MultiCraft
International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences
Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF
BUSINESS,
MANAGEMENT AND
SOCIAL SCIENCES
www.ijbmss-ng.com
© 2011 MultiCraft Limited. All rights reserved
Romania branding campaign – an IMC perspective
Marius Bulearca1*, Suzana Bulearca2
1*
*
Center for Industry and Services’ Economics, Romanian Academy, ROMANIA
2
Bournemouth University, UK
Corresponding Author: e-mail: mariusbulearca@yahoo.com, Tel +40-758-010003, Fax.+40-21-3220638
Abstract
An integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach on Romania tourism branding campaign have been presented. The
present paper focused on the critical analysis of Romania’s current “Land of choice” IMC campaign with reference to brand
building because “both brands and integrated communication will become the essence of competitive advantage”. Structured on
Lee and Park’s four dimensions framework, the IMC campaign have been criticised according to message relevance/integration,
database-centred communications and relationship marketing efforts, followed by an analysis of the Romania nation-brand in
terms of Dinnie’s Nation Brand Equity (NBEQ) model, recognising that branding is a paramount concept for nations. Moreover,
the paper attempted to position the campaign on a level of integration, in order to understand whether Romania’s current
branding efforts were coherent and compelling to all its stakeholders. The last part of the paper aimed to develop a three-years
marketing communications plan with recommendations for a stronger IMC campaign which could build a more credible brand
for Romania, thus creating differentiation, reputation, emotional linkages with various stakeholders, and, ultimately, profitability
in terms of tourism revenues and foreign direct investments. The campaign slogan would be changed since it didn’t embodied
the country’s true values and used thereafter consistently in all communications, and more attention would be given to the
campaign website, which is in fact the pillar of Direct Marketing, Relationship Marketing and word-of-mouth communications.
For purposes of focus, the paper has concentrated on the UK market for both analysis and proposed IMC campaign, with
references to Romanians as employees (for corporate communications). The budget of €25.5m over 2010-2012 would be split
across different communication channels, with priority given to profile and push strategies to ensure an improved reputation and
a better positioning on all tourism-related sources.
Keywords: advertising, assets, brand building, integrated marketing communication campaign, repositioning
1. Introduction
According to the World Tourism Organisation, tourism is one of the most dynamic economic sectors, and specialists even
discuss about a new era of tourism revitalisation. For this reason, even countries that recently came into existence (e.g. Serbia) are
starting to invest in exciting propositions, thus making the tourism environment increasingly competitive. Recognised for its
exceptional tourist potential – the World Travel and Tourism Council predicted Romania1 to be the fourth fastest-growing tourism
destination in 2006-2015 (WTTC 2006) –, Romania nevertheless lacks a differentiated brand identity, apart from several internal
deficits. Moreover, since countries like Bulgaria, Serbia (already mentioned) or Albania are distinguishing themselves with
competitive tourism propositions, even Romanians, let alone foreigners, are becoming less confident in Romania’s recovery
potential, hence Romania was the most affected EU tourist destination, with 17% arrivals decrease 2009/2008 (European Travel
Commission 2009).
1
Romania is a country located in the South eastern part of Central Europe, bordering with Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and the Black
Sea. Since 1st January 2007, Romania is also a part of the European Union. Although recognized as “one of the most beautiful countries of Southeast Europe” (The
Blue Guide, cited in Romania Tourism 2009), benefiting from a varied natural landscape of stunning beauty and from a rich culture which blends thousands of
years of history, traditions and civilizations, Romania is still only a developing country aiming to find a new national identity among the European countries, after
almost 50 years of communism which came to an end in 1989 (Mintel 2007).
36 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
2. Part 1: Critical analysis of current IMC campaign
On 1st May 2009, the Romanian Tourism Minister launched a marketing campaign as a preamble to the much-announced 2010
nation-branding, with the slogan “Romania – the land of choice” (Evenimentul 2009), in an attempt to re-establish Romania on
the map of competitive tourist destinations.
2.1. Current IMC campaign
The current IMC campaign has several objectives (Ilie, 2009; Evenimentul, 2009; Ziare, 2009):
• Promoting Romania as a distinctive, quality destination;
• Promoting Romanian sub-brands;
• Achieving 10% tourists increase in 2009, especially foreigners;
• Increasing tourism contribution to Gross Domestic Product to 6.7% from 3% in 2008.
Launched under the “Land of choice” umbrella-slogan and hymn, the campaign focuses on three aspects:
• Romania – home-country of famous sportspeople (gymnast Nadia Comaneci, tennis-man Ilie Nastase and football-player
Gheorghe Hagi).
• Romania – a little-known country and, therefore, an invitation to discover enormous possibilities, beyond popular beliefs;
• Romania – dramatic scenery, ancestral heritage and modern lifestyle.
The campaign’s target audience is complex, as Romania endeavours to communicate with:
• Foreign visitors - by analysing the endorsing celebrities (above 40 year-olds, retired for at least 8 years) and the upmarket
adverts style, it can be assumed that the targeted profile is mid-upper class couples/families in their 40s, with an appetite
for novelty and variation;
• Citizens (particularly the Romanian Diaspora, now estimated at 3 million people (Nation Master 2009)) – are encouraged
to spend their holidays in Romania and to become country-brand advocates;
• Accommodation providers and foreign/internal tour-operators – strengthen/develop relationships.
• The campaign employs all the main marketing communications tools as described by Middleton et al. (2009), and each
technique will further be discussed.
Advertising
The advertising campaign comprises TV adverts, Internet banners, postcards, press and outdoor (Haraga 2009) plus sponsorships
of UK TV shows – Coronation Street – Romanian Holiday (Creative Club 2009). The two TV concepts are intended as a teaser
and a follow-up explanation, commissioned to appear on Eurosport and CNN from August until December, with strategic
placements during top sports events, such as the World Athletics Championship and the US Open, for €2 million (Iasi Invest
2009). The teaser advert focuses on the idea that foreigners know nothing about Romania. It depicts myths, such as showing that in
Romania people ride zebras, sardines grow on trees and Romanian women can marry four men at once. The end narrates words
addressed to the viewer: ‘Admit it, you know nothing about Romania’. (Ilie 2009) http://www.thediplomat.ro/articol.php?id=54
Following this rather aggressive but effective clutter-breaking invitation to discover the real Romania, the explanation spots
combine informational and transformational techniques (Percy and Elliott 2005) to clarify the audience about what Romania is,
from the perspective of the three celebrities (Creative Club 2009).
