked with Komiks alumni Groupa Ladnie on a Radiostacja print campaign.

Webfiles:
D'Arcy Warsaw> http://www.darcyww.com.pl