The Undercover Marketer: What I See When I Review Romanian Marketing
I spend a lot of time reviewing marketing in Romania.
Not because I enjoy it—most of it is painful. But because understanding what's broken is the only way to fix it.
As a senior partner of Lighthouse PR, Romania's number one communications consultancy specialising in corporate communication, I've got a front-row seat to the good, the bad, and the absolutely catastrophic in Romanian marketing and communications.
And here's what nobody's willing to say out loud: most marketing in Romania is lazy, derivative, and fundamentally disconnected from how real people actually think, buy, and trust.
Let me take you through what I see when I watch Romanian marketing with the sound off—and what it reveals about the deeper problems plaguing the industry here.
The Patterns I See Everywhere (And Why They Keep Failing)
1) Copy-Paste Western Campaigns That Miss Cultural Context Entirely
What I see constantly:
International brands (or Romanian brands trying to look international) take campaigns designed for London, Paris, or New York and just... translate them.
Recent examples:
A tech company running "work from anywhere" lifestyle marketing in a country where most people don't have jobs that allow remote work
A luxury brand using aspirational imagery that reads as tone-deaf in a market still navigating significant income inequality
A global brand using its global brand ambassador images in all publicity activities, in countries where he/she is not even recognised.
A financial services company using humour that works in the UK but falls completely flat in Romania's more formal culture.
Why it fails:
Romanian consumers aren't Western European consumers who speak Romanian. They have:
Different trust triggers (personal relationships matter more than brand reputation)
Different status signifiers (what signals success here isn't what signals success in Paris)
Different humour (irony works differently, self-deprecation reads as weakness, not charm)
Different buying triggers (value and practicality often outweigh aspiration)
The lazy assumption: "If we translate it, it'll work."
The reality: Cultural translation requires rethinking the entire strategy, not just the words.
2) The "Big Promises, Zero Substance" Trap
What I see constantly:
Marketing that makes enormous claims without any credible proof.
Examples I've watched recently:
"Romania's best [product category]" (based on what results metric? says who?)
"Revolutionary technology" (that's actually just a standard feature everyone has)
"Trusted by millions" (when the company has been around for 6 months)
"Award-winning" (from an awards program nobody's heard of that you paid to enter)
Why it fails:
Romanian consumers have been burned repeatedly by:
Communist-era propaganda (distrust of official claims runs deep)
Post-transition carpetbagger capitalism (companies that made big promises and disappeared)
Pyramid schemes and financial fraud (affecting hundreds of thousands)
The result? Scepticism is the default setting. Big claims without proof don't inspire—they trigger distrust.
What works instead: Specific, verifiable claims. Customer proof. Transparent processes. Admitting limitations.
3) The Influencer Circus (Where Authenticity Goes to Die)
What I see constantly:
Brands paying influencers with zero audience overlap to promote products they clearly don't use.
Recent examples:
A fitness influencer promoting a luxury watch (zero credibility overlap)
A mommy blogger hawking enterprise software (who is this for?)
The same 10 influencers promoting 50 different brands in the same category (credibility destroyed)
Obviously, scripted "authentic" testimonials that everyone knows are paid
Why it fails:
Romanian social media users are sophisticated. They know when they're being sold to. And they resent being treated like idiots.
The influencers who work are the ones who:
Actually use the products they promote
Maintain audience trust by being selective about partnerships
Disclose relationships transparently
Have genuine expertise or an authentic connection to the category
What I see too often: Brands treating influencers as billboards instead of credibility partners.
4) The SEO Content Farm Disaster
What I see constantly:
Websites stuffed with AI-generated or poorly written content designed to rank for keywords, not to be useful.
Examples:
Blog posts that answer questions nobody's asking
"Ultimate guides" that are neither ultimate nor guides
Keyword-stuffed nonsense that reads like it was written by a drunk robot
Content clearly generated by AI with zero editing or fact-checking
Why it fails:
Google is getting better at detecting this garbage. But even when it ranks, nobody reads it, nobody shares it, and nobody trusts the brand that published it.
The bigger problem: This approach trains your brand to produce content for algorithms instead of humans. And humans are the ones who buy.
5) The Facebook Ad Carousel of Desperation
What I see constantly:
The same rotating carousel of desperate discount offers:
Monday: "50% off this week only!"
Wednesday: "Last chance! 40% off!"
Friday: "Weekend special! 60% off!"
Next Monday: "New week, new deal! 50% off!"
Why it fails:
You've trained your customers to:
Never buy at full price (why would they when there's always a sale?)
Distrust your pricing (if you can afford 60% off constantly, your regular price is a scam)
Wait for the next discount (which is always coming)
The death spiral: Lower margins → need more volume → more discounts → even lower margins → repeat until broke.
What I rarely see: Brands building actual value propositions that command premium pricing.