The other advertising techniques reinforce the message that there is more to Romania than misconceptions and the three sports
icons: “Hi! I'm Nadia Comaneci/Ilie Nastase/Gheorghe Hagi and this is Romania. One country so many experiences. Come to
Romania, the Land of Choice”.
Publicity
Although publicity is usually understood as “the sum of all public relations work” (Lumsdon 2000, p.175), from a tourism
perspective it refers to the range of printed literature. Apart from the campaign brochure (available to order online), from 2010,
Romania will also appear in catalogues/brochures of international tour-operators activating in the UK (Balkan Holidays,
DERTOUR for Eastern Europe, TUI-Thompson and Thomas Cook UK) (Ministerul Turismului 2009).
Sales Promotion
In order to encourage tourist visits, the campaign focuses on several sales promotion techniques (Lumsdon 2000; Romania
Tourism 2009, Ministerul Turismului 2009):
• Special online offers for Bucharest and hiking in Transylvania;
• “Tourist in Romania” online competition – travelers can upload their greatest photos in a chance to win a weekend in
Bucharest;
37 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
•
•
Push tactics – window displays, brochures promoting upcoming events, special offers, all-inclusive packages – through
partner travel agencies;
B2B promotional activities at the World Travel Market (WTM) London Fair in November – handing-out of
postcards/brochures promoting events such as “Christmas in Maramures” and the “George Enescu” festival.
Furthermore, if admitting a parallel between countries and corporations (Dinnie 2008), it can be assumed that Romania also
employs profile communications for its employees – the citizens who live in/outside Romania, thus building brand credibility and
benefiting from the power of word-of-mouth recommendations (Ministerul Turismului 2009):
• An adapted version of “Tourist in Romania” competition;
• Special offers for seaside/spa/mountain resorts, with redemption of coupons/vouchers offered in collaboration with
Romanian employers.
Public Relations (PR)
The online press release related to different campaign implementation stages are available on the Romanian Tourism website and
have been spread across different publications, Romanian and British (WTM London Fair 2009). Other PR techniques, such as
familiarization trips in 2010 for companies like Balkan Holidays and Thomas Cook (Ministerul Turismului 2009), were employed
at WTM exhibition to develop/improve relationships with tour-operators (Morgan et al. 2002). Nevertheless, against its will,
Romania frequently appears in UK newspapers for controversial issues related to work/immigration, discrimination or crimes
(Slack 2007); these messages are augmented by several publications and, because they are poorly counteracted by Romanian
representatives, cause distorted country perceptions in the minds of UK tourists.
Personal Selling
Lumsdon (2000) presents three components of personal selling related to a tourism destination:
• Travel agents – efforts are made to restore/strengthen relationships with large tour-operators (Balkan Holidays, TUIThompson, Thomas Cook), essential for generating sales/leads, accessing vast customer databases and joint-marketing
opportunities;
• Romanian representatives – participating at trades, conferences and exhibitions, they endeavor to establish relationships
with intermediaries through sales promotion techniques above-mentioned;
• End-sellers – the Romanian accommodation/service providers who arguably have the most important role in transforming
the leads/first-time tourists into friends of the country as they “physically embody the product and are walking billboards
from promotional standpoint” (Wilson et al. 2008, p.273).
Direct Marketing (DM)
In terms of direct marketing and relationship-building techniques, the campaign is still under development. Starting from 2010 the
newly-contracted tour-operators will initialize DM campaigns. Currently, prospects who wish to obtain specific information on
attractions and upcoming events can order a brochure by email or subscribe to the e-newsletter. For internal branding purposes,
Romanians also have access to a TelVerde phone line.
Online marketing
Although the launch of a one-stop portal-like website has been announced, currently search engine results only point to two
official websites:
• The National Tourism website (www.turism.gov.ro) – contains campaign-related information, promotions, press
releases and e-newsletter sign-up;
• Romania’s National Tourist Office (RoNTO) website (www.romaniatourism.com) – an English-only site for
detailed information on Romania, upcoming events and tour-operators (for North America and UK), with the
message “Come as a tourist, leave as a friend”.
Other techniques include presence on various travel-related websites and social media - links to Twitter and Facebook for C2C
interactions; in this way, the campaign can benefit from word-of-mouth as an inexpensive, efficient brand-building technique
(Kotler et al., 2005).
2.2. A critical analysis
Academics are advocating the need for a broader perspective, where IMC becomes Integrated Brand Promotion (IBP) (Belch and
Belch 2007) which is:
A strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive
brand communications programmes over time with consumers, customers, prospects, and other targeted,
relevant external and internal audiences (Kerr et al. 2008, p.2).
38 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
This definition is more appropriate from a nation-branding perspective, since nation-brands are “complex and multifaceted, with a
vast range of internal and external stakeholders” (Dinnie 2008, p.192) and therefore the level of integration of a nation’s branding
efforts is dependent on the successful management of the most relevant touch-points, planned/unplanned.
The analysis of Romania’s IMC/IBP campaign comprises three parts:
• The four dimensions of IMC;
• Brand building considerations;
• Integration level.
The four dimensions of IMC
In order to better underpin the multidimensional concept of IMC, Lee and Park (2007) have devised four dimensions for analyzing
an IMC campaign.
