In 2007, together with Cristian Manafu’s Evensys team, I co-created an original marketing communications conference, including the event’s concept, its brand identity, and most importantly, the list of speakers.
For this event, I proposed and hosted a unique battle of ideas between Romanian advertising creative directors, called Marketing Arena, being inspired by The Battle of Big Thinking event in London that I attended as a member of Account Planning Group UK).
The project proved to be a big success, thanks to experienced and inspiring professionals that agreed to join the event, including global renowned specialists in marketing communications, media, and business strategy.
Mark Earls, aka the HERDmeister
The top guests were Mark Earls (aka the HERDmeister, author, and world-leading strategist) and my colleague from Starcom Mediavest London, Richard Hartell (Strategic Development Director, Starcom Mediavest Group EMEA).
The other great speakers on Inspire 2008 were Nikki Hillier (Artistic Director, ELLE prêt-à-porter), Magnus Brehmer (Marketing Specialist, Inter IKEA Systems), Daniela Knecht (Deputy Managing Director, Client Service, and Business Development, McCann Erickson Romania) and Miguel Brito Goncalves (Executive Creative Director, Advertising), together with the local practitioners Mihai Simiuc (founder Fru Fru) and myself (Strategic Planning Director, Starcom).
Over two days, more than 300 industry professionals attended Inspire 2008. Besides Mark Earls’ conference, the other highlight of the event was the Marketing Arena idea battle, a one-time event where the top 10 Romanian advertising creatives shared each an innovative communication idea that had to impress both a marketing professionals jury and the audience.
Ema Prisca: The winner
All presenters presented new captivating marketing ideas, but the winner was Ema Prisca, creative director at Graffiti BBDO at that time. She won the Marketing Arena ideas battle event by proposing the development of trailers to promote books as movie producers do, but with a production budget tailored for the Romanian market.
The subsequent echoes in the industry made us understand that Marketing Arena (part of Inspire 2008 event) has been one of the most memorable advertising events in Romania and I am proud that I’ve been part of the team that made it a one-time success story.
