‘The tendency is to go back to simple, striking messages’

Mona Opran, COO of Centrade, served as a member of the Euro Effie jury for the second year in a row. The festival awards the most efficient campaigns that take place in at least two European countries. With more than 19 years of experience in communication and business management, Opran says she is focused on innovation in the industry and is involved in several advertising projects that are under development locally and regionally. She talked exclusively to BR about her experience of this year’s competition.

By Romanita Oprea

This is the second year in a row that you are representing Romania on the Euro Effie Awards jury. How does it feel and why do you believe you were chosen?

It is exciting but also a responsibility. All the entries bring proof of business success which comes with hard work, pursuit of best insight and great creativeness and they deserve my best judgment.

It is an honor to be part of this industry event. It feels good to see that so many years of experience and involvement in the industry’s well-being are paying off in this way.

What differences do you see in 2015 compared to 2014?

I see more involvement in the entries across countries. I also see a tendency to go back to simple, striking messages, with no complications and no added ruffles where there is no need.

What are your main criteria in judging Euro Effie?

Effie is about the impact of good communication on the business results. The most important criterion is clarity in explaining results: what indicators, how important are they, what do we compare them with? The second criterion is the story of the campaign and how it flows: from the business challenge, to the strategy, insight and creative idea. The third criterion is how creatively consumers have been engaged.

How do you think Romania is representing itself this year?

I do not know much about the Romanian entries, unfortunately. I will keep my fingers crossed for all of them. I believe we have equally strong campaigns even though the market is smaller.

What are the main things you learned last year that you will put into practice this year?

One of the techniques used in judging the Euro Effies last year was to have the entry discussed openly with the jurors. If anyone had something to challenge or clarify it was out in the open, though of course the scoring was individual. In this way we stripped down subjectivity and personal preferences (if any).

As far as I know, we are looking at the possibility of applying this methodology in Romania next year.

How is Romania seen by the other judges?

Wonderful, competitive, professional, part of the gang – how else?

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