Unified communications for consistent message and image
LAND OF CHOICE
There are several problems connected to the campaign logo (as shown above), slogan “Land of choice” and messages:
• The logo is non-differentiating, since it does not employ Romanian-specific symbols like the Bulgarian rose or the Irish
clover but only emphasizes the country’s varied landscape, a feature of most Central/Eastern European countries;
• Limited exploitation of differentiating Romanian brand values (Ilie 2009);
• Accusations of plagiarism of Croatia’s slogan (although false, these allegations caused much negative PR in Romania
(Siedlecki 2009) and of poor scheduling (adverts apparently run during night wrestling matches) (Chis 2009);
• Cultural misinterpretations – apparently, choice in the USA is associated with the abortion controversy; especially with
the proliferation of social media (Twitter), such negative perceptions could easily spread and therefore damage Romania’s
image in the UK (Ziare.com 2009);
• Slogan is not present in interactive channels as a central component;
• Slogan is not connected with the various messages portrayed across different media channels; teaser TV advert - “You
know nothing about Romania, do you?” (too patronizing and aggressive), explanation advertisement - “This is Romania”,
postcards - “Discover the other treasures of Romania. More than you know”;
• The messages, although appearing to have a logical connection, can be confusing, especially for audiences not familiar
with Romania. Many British do not know about Romania’s tourist potential and most associate it with Dracula,
communism (Ceausescu), children beggars and gypsies; these stereotypes are even reinforced by British TV presenters
like Jeremy Clarkson who has recently been asked to apologize over ‘jokes’ about Romania (Telegraph 2009);
• Promotion of sub-brands, although effective from a creative perspective (Ministerul Turismului 2009), do not link
coherently with the Romanian umbrella-brand (Dinnie 2008);
• Target audience misfit - as inferred initially, the campaign seems to target mostly 40 years-old mid-upper class couples.
Nevertheless, many attractions can only be reached by hiking or with terrain vehicles, and the Romanian culture/traditions
can only be tasted by the open-minded. Consequently, a more appropriate target audience would be groups of 20-50 yearolds (active families/multicultural students) in pursuit of unique cultural experiences/outdoor adventures (Mosaic 2006).
To conclude, there appears to be a need for different communication objectives and thus different messages that could counteract
negative perceptions while reinforcing positive Romanian values.
Differentiated communications to multiple customer groups
This facet of IMC implies adapting communications according to various criteria, while still keeping the coherent ‘look and feel’.
The figure below summarizes how the “Land of choice” campaign supports tourists (the most important stakeholders for a holiday
destination) throughout their decision-making process (see Figure 2.1).
39 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
Figure 2.1. The Buying Cycle
(Adapted after Solomon et al. 2006, p.258)
As it can be observed, the campaign focuses on awareness and attraction through scattered sales promotions, which give the
impression of a multitude of tactics rather than a coherent strategy. Furthermore, the campaign does not acknowledge the
importance of customer-lifetime-value (Chaffey et al. 2006), or the fact that different countries have different attitudes and are in
different purchasing/lifetime-value stages towards Romania (see Table 2.1). Apart from adapted campaign weights, there are no
differentiated propositions for foreign markets. The UK is mainly viewed as a platform to reach international tour-operators and
thus British preferences/cultural characteristics are ignored.
Table 2.1. Main visitors to Romania, by European countries (2007)
(Compiled from Mintel 2007; INSSE 2007; National Statistics 2009)
Country
Tourists accommodated
189890
Germany
182576
Italy
109778
France
81280
Hungary
78732 (143000 in 2008; 81000 in first half of 2009)
UK
58022
Austria
44774
Spain
35910
Netherlands
33062
Greece
28837
Moldovan Republic
Global campaigns promoting tourist destinations should have a degree of standardization (especially for low-budget countries like
Romania), since there are some common characteristics in a holiday decision-making process (Brassington and Pettitt 2006) and
there is a need for consistency and coherence (Dinnie 2008); however, cultural adaptation should also be considered (Fill 2009) –
for example, football player Hagi is idolized in Turkey, but Mutu might be better known in the UK.
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Database-centered communications
This section aims to analyze database-centered communications, particularly interactive communications employed in the
campaign. The only DM campaigns are carried by individual tour-operators, meaning that the campaign does not benefit from a
centrally-coordinated database. Moreover, although a July press release announced the launch of
an informational portal system, to promote Romanian tourist destinations, as well as to record tourists,
available accommodation and to centralize this information (Ministerul Turismului 2009),
currently no such portal can be found. The replacement websites (Tourism Minister and RoNTO) do not collect much information,
apart from emails necessary for newsletters. The table below summarizes the key findings regarding interactivity levels of the
official websites according to Rayport and Jaworski’s (2004) 7Cs framework (see Table 2.2).
Context
Content
Community
Customization
Communication
Connection
Commerce
Table 2.2. The 7Cs Customer Interface Framework
(Adapted after Rayport and Jaworski (2004))
Tourism Website
RoNTO website
Aesthetical focus, sleek design
Information + aesthetics
Some information but mostly images,
Good balance between information and
videos
images, perhaps ratio inclines more in
favor of information
Links to Facebook / Twitter accounts where C2C interaction can occur
Has Romanian and English versions as the
Only English version, no customization
only customizable feature
No personalization/interaction → visitors feel ignored, unimportant
Possibility for e-newsletter registration;
Broadcast mainly, limited and indirect
Email communication-based; For
interaction (ask a question or order a
accommodation providers-possibility to
brochure by emailing)
register through an emailed form
Relatively slow response
Links to internal travel agents who support
Links to main travel agents, transport
various sales promotions (only for
operators (special interactive box for
Romanians)
Austrian Airlines) and journey planner
useful information
Links to Facebook / Twitter / Romania travel videos on Youtube
No e-commerce → annoyance, risk of fraud due to lack of official endorsements
The current websites behave more like information shops with no opportunity for e-commerce and very limited interaction. This is
detrimental to Romania’s brand image especially because no relationships can be initiated with stakeholders and, due to limited
data collection, no centralized database can be created and therefore no valuable information for more efficient targeting can be
employed (Percy and Elliott 2005).
Relationship fostering communications
Because tourism is ultimately a multi-service concept, relationship marketing (RM) should be a focal point of any campaign in an
attempt to attract, develop, maintain and enhance relational exchanges with any stakeholder, internal or external (Morgan and Hunt
1994, p.21; Dwyer, Schurr and Oh 1987). In order to better understand the RM efforts employed by Romania in its current IMC
campaign, Payne et al.’s (1995) six markets model will be employed (as shown in Figure 2.2 and depicted in Table 2.3).
2.3. Preliminary conclusions for Part 1
It is apparent that Romania does not manage relationships with its stakeholders very well, as negative perceptions/attitudes often
surpass positive opinions. This problem connects with the brand building concept which will further be discussed – Romania does
not have a clear and coherent identity as yet, and therefore it is confused as to how communications should strategically be
deployed. Current communications seem only disparate tactics, left at the consideration of tour-operators and accommodation
providers, rather impersonal in nature and not part of a coordinated IBP/IMC plan.
