The power of the challenger mentality

Studies show that female founders today receive five times less funding than their male counterparts. This matters because many female founders are focused on female-centred innovation—products and services designed for women by women, based on the pain points they experience in daily life—which, though growing, continues to be limited, resulting in women being the largest unserved market in business today.

By Romanita Oprea

If the existing ecosystem is unprepared to make smart investments in this massive opportunity, meaning fewer female-focused challenger brands than the world arguably needs, then it begs the question: how can legacy brands step in and fill the gap? According to Helen James from Marketing Week, thinking disruptively is the obvious starting place, but it doesn’t end there. There’s also clear value in looking at how progressive challenger brands behave in the marketplace, identifying and mimicking key characteristics that will help more established brands genuinely connect with female audiences and ultimately thrive in today’s female-driven economy.

Jazz (now divided into Jam Session Agency and Sonica Works) was the first agency in Romania to position itself as a challenger in the marcomm local industry. According to Valentin Suciu, creative partner and founder at Jam Session, the decision was taken by him and his partners after some years in several network agencies and in an independent agency, when they decided it was time to stop reporting to network objectives or align with someone else’s business vision and start reporting to their own conscience and beliefs while concentrating fully on bringing all their added value to collaboration with partners.

“And that also defined the way we challenged the industry. We designed an agency in which there would be no politics, except the politics of going the extra mile. And we challenged the status quo of the industry by obsessively wanting to add creative and strategic value in the process. For us, it was never about having an agency where people went to work; it was about having an agency in which we would support people in making the best work of their career,” he explained.

In recent years they haven’t engaged that much with new business—only doing one or two pitches per year—, but instead grew the business within the existing portfolio of clients. This approach paid off this year, as they ranked as the 1st independent agency in Europe and 5th globally, according to the Effie index. That was possible thanks to long–term clients such as Tazz by eMAG, ING Bank, and Carrefour.

“This news caught us unexpectedly in the evening before the Effie Awards in Romania, so we celebrated together with colleagues and clients the next day with 7 new trophies won for Flip, ING Bank, eMAG, and Tazz. As for new clients, we want to understand what the company’s ambitions are around the brand and how it has communicated in the past. We place even more importance on the chemistry meetings and when we all feel we’ve had a good meeting and resonated with people on the other side, that’s usually reflected in the outcome of the process: winning the pitch,” added Ioana Cadir, co managing partner at Jam Session Agency.

“I had worked at a couple of agencies while I was studying for my marketing degree. It was enough time to fall in love with the industry, as well as to understand that I wanted to do things my own way, based on my own values and belief system. I felt I had a different point of view on things and I wanted to follow that vision. I believed I could, so I did, to quote an empowerment meme,” said Dana Nae Popa, owner & managing director at pastel.

Claudia Chirilescu is the owner of Spoon, a mid-sized media agency in Romania that also has a challenger mentality within the marcomm local industry. “I don’t think the challenger mentality is a choice; it’s something natural—and not just in my case—, in the sense that it is not merely a differentiator that you need, but a way of expressing your strengths. Just as each individual is unique, organisations made up of teams are also unique. Even the fact that they are launched in different economic conditions makes them automatically come up with fresh approaches.”

Connections

But do the industry specialists eel better connected with challenger brands as well?

“Yes, but not exclusively. The entrepreneurial spirit I mentioned earlier is the attribute of many great marketers. Many brands that don’t fall into the challenger category need a breath of fresh air in their comms approach and we’re always happy to find it together, to create work that feels unexpected and dynamic, that challenges stale perceptions,” said Dana Nae Popa.

And when it comes to the main elements that have made them proud since choosing this path, she points to the incredible privilege of shaping her own team and environment, to work with the people she truly admires and enjoys. The freedom to pursue work she believes in, namely social impact work and behavioural change campaigns. Even more so, Dana Nae Popa is proud that they have built their own NGO, Asociatia pastel, which does meaningful and relevant work.

“I’m also humbled by the fact that I’m currently UAPR’s (Uniunea Agentiilor de Publicitatedin Romania) president and that I get to be a part of this organisation. And that I’ve launched Copera, a branding startup, with Laura Iane. But most of all, I’m proud and grateful for my family and for my friends and for the fact that I get to enjoy them,” the pastel representative added.

“For us, the obvious answer is ‘yes’ given out client portfolio, but maybe it is not that obvious from the outside how our clients continue to have challenger mindsets and be brave after 29 years on the Romanian market in a very regulated and serios industry like banking; how you grow your business after 25 years of being seen as a meal tickets company and brand; or how the biggest online retailer, eMAG, keeps reinventing shopping in a continuous effort to democratise it,” said Ioana Cadir. Jam Session succeeded in growing and diversifying its skillset without losing the hunger of a challenger, and Valentin Suciu believes this is their greatest source of success, with each client having given them an opportunity to partner up on this quest of going the extra mile.

Previous years have taught them never to say, “nothing can surprise me anymore,” a precious lesson to learn, as they entered 2023 with the same state of mind: embracing that precious feeling of discomfort that allowed them to ask themselves the right questions, have the tough conversations, prove their loyalty and beliefs, and act with courage.

“Jam Session is still a young agency that is lucky enough to attract smart and driven people that form fiercely loyal teams with our clients. We foster a culture of learning and resilience that helps us overcome the emotional challenges associated with the role or task at hand while opening up a territory of experimentation and calculated risk-taking,” Ioana Cadir explained.

“I have a high affinity for niches—I can say that now that I know myself better. I don’t think the mainstream is for me. And when I say this, I want to emphasise the fact that it is more of a disadvantage than a competitive advantage. In the sense that serious, big business is done when you have a large pool of consumers, so niches can be attractive at the idea level, but in fact they are narrow and do not offer great scaling possibilities,” said Claudia Chirilescu.

