How many times a day can you listen to This girl is on fire?!
A normal day at Golin? There is no such thing…
I’m Simina and I’m the creative of Golin Bucharest. And yes, Golin is a PR agency. Our working system is a bit different. We have this mechanism, the g4 model, imported from across the ocean, which is why we are split into 4 different and extremely specialized departments. And this is how I ended up here. I’m in charge with the ideas. This is my job. I come up with ideas all day long.
My mom, Mirela, bore me with this huge curse… I cannot wake up early in the morning. 8 o’clock is my biggest nightmare. My colleagues, after several attempts, have abandoned the idea of seeing me in the office earlier than 9:30. So, my day starts at 10, when you can find me on Hortensia’s balcony, with a big cup o’ joe with milk. The milk is stolen from Gabi, our dear financial girl 🙂 (I would like to take this moment and confess. Gabi, I’m the thief you’ve been looking for all year long…). My day starts with my girls, talking about all sorts of things. Our agenda varies from what we did last night, to our current projects, what we’ll do tomorrow and many, many other things that should remain on that balcony :)…
At 10:10, I’m with my headphones on and that’s when the fun officially starts. It’s hard to talk to me after this point. The thing is that I listen to a lot of music. And sometimes, if you are lucky enough, you can hear my nightingale voice. I would now like to take a moment and apologize to all those who are enchanted by my vocals on a daily basis. (Bridge, I hear ya’!)
I strongly believe that any creative act requires a lot of individual work. That’s why I’m buried into my music most of the time, driving my bench colleague, Monica, crazy, with one of my favorite hits (which she, for sure, hates). What can I do…I need my dose of silence…
I only have one playlist, which I listen to repeatedly.
- Alicia Keys – “Girl on fire” – starts my day right. She’s the one I plan the rest of the day with. Since working at Golin I have learned how important it is to set deadlines. And the most important deadlines are the ones you set with yourself.
- Jay Z/ Krem/ other angry hip hoppers – Research on the matter I’m working on. A lot of research. Any which way I can: internal surveys, google, google, google, calling my friends, google, google, google, talking to my mom, google, google, chatting with my work colleagues, google, facebook. Research is the mother of all ideas.
- Beyonce/ Macy Grey/ Poe/ Lana – I start writing. These ladies inspire me. And I write, I write, I write…
Every day I have lunch with my sister, Manu. We have a very diverse menu that includes onions, tomatoes, fish, pasta, amandine and slanina (some sort of Romanian version of bacon- n.red). Over such an exquisite menu, we often start brainstorming on different matters, which in most of the times leads to serious fights (over ideas, of course!). She is my infinite source of inspiration and amusement.
- Rock – I continue writing. Because rock!!!. This is when I start testing my ideas.
In between we have the brainstormings. These usually take place on our terrace, a place rivaling any of the hippest sky bars in town. What happens in a brainstorming stays in a brainstorming; I will not go further on this. All I can say is that having such different types of people at Golin is a blessing. Working with people specialized in financial communication, stock exchange or political science makes me say about 15 times a day: Why haven’t I thought about this?!
- Lou, Elvis, Michael, Toto, Freddy – finish what I started. Or continue what I didn’t. Or start what I haven’t.
If it’s one of those days with external meetings, then I add radio to my playlist. Taxi drivers listen to a lot of music, which can be really inspiring. You have to be up to date with everything that is going on. As an example, today I heard a very interesting composition: “What can I do, do, do”. A taxi driver offers you, besides the interesting playlist, some of the most precious insights ever. They are the masters of human nature 🙂
My favorite moment of the day: the cigarette break. Over a cigarette you get the most important feedback and new ideas from your colleagues usually hit you like a hurricane of smoke.
We listen to a lot of music here on Ceasornicului 17th.
Who is Simina Zidaru?
Simina is creative brain behind successful and multi-awarded campaigns; she solves creatively, differently and courageously each challenge she receives.
She has signed some of our most successful and creative campaigns for clients such as AFI Palace Cotroceni, PepsiCo, Mercedes-Benz, KFC, Colgate-Palmolive, Electrolux. Her work has been recognized with excellence awards in festivals such as ADC*RO, European CSR Awards, Cristal Festival, Romanian CSR Awards, Romanian PR Award, Webstock.