41 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
Figure 2.2. The six markets model
(Adapted after Payne et al. 1995)
Employee
Internal
Referral
Influence
Supplier
Customer
Table 2.3. Applying the six markets model
*Romanian citizens in/outside Romania, Romanian travel
agencies/services/accommodation providers
*Bureaucracy, limited and non-personal communication, little reciprocal trust and
respect, opportunistic behavior, employee disloyalty
Sales promotions + facilities for Romanian employers to support these schemes
*Worsening relationships between Romanian citizens due to deepening social, ethnic and
regional differences and the tendency to adopt opportunistic behaviors and fraud
*Little trust, bureaucracy and slow communication processes, blame culture
*First campaign to encourage citizens’ advocacy (sales promotions and social media)
*Disbelief in the campaign/the Romanian brand because of worsening living conditions
* Romanian communities promote traditional Romanian values/customs (Howlett 2009)
*Many criticisms, much negative PR and several stereotypes related to Romania
*Efforts to counteract negative perceptions and play on positive ones are weak and rare
*Good press coverage in the UK related to participation to WTM exhibition and
successful efforts of reengaging suppliers
*Undelivered promises, opportunistic behavior and pour value for money
weakened/interrupted relationships with some tours-operators
*Efforts are now made to redevelop/re-strengthen but suppliers are still cautious
*Mixed UK opinions towards Romania (negative PR, past personal experiences – good
with rural/adventure/ecotourism, bad with seaside, Romanian Diaspora
*Romania is not currently viewed as an attractive tourist destination (European Travel
Commission 2009)
*No personalization for UK, apart from disparate tactics
3. Part 2: Brand building
Nation-branding is a controversial process; as Olins (2002, p.241) emphasizes,
it is not the concept that people detest so much as the word brand, which appears for some people to have trifling and
superficial implications unworthy of the national idea.
Consequently, because it implies constructing perceptions in consumer’s mind, nation-branding is a long-term strategic
commitment with coherence as an impervious criterion (De Chernatony, cited in Dinnie 2008, p.17), a fact which, as previouslydiscussed, has been ignored by the Romanian campaign. Dinnie (2008, p.15) proposes a definition of nation-branding which
considers its delicate, complex and multifaceted character:
The unique, multi-dimensional blend of elements that provide the nation with culturally-grounded differentiation
and relevance for all of its target audiences.
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3.1. Romania’s national brand equity (NBEQ) sources and dimensions
The paper will further focus on the NBEQ model proposed by Dinnie (2008) which endeavors to analyze a nation-brand’s value in
terms of brand identity, image and assets (as shown in figure 3.1).
Innate assets
These are “enduring elements of national identity” (Dinnie 2008, p.68) or the distinguishing essence of a nation. If used correctly,
they can provide authenticity and differential advantage to a nation-brand (see Figure 3.2).
Nurtured assets
These represent the above-mentioned contemporary efforts to build a new healthy nation environment (as shown in Figure 3.3).
These include perceptions/stereotypes on Romania and will be incorporated into a perceptual map (see Figure 3.4 - Fill 2009)
alongside destinations preferred by British in Central/Eastern/Southern Europe (since Romania cannot as yet aim to compete with
established destinations like France/Spain).
Vicarious assets
The map confirms that British tourists know little about Romania and most of their knowledge resides in negative stereotypes,
while few know about Romania’s exciting all year-round potential (Mintel 2007). Moreover, tourists who have visited Romania
usually hold negative perceptions because they only experienced the seaside, which is currently the most under-invested and
deficient Romanian attractions.
Consequently, nation-branding efforts should concentrate on awareness for performing sub-brands (Ilie 2009), thus changing
outdated perceptions and portraying Romania as a rough diamond that has more to it than perceived ruggedness, and on coherent
RM techniques that ensure visitors enjoy their holiday and are willing to return.
Disseminated assets
Disseminated assets are worldwide tangible projections of a country, and, if influenced correctly, could provide opportunities for
word-of-mouth and advocacy (as shown in Figure 3.5).
Figure 3.1. NBEQ Model
(Adapted after Dinnie (2008, p.67))
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Figure 3.2. Innate assets
Figure 3.3. Nurtured assets
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Figure 3.4. The perceptual mapping
(Adapted after Fill (2009))
Figure 3.5. Disseminated Assets
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3.2. Levels of IMC
IMC is of great importance for any campaign since it is recognized as the “key competitive advantage associated with marketing”
(Kitchen and Schulz 2001, cited in Lee and Park 2007, p.1). In order to view Romania’s branding efforts into perspective,
Kliatchko’s (2008) combined model of IMC levels and pillars (see Figure 3.6) will be deployed as a conclusion to the critical
analysis of the “Land of Choice” campaign.
Figure 3.6. Interplay between the four levels and four pillars of IMC
(Adapted after Kliatchko (2008, p.153))
3.3. Preliminary conclusions for Part 2
There are several conclusions to be drawn regarding the current IMC/IBP campaign:
• Above and below-the-line communication techniques are not strategically coherent, with various messages across
different channels that do not position Romania distinctively and are not characteristic for the brand, incorrect promotion
of sub-brands, scattered tactics that do not seem to bring any synergies and several touch-points (e.g.: brand ambassadors,
word-of-mouth) unsuccessfully-managed;
• Channels and content are not customized to the UK market (e.g.: the website does not support e-commerce and
interactivity, forcing visitors to purchase offline, which ignores British tourists’ trend towards bypassing travel agencies)
– only and inside-out approach (Kitchen et al. 2004);
• Limited data collection and scattered database-centered communications imply lack of RM and improved targeting
opportunities;
• Internal stakeholders accuse the Tourism Minister of wasting budgets and not achieving objectives (2009 tourists arrivals
were aimed to increase by 10% and they decreased by 17%, Romania being the most affected EU tourist destination
according to European Travel Commission 2009).
To conclude the second part of the paper, the “Land of Choice” campaign focuses on an inside-out approach, with disparate tactics
not properly coordinated by a coherent brand identity and is currently not even achieving level 1 on the integration ladder. This
concept will further be discussed in a future paper which proposes a marketing communications plan that can better integrate
Romania branding efforts and position the country as a distinctive tourism destination for Central/Southeastern Europe.