6) The "Romanian Pride" Manipulation
What I see constantly:
Brands are wrapping themselves in the flag and appealing to nationalism as a substitute for not having an actual value proposition.
Examples:
"Made in Romania" slapped on products where only the packaging is local
Patriotic messaging from companies that offshore profits aggressively
"Support local" campaigns from brands owned by international conglomerates
Using Romanian cultural symbols in campaigns with zero authentic connection
Why it fails (or succeeds for the wrong reasons):
Yes, Romanian consumers have pride in local brands. But they're not stupid. They can tell when "Romanian pride" is genuine versus when it's cynical manipulation.
The brands doing it right: Actually investing in Romania, employing locally, paying taxes here, building products that genuinely reflect Romanian needs.
The brands doing it wrong: Using patriotism as a marketing gimmick while contributing nothing to the local economy.
7) The Crisis Communication Meltdown
What I see constantly:
Companies are facing issues that either:
Option A: Go completely silent and hope it blows over (it never does)
Option B: Issue a corporate non-apology that makes everything worse
Recent patterns:
Data breaches are disclosed weeks late with minimising language
Product quality issues are met with "we're investigating", which never concludes
Customer service failures were responded to with defensive, accusatory statements
Negative press met with legal threats instead of substance
Why it fails:
Romanian media and social media move fast. Silence creates a vacuum. Vacuum fills with speculation. Speculation becomes narrative. By the time you respond, you've lost control.
What works: Immediate acknowledgement. Honest assessment. Clear timeline for resolution. Accountability. Follow-through.
What I see instead: Companies acting like it's still 1995 when you could control the narrative by controlling the press.
8) The LinkedIn Thought Leadership Cringe
What I see constantly:
Romanian business leaders and brands are trying to do "thought leadership" on LinkedIn by:
Posting motivational quotes with stock photos
Sharing completely generic "tips" everyone already knows
Writing in broken English to seem more international
Humble-bragging disguised as inspiration
Posting the same content across multiple accounts verbatim
Why it fails:
Thought leadership requires... thoughts. Original insights. Earned expertise. Vulnerability.
What I see instead: Content farming. Engagement bait. Vanity metrics.
The few doing it well: Sharing actual learnings from real experience. Being specific. Showing vulnerability. Teaching something useful.
9) The "We Do Everything" Agency Problem
What I see constantly:
Marketing agencies claim to do everything, then subcontract to another company or a freelancer.
Why it fails:
You can't be excellent at everything. The agencies claiming to do it all do most of it poorly.
The best outcomes I see come from agencies (like Lighthouse PR) that specialise deeply in what they're actually good at and partner for the rest.
The pattern: Clients hire "full-service" agencies, get mediocre results across the board, then have to hire specialists to fix everything.
10) The Metrics Theatre
What I see constantly:
Marketing reports celebrating:
Impressions (people who may/might have seen your ad)
Reach (people who may/might have been exposed)
Engagement (people who may/might have accidentally clicked)
Followers (many of whom are bots or totally inactive)
What I rarely see measured:
Revenue attributed to marketing
Customer acquisition cost
Lifetime value of acquired customers
Market share growth
Brand consideration and preference
Why it fails:
Vanity metrics don't pay bills. But they're easier to make look good than actual business results.
The disconnect: Marketing teams reporting success while sales teams wonder where the leads are.
The Deeper Problems These Patterns Reveal
These aren't just execution failures. They reveal fundamental misunderstandings about how marketing works:
Problem 1: Romanian Marketing Is Tactically Sophisticated But Strategically Immature
What I see:
Teams that can execute Facebook ads, influencer campaigns, and SEO tactics at a technically competent level.
What's missing:
Clear positioning strategy (who are you for, and why should they care?)
Differentiation that matters (what makes you different in ways customers value?)
Coherent brand narrative (why do you exist beyond making money?)
Integration across channels (everything working toward the same goal)
The result: Lots of activity. Minimal business impact.
Problem 2: Short-Term Extraction Over Long-Term Value
The pattern:
Optimise for this quarter's sales. Discount to hit the number. Burn through customer goodwill. Repeat.
What's missing:
Customer lifetime value (CLV) thinking
Brand equity building
Sustainable competitive advantage
Long-term market positioning
The result: Businesses that can't raise prices, can't command loyalty, can't survive without constant discounting.
Problem 3: Imitation Over Innovation
The pattern:
Watch what competitors do. Copy it. Add 10% more discount. Repeat.
What's missing:
Original strategic thinking
Understanding what customers actually want (versus what competitors offer)
Courage to differentiate
Investment in genuine innovation
The result: Commoditised markets where only price matters.
Problem 4: Distrust of Expertise
The pattern:
CEOs who don't trust their marketing teams. Marketing teams that don't totally trust agencies. Everyone is second-guessing everyone.
