5 questions for Jakub Kalmár

Jakub has taken an inspiring journey from precise project management to the strategic leadership of client accounts for some of the biggest players on the market. How does a project manager become a Director of Business Development? What does it take to craft strategies for brands like E.ON, XXXLUTZ, or Škoda Auto? Step into the world of a driven professional with a Slovak temperament and a strong results-oriented mindset.

How does a Project Manager become an Account Director? Is determination and drive the key?

Without drive, it simply wouldn’t work. I’ve been at Marketup for five years now, and I can see how the entire agency is constantly evolving – both in terms of processes and people. For a Project/Account Manager, it’s mainly about how and when a task gets delivered. For an Account Director, it shifts to questions like why this is the right solution, what value it brings to the client, and at what cost. You need to stop thinking only about campaign delivery and start thinking about the client’s business as if it were your own. That’s something I try to pass on to my team as well. Their satisfaction is key to me – without it, you simply can’t deliver great work. I want my team to be executionally precise, but also to learn to look at briefs through numbers. And if someone doesn’t fit our culture, it’s better to part ways over time to maintain a strong and healthy team core.

Working with brands like XXXLutz, Škoda Auto, or E.ON means balancing multiple stakeholders. When does the relationship turn into a true partnership?

Partnership begins the moment the client sees that you’re not just after polished creative outputs, but genuinely care about their long-term growth. It’s built on honest communication – being able to admit mistakes, speak directly, and sometimes be assertive. It’s challenging, especially when navigating complex corporate decision-making structures, where my own experience from my studies also helps. The foundation is understanding what truly matters to the client and finding solutions that benefit both them and their business. We often advise on areas that the client later executes themselves or with another partner – and that’s perfectly fine. If we want to be true partners, we need to see the bigger picture, not just our own margins. We’ve had our fair share of rollercoaster moments, but those biggest challenges have always made us stronger.

After years of experience, what do you enjoy most (and least) about working with clients?

What I enjoy most is seeing the success of both the client and our joint teams. Winning a pitch we’ve worked hard on or watching my colleagues grow professionally is incredibly rewarding – like my former teammate Tomáš Holub, who is now a Marketing Manager at AXA CEE. What irritates me the most is when clients don’t respect their partners. I’ve experienced pressure, inappropriate behavior, or attempts to bypass the agency – and I simply don’t align with that. I always strive to set fair conditions for both sides, and fortunately, that works in most cases.

What does a truly successful project look like to you? Is it about awards, or something else?

Awards are a nice PR bonus, but real success is when a client shows me their sales graphs after a year and says: “We achieved this together.” At Marketup, we don’t create projects just to win awards, even though we do participate occasionally. One of my proudest moments is our Effie for the XXXLutz campaign in 2024. That award represents exactly what I believe in – effectiveness and real results we delivered during the opening of the kitchen studio in Prague. That means more to me than any “nice-looking” creative trophy.

What key trends will shape this year, and how will the marketing world change?

Without a doubt – AI. It’s incredible how much can already be automated and built today. The entire industry will change radically in the coming years, and it will depend on how willing companies and individuals are to learn and invest time into new skills. Closely linked to this is the second trend: an extreme focus on investment efficiency. The era of “burning budgets” is over. That’s why we increasingly implement Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) for our clients – to allocate budgets precisely where they deliver the highest return (ROI). Those who fail to measure and adopt new technologies will simply fall behind.