4. Part 3: Recommended marketing communications plan
Before setting the goals for the new marketing communications plan a context analysis has to be carried out for understanding the
key market and communication drivers that can influence the achievement of the brand’s long-term objectives. From this context
analysis the marketing objectives and the marketing communications objectives will be derived.
4.1. Communications context
In order to provide a comprehensive marketing communications plan, it is important to firstly understand which key market and
communications drivers influence Romania nation-brand (Fill 2009).
Environmental Context
The most important environmental factors affecting the tourist destination industry (PEST Analysis – Appendix 4.1) are:
• Recession - tourists have become more selective, choosing only destinations with superior quality-price ratio, competitive
offers and authentic propositions. Consequently, packages including rural/eco/adventure/outdoor tourism or short breaks
for cultural/sports events are becoming top-of-demand, especially for British tourists who enjoy weekend trips abroad,
cultural manifestations and rich ethnic experiences (Mintel 2007);
46 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
•
Generalized adoption of online technology for multiple purposes: online bookings, thus bypassing bricks-and-mortar touroperators (Chaffey et al. 2006), social media for C2C interactions and feedback or B2C communications. Brands that
cannot offer satisfactory experiences, relationship-building facilities or e-commerce opportunities risk disloyalty and even
word-of-mouse boycotts (Verhaeghe et al. 2007).
Stakeholder Context
Because nation-brands have “a vast range of internal and external stakeholders” (Dinnie 2008, p.192), the power-interest matrix
(see Figure 4.1 - Henry 2008) has been used for a better understanding of each stakeholder’s attitude towards Romania as a tourist
destination. It can be observed that the most important stakeholders are:
• The government/tourism bodies;
• Service/accommodation providers, airlines, etc. – the new brand ambassadors (Lumsdon 2000);
• The UK press and movies/TV presenters - although not very interested in Romania, can influence consumers’ opinions
through stereotypes;
• Romanian citizens plus UK tourists – high collective power, especially with the proliferation of social media.
Figure 4.1. The Power-Interest Matrix
(Adapted after Henry (2008))
Business Context
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO 2009), tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing economic
sectors, and academics (Poon 1993, cited in Lumsdon 2000, p.278) explain this through the revival of a ‘new tourism’ on the
tourism life-cycle grid (Appendix 4.2), where technology and niche products catering for new social trends thrive (as previously
seen in Appendix 4.1). Nevertheless, with the 2007 recession and the H1N1 pandemic, global tourism demand declined with 8%
(2008/2009) and the tourism industry has been seriously restructured.
The European tourism market is expected to benefit from trends of short breaks and intra-regional travel, however some
regions/countries continue to be severely affected (-11% Central/Eastern Europe, -17% Romania and Poland) while others even
record positive growth (5% Serbia, 2% Croatia), and new destinations (Eastern Europe) will see fierce competition from
reinventing mature destinations (Western/Southern Europe).
The UK, although known as a “travel-crazy” nation (p.11), has become a major disappointment for outbound travel. It seems
that, until the full predicted recovery in 2011, nations that want to succeed must offer competitive propositions, unbeaten offers,
and excellent value for money, tourist retention programmes and complete online facilities (European Travel Commission 2009).
Customer Context
Romania is not the kind of idyllic destination that can be accessed by anyone, nor is it suitable for tourists looking for classic
holidays; however it does offer an authentic experience responding to the new tourism trends. Moreover, Romania is perceived
47 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
negatively, especially in the UK, due to generalized stereotypes and unfortunate events that have often been exaggerated by
journalists.
Consequently, the new campaign should focus on the acquisition and retention of a new target audience (20s-50s groups of
friends (multicultural students/active families), who are open to new cultural experiences, experiment with ethnic brands, value
authenticity and enjoy outdoor experiences) and on coherent strategies to engage Romanian citizens into brand advocacy so that
the perceived risks of UK tourists can be diminished.
Organization Context
Romania is a developing country and therefore its tourism budget is quite low (€100 million in 2009, only 0.06% of the Gross
Domestic Product), however it is on the increase (10 times in 2009/2008, aided by EU funds) since the Government considers
tourism and agriculture as top priorities for country revitalization (Mintel 2007; Ministerul Turismului 2009). Nevertheless,
because it is dealing with public funds, the budget of €10 million reserved for marketing communications is intensely scrutinized
and therefore controversies might easily arise for careless spending, especially since Romanian culture is largely a blame culture
(Georgescu 2009; Realitatea.net 2009).
4.2. Promotional objectives
The subsequent section aims set promotional objectives for the new marketing communications plan according to the SMART
criteria, as indicated by the results of the communication, brand and contextual analysis (Fill 2009). Because it is a nationrepositioning/rebranding campaign with a multitude of stakeholders, the plan is set for a 3-years campaign (the market is so
dynamic that a longer-term strategy would unquestionably become obsolete), to incorporate 2010/2011 tourism recovery and 2012
full-growth potential; however, depending on the success of the campaign in 2010, adjustments can be considered.
Corporate (national) objectives
• Increase tourism’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product by 2% each year;
• Increase tourism budget to 1% of GDP by 2012;
• Reposition Romania as a quality year-round destination-brand, focused on niche tourism products
(rural/eco/adventure/winter/cultural tourism and short breaks);
• Increase branded exports (wines, cheese, palinca (genuine plum-brandy), clothing, pottery, hand-made clothes/decorative
objects/carpets, wool, honey) by 2% until 2012.
Marketing objectives
• Increase UK tourists arrivals by 50% each semester, with an aim for year-round visits (justified by the current low
number of UK tourists and the recent trends for January-June 2008/2009);
• Increase Romanian tourists by 10% yearly;
• Get on a positive demand trend by 2011 and achieve 5% foreign tourist growth by 2012;
• Become one of the top 4 Central/Southeastern Europe destinations preferred by British tourists (currently on 7th place);
• Dedicate 80% of tourism budget to the Product/People elements of the marketing mix (improved tourism infrastructure
and service quality) – from 75% in 2009;
• Build a fully-interactive/e-commerce campaign website to accommodate 30% of currently offline bookings and 20% via
partner e-tour-operators.
