Success stories

The Business Advisory Services Programme Romania and Knopad Software, managed by Dragos Novac and owner of www.metropotam.ro, have recently developed a communication consultancy project delivered by Graffiti BBDO.

Metropotam.ro is a fully interactive website acting as Bucharest city guide by providing original content related to lifestyle, entertainment and going-out recommendations. In mid 2007, within a year of its launch, and with practically no investment in advertising, Metropotam had already logged around 100,000 monthly visits and 300,000 monthly page views. Still, the management team believed that an extra boost was needed to ensure a sustainable growth of the website's popularity and, therefore, to increase its attractiveness to online advertising clients.

In July 2007, the entrepreneurs decided to commission a positioning and communication campaign for the Metropotam brand. The selected consultant was Graffiti BBDO, Romania's first advertising agency, affiliated to the BBDO network since 1992. With a 100% Romanian team, Graffiti BBDO provides integrated communication services, from strategy to implementation, and has won, in the last five years, more than 45 national and international awards.

The project undertaken for Knopad Software began with a review of the local online industry and an analysis of the existing position of the Metropotam brand. Brand objectives were established: high awareness level among online brands, premium positioning as "the best event guide of Bucharest" and the envisaged development of both online and offline brand extensions. The consultancy team provided an in-depth analysis of the target audience and a review of Metropotam's brand architecture, slogan - "Urbanise yourself!" - and tone of voice - witty and friendly. A brand communication strategy and creative executions were developed, relying mostly on unconventional media campaigns devised for clubs, bars, underground / metro stations and trains. Starting in November 2007, the Metropotam posters were placed in 50 locations as well as on underground trains operating on the IMGB-Pipera line. The implementation of the strategy will continue with internet banners, and an additional underground campaign will be staged, as well as promotional activities related to various city events throughout the coming year.

"In a booming online industry, but where - mainly for financial reasons - still very few entrepreneurs use consultancy services to improve their chances of sustainable growth, we are glad to have provided financial and know-how support for the development of the Metropotam brand" says Camelia Dragoi, BAS Romania's National Programme Director.

The benefits of the BAS-supported project were almost immediate: following the increase in brand awareness, the popularity of the Metropotam website increased noticeably to over 200,000 visits and 500,000 page-views in February 2008.

Dragos Novac, the CEO of Knopad Software, stated: "We knew from Metropotam's inception that one of our long term competitive advantages would be our brand and therefore have developed the business by having "the metropotam" as part of our core values. This campaign is a natural step in communicating in a non-conventional way and true to our brand and business values. Ms.Catalina Cernica, the Managing Director of Graffiti BBDO, added: "The Metropotam project meant for Graffiti BBDO the opportunity to go more in-depth into interactive and digital communication. Beyond the classical consultancy relationship, we also learned valuable lessons from Metropotam in the process."

The EBRD's Business Advisory Services (BAS) Programme, financed in Romania by the Austrian Government, has been operating in Romania for over a year and has co-financed over 135 consultancy projects worth in excess of 800,000 Euros, delivered to local beneficiaries by Romanian consultancy firms. The BAS Programme will operate in Romania for at least one more year and will continue to act as a facilitator of the use of consultancy services by SMEs from the widest range of industries.

One case of successful management systems consulting comes from Electrogrup (www.electrogrup.ro), located in the Transylvanian city of Cluj. Electrogrup is a leading national provider of electrical and telecommunication installation services, which obtained financing to implement an integrated management system for Quality, Environment, Occupational Safety & Health Risk and Information Security in compliance with standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18000 and ISO 27000.

The project required not only significant knowledge and experience from the consultant, but also a considerable amount of time and dedication from staff at all levels in Electrogrup. The consultant selected by the company and the BAS Programme, Pegas from Targu Mures, has seven years experience consulting with over 900 management system projects under its belt.

The project comprised several stages developed over a 6 month period, including: analysis of the existing management system, training Electrogrup's top management regarding the provisions of standards, documentation, assistance in selecting the certifying body, internal auditor training and mentoring, internal audit, pre-audit and certification audit support.

Over half of the BAS Romanian Program's funds were used to assist local SMEs in developing their marketing function.

The first marketing completed project cofinanced by BAS Romanian Program consisted in the redefinition of the identity of a product line for Elmi Prodfarm, www.elmiplant.ro, a top 5 cosmetics manufacturer holding an 8% market share on the Romanian market.

The product portfolio of Elmi Prodfarm includes 3 main cosmetic brands: Elmiplant, Blossom and Bioten. Elmiplant's management wished to improve the existing image of the Bioten line, which did not convey the main strength of the products. i.e. their natural ingredients (honey, spirulina, chamomile etc.), which resulted in lower sales than expected.

The consultancy project devised to address the above issue included a research and analysis of the Bioten line against its competitors, followed by suggestions regarding Bioten's identity and positioning.

The new image builds especially on honey, well known for its healing properties, and conveys a more sophisticated message aimed to attract the target for this product line: young, active women. Following approval by the management, the consultant Spotlight developed the Bioten identity (logo and visual elements) and master packages for 11 products.

The Elmi Prodfarm project confirms the positive effect of business-minded, accessible financing for consultancy needs and encourages the BAS Romania team to continue its mission to promote the use of business advisory services by local SMEs and to foster the growth of the local consultancy industry.