International companies come with ready-made brand recipes, but Romanian entrepreneurs are creative and create new products to compete with international names, which attracts both the new generations and the potential employees, said the entrepreneurs in the Neamt County, who attended the `Branduri romanesti’ (Romanian brands) conference in Piatra Neamt.
“Construction of a brand should begin from within. Employees must speak for our brand. Young generations like traditional authentic stories. As long as one can come up with an authentic story, one gets included among their preferences,” said Catalin Gavrizescu, who manages he regional corporate centers of Raiffeisen Bank Romania.
He attended the ‘Branduri romanesti’ conference organized by Ziarul Financiar in partnership with Raiffeisen Bank Romania in Piatra Neamt. The even brought together 120 entrepreneurs from the county, who debated what is behind a brand and how to adjust to the new trends on the market and in consumer behavior.
“In 2016, the largest seller of musical equipment started making direct deliveries to Romania. We continued on our way and said that if they come to our country there’s nothing preventing us from going there. If the market is free and they come to us, there’s nothing stopping us from going abroad. What matters is the product and the brand,” said Florin Fodor, Fly Music shareholder.
Fly Music is a network of eight musical instrument stores in cities such as Piatra Neamt, Suceava, Iasi and Timisoara. The company posted 30 million lei (EUR6.3 million) sales in 2018, up 10% over the previous year.
A company that has been on the market for 28 years selling heating and plumbing equipment and accessories, Dolinex, bets on customer education.
“We all must work with each other; prove we can use Romanian products. We manufacture too little, we import everything. We most be more united, more confident, communicate more, like a watch with all the gears oiled. (…),” said Dorin Capitanu, Dolinex shareholder.
The entrepreneur expects EUR8 milion revenue in 2019.(EUR1=RON4.7667)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)