Marketing Communications Objectives
• Reposition Romanian destination-brand with focus on niche tourism products and ‘diamond in the rough’ image;
• Promote Romanian sub-brands in a coherent link with the umbrella-brand (raise recognition of sub-brands-sloganRomania to 70% until 2012) ;
• Raise recall of Romanian tourist potential to 60% until 2012;
• Build positive brand attitudes by downplaying stereotypes and linking with brand values and quality banded exports
(online content generated by satisfied tourists);
• Increase proportion of profile communications to improve collaborations with (online) tour-operators and airlines (e.g.:
regain EasyJet/Ryanair routes UK-Romania).
4.3. Repositioning
Romania is currently perceived as a low-quality destination (mainly because tourists only know about seaside resorts –
underinvested – and stereotypes generalized in the press); consequently, the proposed plan cannot hope to transform Romania into
a Greece in its region as yet, but the aim is to reposition it as shown in Figure 4.2.
The paper proposes a new slogan centered on the idea of ‘diamond in the rough’ or ‘not the classical destination’ because this
message downplays stereotypes and internal deficiencies in a positive way (a rough diamond is rugged but it is nonetheless a rare,
48 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
precious stone), while occupying a “meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target consumer’s mind” (Kotler et al.
2005, p.559) that acknowledges Romania’s true brand identity (since this inadvertence was the most important trigger of
controversies and citizens’ dissatisfaction), as shown in Figure 4.3.
4.4. Marketing communications strategy
From a nation-brand perspective, although pull strategies are important for reputation and for positioning the country as favorably
and as distinctively as possible, it is the push and especially the profile strategies that ensure a country is present as a top
destination in all travel-interest sources (see Tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, respectively). Furthermore, because most of Romania’s
tourism budget (which is quite limited anyway) should be reserved for tourism infrastructure, a large proportion for pull
communications is unrealistic at this stage of the campaign.
Figure 4.2. Positioning Statement
Figure 4.3. A new perceptual mapping
(Adapted after Fill (2009))
49 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
A major percentage of these budgets should be reserved for a fully-interactive website that supports communications with various
stakeholders, perhaps on the model of VisitBritain website (Appendix 4.3), in order to enhance data collection and therefore RM
capabilities and also to respond to tourists’ desire of finding tourism solutions for themselves. The next section covers the
communications mix for each type of strategy.
Pull Strategies
Advertising
Sales Promotion
Public Relations
(PR)
Direct Marketing
(DM)
Push Strategies
Personal Selling
Sales Promotion
PR
DM
Table 4.1. The promotional mix to support pull strategies
• Aims to stimulate tourists directly to consider Romania as their holiday destination;
• Build positive brand image and reputation for Romania as a quality destination, create
linkages to sub-brands (for recall and recognition objectives), downplay stereotypes and
engage tourists in a relationship with the brand (Fill 2009)
• The advertising concept should be changed completely, starting with the slogan and
continuing with consistency across all channels. Because of Romania’s context, many
specialists (and citizens) advocate that brand ambassadors should be used more for belowthe-line techniques so as not to overly-rely on the likes of Hagi forever, as this will seem like
Romania has no other brand values, plus the advertising for Romania “does not have to be
beautiful”, but a realistic and inciting invitation for “tourism adventure” (Haraga 2009);
• Special attention must also be given to media planning: TV advertising on Eurosport (as it is
used by most destinations (Iasi Invest 2009)), travel-related magazines (National Geographic
Travel supplement), consumers magazines, business and professional journals, tube posters,
travel directories/websites (Tripadvisor), radio and cinema (especially for movies that are
somehow connected to Romania – e.g.: vampires-Dracula-“New Moon”).
• Online contests (Appendix 4.3) and special online offers (e.g.: book online and receive 5%
discount or book a ski holiday and receive a free ski pass – Austria ski resorts model) to
promote sub-brands that do not disappoint, cater for new social trends but are not wellknown (e.g.: rural tourism);
• Develop applications/games promoting Romania (Geo Challenge on Facebook, applications
on iPhone) for machine interactivity (Steuer 1992);
• Part of a coherent strategy so as not to make the brand look cheap – only to encourage yearround visits and first-time visits (Davis 1992).
• Promotion of movies filmed/made in Romania or events sponsored (sports, music concerts)
(see Profile Strategies);
• Encourage word-of-mouth through online RM tactics (Appendix 4.3).
• Focus on online techniques (website communications, emails, newsletters) and provide mail
with brochures/catalogues on request (online sign-up) and telephone contacts.
Table 4.2. The promotional mix to support push strategies
• “Presentation of information in order to influence trade channel organizations“ (Fill
2009, p.301);
• Strengthen relationships, negotiate new partnerships, improve Romania’s positioning on
intermediaries’ offers;
• The aim is to promote Romania on every channel possible and migrate bookings online
(initially through tour-operators’ websites, then on Romania campaign website).
• Incentives (familiarization trips, affiliate marketing (Appendix 3.3), sales promotion) for
preferential positioning of Romania on partner websites/catalogues/brochures;
• Comprehensive literature for sales promotion/advertising (posters/brochures/events
leaflets) provided for intermediaries;
• Providing templates so that individual intermediaries promote Romania in a consistent
way (same logo, slogan, messages, and ‘look and feel’) in their DM campaigns.
• Exclusivist deals with important tour-operators/online intermediaries (sponsorship
online, affiliate links, special offers on some resorts);
• Discounts for new intermediaries/ bonuses for performing partners.
• Organizing or participating at tourism exhibitions where international tour-operators can
be invited for strengthening relationships/discussing partnership opportunities;
• Familiarization trips for offline tour-operators and online intermediaries.
• Branded letters/collateral/information packs for tour-operators containing upcoming
events, sales promotion campaigns, thank-you incentives.
50 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
Profile Strategies
Sales Promotion
DM
PR (including personal
selling and publicity)
Internal
communications
Sponsorship
Corporate branding
Table 4.3. The promotional mix to support profile strategies
•
Corporate (national) communications;
•
Communication programmes to build/nurture relationships with all stakeholders
(Power-Interest Matrix), for a holistic view of the nation-brand identity;
•
Important because “each stakeholder is an advocate of any strategy that furthers
its goals” (Fill 2009, p.303) – the new strategy needs to be reflective of Romania’s true
brand identity and of stakeholders’ opinions.
•
Continue current sales promotion techniques for Romanians, but ensure
Diaspora can also benefit (for now, only Romanian employees/students/pensioners
qualify) and Romanians do not get the lowest-quality accommodation.
