Conclusions after branding Romania event held by ICR Paris

Last month, ICR Paris organized a meeting with Nick Baum (TBWA Worldwide), Mihai Gongu (GMP Advertising), Yvette Larsson (The Bucharest Lounge), Ioana Mihai (IQads) and Ioana Negulescu (The Happyholic) to re-brand Romania. There is no secret that Romania is a country that has a questionable reputation abroad, and in the past years we, as Romanians, were not very good seen in France.

So far there have been several campaigns to promote Romania, but most of them only promote the raw nature which one finds once they get out of the big cities. Young foreigners who have the opportunity to come to Romania usually have a great time there. They like the nightlife, the cheap prices, the genuinely human and friendly attitude of Romanian people. They are the ones who then go back to their countries and talk to their friends about their experience in Romania. They are the ones who change mentalities with their stories. Yet, until now, they have never been the target audience of any campaign to promote this country. Romania hasn’t been promoted as a low-budget, entertaining and cool holiday destination.

“Discover the Mania in RO+MANIA” is the campaign proposed by Ioana Negulescu that promotes aspects of Romania that haven’t been approached yet. She chose to talk to young people, using a tone of voice that they would understand and would appreciate, with sincerity and wit, about a different kind of Romania – a Romania that’s for the first time a “cool” destination, where young people can have a great time, can meet genuinely friendly people, can discover the nightlife and get in contact with Romanians’ joie-de-vivre. Her work can be seen on www.thehappyholic.com