What's missing:
Respect for specialised expertise
Willingness to invest in quality
Long-term partnerships
Patience for strategies to mature
The result: Constant churn. Strategies are abandoned before they can work. Relationships that never deepen.
What Good Marketing Looks Like in Romania (The Rare Examples)
Not everything is broken. Brands are doing it right:
The ones building actual brand equity
What they do differently:
Consistent messaging over the years, not just campaigns
Investment in quality that customers can feel
Premium positioning backed by premium delivery
Patience to build trust over time
Example pattern: Brands that have resisted the race to the bottom, maintained pricing, and built loyal customer bases willing to pay more.
The ones solving real problems
What they do differently:
Deep customer understanding (not just demographic data)
Products designed for the Romanian context (not copy-paste from abroad)
Marketing that educates and solves, not just sells
Proof that comes from customers, not claims
Example pattern: Service businesses that built reputation through excellence, not through advertising.
The ones being genuinely transparent
What they do differently:
Honest about limitations and trade-offs
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees
Clear about what they stand for (and what they don't)
Vulnerable in ways that build trust
Example pattern: Brands that admitted mistakes publicly, fixed them, and came out stronger.
What Needs to Change (And Who Needs to Change It)
For Romanian Brands
Stop:
Copying Western campaigns without cultural adaptation
Competing only on price
Making claims you can't substantiate
Treating marketing as an expense. It is an investment
Start:
Understanding your actual customers (not just demographics)
Building differentiation that matters
Investing in quality consistently
Thinking 5 years ahead, not just this quarter
For International Brands Operating in Romania
Stop:
Treating Romania as just another translation job
Sending junior teams to "learn" on the Romanian market
Applying Western assumptions without local validation
Under-investing because "it's a smaller market"
Start:
Hiring local expertise that actually understands the market
Adapting strategy, not just creative
Investing proportionally to opportunity
Respecting cultural differences as strategic, not cosmetic
For Marketing Agencies
Stop:
Claiming to do everything
Optimising for awards over results
Hiding behind vanity metrics
Under-delivering and over-promising
Start:
Specialising in what you're actually excellent at
Measuring what matters to business outcomes
Building long-term client partnerships
Having the courage to say no to bad briefs
For CEOs and Business Leaders
Stop:
Treating marketing as an afterthought
Changing strategies every quarter
Hiring the cheapest agency
Ignoring marketing expertise
Start:
Understanding that marketing is a strategic infrastructure
Giving strategies time to work
Investing in quality partners (like Lighthouse PR)
Listening to the experts you hire
Why This Matters to Me (And Why I'm Writing This)
As a co-founder and senior partner of Romania's leading corporate communications consultancy, I have a vested interest in the quality of marketing and communications improving across the board.
Not because I'm altruistic. Because bad marketing pollutes the entire ecosystem:
It trains consumers to distrust all marketing
It degrades the value of good communications work
It makes our jobs harder when we're trying to build genuine credibility for clients
It holds back Romanian businesses from competing internationally
Lighthouse PR exists to demonstrate that another way is possible:
Strategic over tactical
Long-term over short-term
Substance over showmanship
Results over activity
When I watch Romanian marketing and see the patterns I've described, I see a massive opportunity for the brands willing to do it differently.
Because in a market flooded with lazy, derivative, discount-driven marketing, the brand that builds genuine value, communicates with integrity, and treats customers with respect stands out dramatically.
The Bottom Line:
Romanian Marketing Can Be Better (But Only If We're Honest About How Bad It Often Is)
I'm not writing this to insult Romanian marketers. Many are talented, hardworking, and fighting against constraints I don't fully see.
But we need to be honest about the patterns that aren't working, because until we acknowledge what's broken, we can't fix it. The Romanian market deserves better marketing. Romanian consumers deserve brands that respect their intelligence. Romanian businesses deserve marketing that actually drives growth.
And it's possible. I see it working when it's done right. The question is: how many more years will be wasted doing it wrong before we commit to doing it well?
—-
Note:
What am I missing? I'm sure there are patterns I'm not seeing or contexts I'm not understanding.
If you're in Romanian marketing—whether brand-side, agency-side, or watching from the outside—what drives you crazy? What patterns do you see that I've missed?
Let's have the uncomfortable conversation. Because nothing changes if we keep pretending everything's fine.
About the Author
Steve Gardiner (exec MBA) is a senior marketing and commercial leader at Lighthouse PR, bringing global experience from Accenture, Electronic Arts, Virgin Media, Telekom, and Etisalat. Latterly, as VP Business at Etisalat, he was responsible for $1.8B in revenue.
Today, Steve applies his strategic, marketing, and growth expertise to support Lighthouse PR clients as part of the agency’s service offering.