•
Online techniques (Appendix 4.3) + branded letters/collateral/events packs for
Romanian service providers containing information on funds, promotional facilities
via campaign website, thank-you incentives and training information for gaining EU
standards.
•
Press conferences, press releases and information packs for major Romanian
journalists regarding campaign, budgets, objectives, interim results -> transparency –
in return: buy-in, possibly special offers for advertising and free press coverage;
•
Participating at international tourism exhibitions + organizing exhibitions in
Romania (like the one at RomExpo in October 2009);
•
Online facilities (Appendix 4.3);
•
Familiarization trips, information packs, press conferences for major UK press
representatives (generate stories/advertorials in newspaper travel sections, magazines,
TV holiday programmes) and UK tourism board -> improve brand image +
transparency + conferences where solutions for tourism infrastructure improvements
can be provided.
•
Campaign to transform citizens from “advocates in reserve” (Haraga 2009) to
active brand promoters;
•
Online is the best channel to offer personalized content and show an interest for
peoples’ opinions (Appendix 4.3) which is something currently ignored and very
frustrating (Cosmin.Oricum.ro 2009);
•
Programmes for training sales force/entrepreneurs in tourism service to EU
standards (courses, webinars, conferences, with information available online).
•
Sponsorship and promotion of tourism/cultural exhibitions, even Romanian
movies (“4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days”), sports events (Formula 3 in 2006) or music
festivals (Cerbul de Aur, Mamaia);
•
Encourage filming in Romania and promote this fact afterwards, since
“successful TV or film production can boost visitor numbers at a fraction of the cost of
an advertising campaign” (Middleton et al. 2009, p.292) – from the examples of “The
Lord of the Rings” in New Zealand or “Pirates of the Caribbean” in Antigua (Romania
did host filming for “Cold Mountain” or “The Detonator” but the movies were not so
successful (IMDB 2009)).
•
Coherence in logo, slogan, (hymn), messages across all communication
channels (Middleton et al. 2009).
4.5. Scheduling and promotional budget
The proposed budget is based on Broadbent’s (1989) budgeting strategies, correlated with data on other countries’ promotional
budgets (£47.6m in 2008/2009, expected to fall to £40m in 2010/2011) (BBC 2008), past figures and predicted sources for
Tourism Minister budget on 2010-2012. Each year 10% of the tourism budget will be dedicated for marketing communications
(which correlated with the expected increase of the budget, considering GDP is constant, gives €10 million in 2010, €13 million in
2011 and €16 million in 2012). Considering that some activities are global (website development), some are for Romania as well
(Internal marketing), some are for UK-only, and many activities rely on online communications (DM is mainly online) and
therefore not much investment needs to be made for other countries in this respective, the paper recommends 65% of the
marketing communications budget (since North America is also an important market and therefore needs budget reserves). Data
given in Table 4.4 below summarizes budget allocation across communication tools deployed.
51 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
Table 4.4. Budget Allocation
2010
€6.5m
15%
15%
15%
5%
10%
10%
10%
9%
10%
1%
25%
30%
45%
Budget
Website (global)
Advertising (UK)
Personal Selling (UK)
DM (UK)
Sales Promotion (UK)
PR (UK)
Sponsorship (UK+Romania)
Corporate brand (Global)
Internal Communications (Romania+UK Diaspora)
Contingency
Pull
Push
Profile
2011
€8.5m
6%
10%
15%
6%
20%
18%
17%
2%
10%
1%
25%
30%
45%
2012
€10.5m
4%
8%
10%
6%
20%
17%
20%
1%
13%
1%
20%
25%
55%
The schedule, summarized in Table 4.5, accounts for objectives of promoting Romania as a year-round destination (yellowongoing) and for special periods when some communication need to be increased (green-intense activities) – e.g.: push-PR during
March-April/October-November, when most tourism exhibitions take place.
Table 4.5. Scheduling
Q1
Pull Strategies
Advertising
Sales Promotion
Online contests
Online special offers
PR
Events
DM
Newsletters (monthly)
“What do you think
about Romania?” forum
Push Strategies
Sales Promotion
PR
DM
Profile Strategies
Sales Promotion
“Promote Romania in
your own way” contest
DM
Newsletters (monthly)
PR
Press
conference
on
interim results
Exhibitions
Internal Communications
Training/Webinars
Sponsorship
Website
2010
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
2011
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
2012
Q3
Q4
52 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
5. Conclusions
As Kliatchko (2008, p.134) emphasized, IMC is:
The concept and process of strategically managing audience-focused, channel-centered and results-driven brand
communication programmes over time.
Consequently, an important part of any IMC/IBP plan is the final stage of measurement, evaluation, control and adjustments of
objectives/tactics according to inadvertencies found. Because a nation-branding campaign involves multifaceted communications
to a wide range of stakeholders, it is important to measure the campaign as a whole, on its efficiency and effectiveness (Fill 2009)
and on its synergistic effects (Middleton et al. 2009).
Some techniques are:
• Measuring of brand perceptions prior to campaign launch;
• Pretesting creative ideas + success of “Promote Romania in your own way” contest;
• Website effectiveness (unique visits/returning visits, data collection, response rates, subscription rates, leads-to-sales
ratio);
• Qualitative research, surveys for recognition/recall;
• Attendance of training courses/webinars for service/accommodation providers, attendance of events/exhibitions, number
of projects succeeding to access EU funds;
• Tourist arrivals/overnight stays, on sub-brands;
• Monitoring feedback and discussions on “What do you think about Romania?” forum.
It is very important that evaluation is an ongoing process, in order to check track of objectives proposed/achieved (Figure 5.1) and
ensure that RM efforts bear fruit, so that all stakeholders should be kept persuaded (Huey 1999) as this is the most important asset
a nation-brand could have in times of increased competitiveness.
