Monica Radulescu: In digital, everything is still new and we are free to make our ideas happen
Monica Radulescu gave us an insight look on social media, digital and client’s attitude towards digital from her position as Head of Digital & Strategy Planner CohnandJansen JWT.
AdHugger: So far, what was your most challenging project / campaign so far while working at CohnandJansen JWT and why?
Monica Radulescu: We try to come up with new ways of thinking each project, from idea to mechanics, and therefore, almost each new project is challenging and takes us out of our comfort zone. I guess the most challenging project for our team was developing a game which had to keep the user engaged for 7 months, had weekly tasks and new content and showed character progression. We learned a thing or two about game strategy with this project. (Full passion job for Jacobs 3in1 which recently won a Silver Effie)
AdH: What about the most challenging of your career so far?
M.R.: The biggest challenge of my career was leaving a safe job in a stable work environment and taking up the job of contributing to a new digital department for CohnandJansen JWT. It was a tough call, but it eventually paid off; in 2014 we were the only ATL agency in Top 3 at Internetics, with the most digital awards.
AdH: Name 3 things you learned from your colleagues.
M.R.:
- You can get more things done by simply being kind
- It is better to manage a project taking little steps and being very organized than hurrying and probably having to do it over again
- Keeping a positive attitude: there’s no point in wallowing in self-pity, but always looking for the silver-lining.
AdH: What do you like about the digital Romanian advertising industry? What do you dislike?
M.R.: I like that everything is still new and we have freedom to make our ideas happen – provided they fit the brief and client budget, of course.
What I don’t like is that we’re still very limited; we can’t afford to try new things unless there is a precedent, unless the idea will have mass reach. That is why I think that we tend to stick to classical channels, like Facebook and promo contests. You know, I looked and there aren’t a lot of case studies for Facebook apps or contest promos. Even Facebook Awards is actually filled with viral videos, not content strategies. And sadly, 80% of a digital agency’s everyday work is Facebook content.
AdH: Are clients truly open to social media strategies and do they really understand its importance?
M.R.: Yes, I would say that they’re open. They prefer having a social media strategy than not having any, that’s for sure.
The challenge is to convince them to not take the easy route. To take a little bit of risk and choose a big idea rather than just settle for day-to-day content. One of our clients is Aqua Carpatica – it has the biggest Facebook community not only in its category, but in all FMCG brands. And it reached over 1 mil fans by taking risks and choosing truly big ideas each year.
AdH: Do clients see beyond Facebook? What about the growing importance of Linkedin, twitter, instagram?
M.R.: I think they’re open to other social media channels, as long as we can guarantee them a certain reach when using these channels.
The platform we use can also vary according to the brand or the brief: for a corporate brand, which mainly targets career driven Young professionals, Linkedin can work fine as a support medium.
AdH: What expectations do you have for the digital market in the next 3 years? What trends do you forsee locally?
M.R.: I think that social media will grow even more in Romania. Facebook is such an important platform here, it’s proof that Romanians embrace social media easily. More than technology driven ideas, I think we will see ideas that go beyond Facebook and into Instagram, Whatsapp – new forms of social media.
I’m hoping that Click bait strategies will gradually disappear and that relevant content will be more visible and accessible.
And that mobile will evolve into something smarter than mobile apps, which I think are hard to sell to consumers (to break the clutter when there’s literary an app for everything and convince them to keep your app in their phones).