For her, success lies in the ability to adapt. She is a very loyal person, and loyalty is something she appreciates. So, the fact that she’s managed to build a viable digital business after starting Spoon as a media agency is a personal achievement for her.

“But of course, I haven’t done anything alone so far. The people who have been with me represent another constant reason for satisfaction, the fact that they choose to come and build things with me is the most beautiful unspoken compliment that I receive from those around me, every second, something I am very grateful for,” the Spoon representative added.

2023 has been one of the most unpredictable years, at least for the team at Spoon. It started with a lot of work and effort in the first two months, which left them exhausted at the beginning of March. That was followed by almost three months of indecision, of worrying silence.

“And at the beginning of summer, when we were ready for a relaxing holiday, the tumult began. Long live adaptability, because we really needed it,” Chirilescu said.

Woman to woman

What can a challenger mindset teach legacy brands that target women? What about targeting consumers in general? The “steady decline of brand differentiation” is seen as one of the biggest threats for brands today, so disrupting the status quo will become a must in the near future.

“Yearly, Cannes Lions provides proof that creativity can leverage novelty for commercial benefit as well as social good. Dove is a brand that has challenged the status quo for many years now, showing how a focused purpose on raising women’s self-esteem can take on many different forms. Not just targeting women but consumers in general within the younger demographics, ING Bank also took this initiative in late 2020 with #unfollowhate, during a period when online hate kept people stuck with no motivation to carry out their life plans or start a business,” said Ioana Cadir.

This initiative maintained its relevance, and this year Jam Session opened up a conversation about the lack of self-love impacting people’s emotional health as well as their financial habits. They asked a direct question—“Do you know how much you spend when you don’t love yourself?”—which was followed by concrete solutions that would help young people reach financial literacy and a balanced life sooner.

In turn, Dana Nae Popa emphasises the fact that inspiring the courage to challenge the status quo while offering a sense of possibility and optimism is the best gift a brand can give women and consumers in general. This is even more precious in the context of the negative messaging we are so often exposed to.

“We have a lot of work to do with women. First of all, we have to move away from stereotypes. Let’s redefine what femininity means. For me Claudia, femininity does not mean pleasing a man—sorry for sounding so brutal—and there are many like me. It means honouring my uniqueness as a human being. To speak loudly if I feel like it, to wear pants because it is more comfortable. To not wear makeup if I don’t want to. To have the courage to express my opinions, elegantly and without hurting anyone, no longer fearing that I might come across as ‘hysterical,’” Chirilescu argued.

She believes that advertising must reflect all the facets of a woman, regardless of how she chooses to live her life. The same can be said in the case of men. They don’t necessarily have to be strong if they feel like being sensitive and expressing that side of themselves.

“We don’t have to be afraid of these changes; they are only changes in appearance, because in essence we have always been like this. It’s just that now we have more colours to show, we are more transparent, more authentic. Brands, like all of us, must be aware of these trends if we can call them that, accept them, and build a strategy around that. We are here to support them in continuing the dialogue with their target customers.”

Entrepreneurship

In the latest development to underline a stark gender funding gap in VC land, researchers at the Vienna University of Economics and Business revealed that tech investors still tend to mistrust female entrepreneurs. While several initiatives have been rolled out in the UK in the past four years to help address the gap—including the 200Bn Club, named after the potential economic contribution female founders could make with better access to capital—female founders today receive five times less funding than their male counterparts.

What’s it like being a female entrepreneur in Romania?

“Historically, at the global level, tech has been more male-dominated than other industries. I do believe that this is changing as more are women pursuing science and technology. Romania has similar imbalances in many areas, and tech is among those with less female leadership. Meanwhile, women are thriving in marketing and communication. I often feel that we outnumber the gentlemen in the industry and that there is no limit to what we can do. I also feel that as the world wakes up to the importance of empathy and humanity in the workplace, women’s professional lives will improve and they will receive more recognition,” said Dana Nae Popa.

For her, the key powers of a female entrepreneur are empathy, kindness, and the native ability to nurture and collaborate. While historically entrepreneurship has been associated with risk, she does believe that nurturing is the quality that makes businesses last. And she thinks of her business as something she protects and grows.

In 2015, Claudia Chirilescu joined a panel discussion at SXSW with the founders of StichFix and RentTheRunway, who talked about how difficult it was for them to access funding from VCs. They said that with every failure of a company founded by women, the bias of investors towards female leadership is confirmed. And they added that it was their responsibility to succeed in order for doors not to close to other women in the business because of their mistakes. That’s a big responsibility.

“As a woman in Romania, I also feel this way: that not all men in decision-making positions take me seriously, even though my academic performances have been on par with many of theirs—but that’s OK. I am extremely happy when my colleagues from Spoon tell me that I am an inspiration to them, that they would like to do what I do. I think that’s what matters.” Chirilescu also agrees with Dana Nae Popa when it comes to the empathy factor and adds work stamina, attention to detail, and responsibility to the list. “For us, these are also burdens, but for our customers they are big advantages,” the Spoon owner pointed out.

“The current economic environment is particularly challenging for all entrepreneurs, so we will continue to see discrepancies between genders, age groups, and education levels. But societies do not stand still, so attitudes, expectations, and intentions evolve. So do well established brands, the likes of whom we also collaborate with, which choose to support and celebrate women entrepreneurs for their resilience in facing adversities. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the share of entrepreneurs agreeing that the main motivation for starting a business should be ‘to make a difference in the world’ has generally declined in 2022–2023. Hopefully this isn’t the ‘new normal’,” Ioana Cadir added.