Figure 5.1. The Marketing Communications planning framework
(Adapted after Fill (2009))
53 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
APPENDICES
Appendix 4.1. PEST Analysis related to travel/ tourism industry (compiled from Mintel 2007; Middleton et al. 2009)
Factors
POLITICAL
•
ECONOMIC
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SOCIAL
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
TECHNOLOGY
•
•
•
•
Trends
Political instability in countries from Central/Southeastern Europe, especially since the
coming of the recession
Harmonized EU regulations concerning travel, visas, prices, tour packages
Increased customs control (especially by air) due to terrorist threats, pandemic diseases
Recession – decreased spending power and likelihood to travel abroad, unless
destinations are good value for money/ loyalty (coming out of hard times-> more
selective consumers)
Coming out of recession – WTTM announced a revival in tourism in 2010, especially for
untried destinations (Serbia, Albania)
Increased proportion of business travel (especially with the relocation and outsourcing of
many businesses to cheaper countries like Romania) but still surpassed by leisure travel
as an integral part of life (Lumsdon 2000, p.279)
Easier and cheaper air access across Europe
More expensive car travel (fluctuating oil prices)
Weakened pound exchange rates
Increasingly competitive tourist environment forces destinations to offer
unprecedented offers
Explosion of active pursuits, healthy-style and environmental-friendly holidays and
packaged recreational activities (rural tourism, ecotourism, outdoor, adventure,
sports, cultural)
Less interest for seaside resorts (global warming and overexposure to unfiltered UV
rays) and increased aversion towards non eco-friendly destinations
Trend for short breaks year-round to European cities, especially the yet
undiscovered Central/Eastern Europe ones (heritage, culture, events, sports, arts)
Multiple holiday taking (summer, winter, short breaks in spring/autumn)
Trend for gap years
Demographics (ageing population + older market becoming more active)
Increased interest in cultural experiences, diverse ethnic manifestations
Appreciation of RM efforts as an important choice-aiding criterion
Social media explosion – brands can be easily attacked and boycotted online (spoofs,
virals, anti-websites -> e.g.: Wizz Air sucks.com)
Technology savvy – tendency to bypass travel agencies and book online
Increased online safety in transactions/communications/payment -> increased ability to
promote and provide access to products online
Database marketing – opportunities for RM, personalized communications and
products
Online – opportunities for affiliates, linkages and joint-marketing
54 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
Appendix 4.2. Tourism lifecycle (Adapted after Lumsdon (2000, p.278))
55 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
Appendix 4.3. Recommended website features (with Visit Britain model examples)
Objectives
Visibility
Global-regional
Consistency and
coherence
Informational +
transformational
e-commerce
C2C interaction
RM
Engagement
Internal
marketing
Intermediaries
PR
Tactics
• Search Engine Optimization – ensure that the campaign website and all the other official
websites appear as top results for key searches (e.g.: Central/Eastern/Southeaster Europe);
• Using Google Adwords or Stumble Upon to maximize awareness and likelihood to ‘stumble
upon’ Romania
• Versions for different languages (at least in English, French, German and Hungarian, as the
top/desired sources of tourists)
• Logo and slogan appearing as a central part of the website, for consistency with the other
communication channels;
• Section promoting Romanian sub-brands for a coherent link-back with the umbrella-brand
and raising awareness about Romania’s tourist potential
• Information supported by vivid imagery, maps, guides, weather updates, country news, videos
+ extras (wallpapers, screensavers)
• E-commerce opportunities: book accommodation/transportation/restaurant tables, buy
souvenirs/travel and visitor passes/tickets to attractions, car rental
• C2C interaction – uploading photos, comments, plus consistent Facebook/Twitter accounts
that promote the Romanian brand in the desired way + ensure prompt communication to
emails and replies to comments;
• “What do you think about Romania?” forum moderated by Tourism Minister representatives
with knowledge of the campaign/tactics
• Registration facilities, email/newsletter subscription, but with collection of relevant data + a
FAQ section for machine interaction (fast search);
• RM tactics – personalized content (Amazon style), remember preferences and past visits
(loyalty incentivizing);
• Email/Mobile reminders (‘5 days to your trip – have you packed everything, did you plan
your itinerary?’) or to encourage feedback after every holiday spent in Romania;
• Prompt response to complaints.
• Online contests – share a photo of Romania, promote a Romanian tradition, share great
moments in Romania – with the chance to win a weekend in the winner’s favorite place in
Romania;
• Online quizzes – maybe a personalized version of Geo Challenges for Romania (on
Facebook/ application for iPhone)
• Section for Romanian citizens at sign-up – receive personalized email/newsletters and
website content in Romanian with sales promotion/engagement contest/news from Romania;
• Engagement contest before releasing a new advertising campaign – “Promote Romania in
your own way” – encourage Romanians to create their own view of how Romania should be
advertised in a viral video that can be uploaded on the website -> therefore manage viral
marketing (Youtube) and word-of-mouse in Romania’s best interests
• Section for service/accommodation providers + tour-operators with Intranet (on the Dell
Premier model) where they can register, promote/sell their services on the campaign website,
receive newsletters/updates regarding legal requirements, funds, contracts, training
programmes etc, receive communications/feedback/replies in a priority system;
• Affiliate/joint marketing – promoting airlines, tour-operators or service providers on
Romanian website in exchange for reciprocal links and a better position of Romania in their
offers
• Corporate Social Responsibility Section – information on projects and achievements for
improving tourism infrastructure, database linking with EU funds or other facilities for
entrepreneurs wanting to undertake tourism projects (at dedicated service/accommodation
providers section)
• Press section – news, press releases, conferences, and information packs, CSR.
56 Bulearca and Bulearca / International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2011, pp. 35-58
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Biographical notes
Dr. Marius Bulearca is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Industry and Services’ Economics (CISE) of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest, Romania, and
received the Ph. D. diploma in Economics in 1999. He has more than 20 years of experience in economic research. His current area of research includes Multicriteria Decision-Making, Natural Resources Management and Energy Policies. He has published more than fifty papers in referred international journals. He has
also presented more than fifty research articles in national and international conferences. He has written few books related to his research work. He is currently
dealing, as Project Manager, with a research project, sponsored by government of Romania. Since 2008 he also held the position of Deputy Director at CISE.
Suzana Bulearca received the MA (Master of Arts) diploma in Advertising and Marketing Communication from Bournemouth University, United Kingdom in
2010. She is currently Junior Digital Media Planner at Five by Five, an advertising agency that is part of Lawton Communications Group in Southampton, United
Kingdom. She has already published more than five papers in referred international journals.
Received November 2010
Accepted January 2011
Final acceptance in revised form January 2011