One of the reasons behind this is the controversial campaign launched by Rom’s producers. The idea of the “American dream” applied to a product consumed by entire generations has revived interest in things “authentically Romanian”.
“The ‘Noul Rom’ (new Rom) campaign was mainly aimed at recruiting the young target and boosting brand preference among young people. With a modest budget (the campaign cost EUR200,000-250,000), Rom managed to substantially lift its brand indicators,” says Mihut Craciun, general manager of Kandia Dulce, the company that owns the Rom brand. “According to the quantitative research carried out after the campaign, Rom became Romanians’ favorite brand, with the indicator registering a 79% rise owing to the campaign. For the target of young people, Rom saw the indicator double.”
The company’s representatives did not provide any data on the value of Rom sales, but according to ZF estimates they amount to several million euros.
The campaign for the new Rom, launched last October, meant a significant change to how the chocolate bar was promoted. The slogan was changed from one reminding people that the chocolate brand had been around since 1964, back in the communist days, to “The taste of coolness” and the Rom bar shed its Romanian flag packaging for the American flag.
To make the campaign credible, over 150,000 chocolate bars sporting the new packaging were made and sold. Rom American (American Rom) sold along Rom Autentic (Authentic Rom), prompting demand for the return of the authentic Rom from consumers.
Although a certain client category sensed that the new Rom was just a promotional stunt, most consumers were extremely upset.
In turn, Michael Boon, former Kandia CEO, late last year stated that during the campaign a lot of clients called the company to ask whether they had gone crazy. However, Boon concluded that eventually the campaign met its objective. Everybody remembered Rom.
The results of the revolt were however reflected in sales. Rom was the second best-selling chocolate bar in Romania after Snickers in June 2010-May 2011 period, by sales in volume and value, according to a ranking compiled by market research company Nielsen Romania. The following positions are held by Bounty, Lion and Mars by volume and by Bounty, Mars and Twix by value.
Known by today’s Romanians, by their parents and by their parents’ parents, Rom has now come to be known abroad, through Kandia Dulce’s portfolio and to the “Noul Rom” campaign, which won the “ad Oscars” in Cannes.
According to Craciun, Kandia Dulce did not expect such an increase in sales volumes during the campaign, “but I was confident the results would be seen in time”.
Adrian Botan, a creative manager with McCann Erickson communication group, the group that carried out the campaign for Rom, said McCann’s intention together with Kandia was to boost national pride.