‘Women to Watch: Women Who Make a Difference’ ceremony was held at Swissotel The Bosphorus, Istanbul.
As someone who entered the profession “lightly” (her own words), Ayşe Bali played a large role in making Rafineri, which she established 12 years ago with her friends, a sought-after network today.
Ayşe Bali, Rafineri, Creative Director
One of the largest independent agencies in Turkey, Rafineri’s co-founder and creative director Ayşe Bali is the leading figure behind the stability of the company’s creative performance. Closing the previous year by adding Yapı Kredi to their customer portfolio, Rafineri also drew the attention of global giants. It’s known that McCann Istanbul, on the search since early 2012 for an independent agency to buy, is in close contact with Rafineri.
When she started her career in 1992 at Alice BBDO, Bali was, in her own words, seen and protected as the “young, talented girl” there. Yet she adds that making such a light start was an opportunity. Bali’s next step was Güzel Sanatlar, where she says she developed immensely and became a true advertiser.
After the creation of Total by a team at Güzel Sanatlar, Bali joined that team and embarked on one of the turning points in her career. When the draft of a press campaign that Total prepared for Advantage Card got the attention of Cem Boyner, the agency began to make a name for itself.
Bali says this press campaign was one of her favorite projects: “We shot the Advantage press campaign in Milan with an Italian photographer. The shoot was more like art than advertising, without any advertiser pressure, with a very small styling team where we even crafted the models’ accessories by hand.”
Soon after, İş Bank, to whose contests it was a big deal to even be invited, was added to Total’s customer portfolio. About a year later, however, Total experienced an internal separation, and Rafineri was established. Since then, Ayşe Bali has been serving as the creative director of Rafineri.
In her 20-year career, Bali says she felt proud alongside her team many times, but focuses specifically on two projects: “Winning the İş Bank contest changed Total’s fate and made me incredibly happy for days on end. We won many other contests and awards after that, but I guess getting the first taste of accomplishment is unique.
I was also proud of opening the exhibition for the Tasarım Alaturka supplement we created for MediaCat magazine two years ago. I was quite proud of us, as a group of advertisers, for finding the motivation to create projects that could be exhibited in an art gallery, amidst all of the daily work.”
Ayşe Bali says her work and personal personas are similar, yet confesses that upon having a child she became a more anxious person. Although she tries to conceal her anxiety, at times it reflects in her work. “When you work intensely and have a kid at an older age, you feel like you’re stealing away from your kid, every time you spare a moment for yourself. There’s only one way (that I’ve found) to deal with this guilt, and that’s to not set aside any time at all for yourself, more or less. I try to spend all of my free time with my son, so our social life isn’t exactly the kind to be envied.”
“I was quite proud of us, as a group of advertisers, for finding the motivation to create projects that could be exhibited in an art gallery, amidst all of the daily work.”
