The Council - Edition 10 (2021-2022)
A voluntary honorary Superbrands Council is formed annually, comprised of highly recognized professionals with a deep appreciation of the business environment, specialized in marketing, communication and business administration and reputed representatives of business media.
Adrian Preda
Creative Director
Friends\TBWA
After several months as an engineer, I decided that this was a terrible mistake and I started my first job in communication at BDR Associates. In 1999 I went to Graffiti BBDO, as copywriter. During the following years, I became Senior Copywriter, then Deputy Creative Director and, in the end, Creative Director.
In 2006 I went abroad, as a Creative Director in McCann Erickson Zagreb. After two amazing years, I came back home as a creative Director in Tempo Y&R, than MRM Worldwide (McCann Digital), gav and Friends\TBWA.
During my career, I gathered almost 100 advertising awards, both national (Ad’Or, Festo Croatia, Internetics and ADC Romania) and international (Cannes Lions, Eurobest, Epica, International Cup, Golden Drum, Golden Hammer, New York International Advertising Festival and many other). Also, I was member of the jury in New York Festival (four times), PIAF, Festo and ADC Awards.
Another thing that I’m proud of is my triple role as a Creative Writing teacher in the Film & Theater University, the Journalism University and as a tutor of ADC School.
Anna Ghica
Marketing Director Growth Markets
UiPath
With almost twenty years of experience in marketing and communication, Anna Ghica has either counseled clients while working for prominent advertising and PR agencies or was mandated as in-house specialist. Her passions lie with communication strategy design, digital marketing and relationship building while responding to innovative business visions and inspirational business leaders. For the past four years, she has been working with leading software company UiPath, where she is excited to be shaping the future of work while being active in the automation and AI space. She is currently head of marketing for Growth Markets at the RPA vendor.
Anca Harasim
Executive Director
American Chamber of Commerce in Romania
Anca Harasim is the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania), the Vice-President of Harvard Club Romania-Moldova and the Vice-President of The Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation. She holds a Master of Public Administration Degree at John f. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a Master of Science in Power Engineering at Bucharest Polytechnic University.
With over 25 years senior-level experience in managing & developing organizations, of public policy & program strategic planning, management development & implementation of innovative reforms in Central & Eastern Europe, Anca is currently serving on the Boards of several non-profit organizations.
Anda Sebesi
Editor in Chief
Business Review
Anda Sebesi is the Editor in Chief at Business Review and she has more than 20 years of professional experience in journalism. She has been working during this time with business publications like Biz magazine (as Deputy Editor in Chief) and Business Review – the largest English-language business news publication for local and international business community. Also, she has been involved in different large editorial projects aimed to bring a significant added value for the local business environment. In addition, during this time, she has gained experience in PR and communication and corporate social responsibility (CSR) sectors. Thus, she was involved in different communication and social responsibility (SR) projects and programs for both multinational companies and large NGOs that are active on the Romanian market. She graduated the Faculty of Economics within Titu Maiorescu University back in 2002.
Bogdan Belciu
Partner & Co-founder
Valorem Management Consulting
Bogdan Belciu has 20 years of management consulting experience in US and Europe, with top management consultancies like BCG, AT Kearney and PwC.
In the past 10 years, Bogdan focused on the Romanian market and advised clients across multiple industries on various growth topics including market entry strategy, organic and inorganic growth, regional expansion, repositioning and rebranding, business transformation and reorganization, cost and supply chain optimization.
Bogdan has an MBA from Cornell University, bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and business administration, and is frequently quoted in the top tier Romanian media on key business topics.
Camelia Şucu
Founder and CEO
ClassIN, serial entrepreneur, public figure
Camelia Şucu is a self-made serial entrepreneur, known to the Romanian public as a major player on the furniture and interior design markets. A co-founder in 1993 of Mobexpert, the largest Romanian furniture company, Ms. Şucu exited it in 2007 in order to devote herself to the high-end segment of the market and then to diversify her portfolio with new projects, based on three core values: beauty, harmony, wellbeing.
ClassIN, her flagship company, is among the most important retailers of premium furniture in Romania, having exclusivity for such brands as Natuzzi Italia, Edra, Poliform, Porada and more.
Trained as a medical doctor, Ms. Şucu is passionate about healthy food and sustainable development. Thus, her other businesses, Iconic Health and Abundia, are centered on the need to provide the public with access to healthy nutrition and on the need to sustain local farming and alternative food distribution, respectively.
Colin C. Lovering
VP – British Romanian Chamber of Commerce
Co-Founder at Lovering and Partners, Business Performance Consultants
Senior Advisor in Commercial Real Estate / Office Design and Build
Colin Lovering has been living and working in Romania since 2009 when he initially arrived to offer Business Performance and Sales Consultancy to organizations looking for growth and profitability. He is currently International Business Partner – Co-Founder of Lovering & Partners, Business Performance Consultants, Senior Business Advisor with COS as well as Vice-President of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce.
He previously worked and lived in the UK, USA and France where he trained and coached literally hundreds of sales Professionals and Managers across Europe, USA, Canada, China and South Africa.
Colin is also involved and committed to supporting disability and homelessness in Romania and actively speaks and helps in both areas. His other activities include being an associate lecturer at the University of Bucharest.
A father of two boys (Dan & Matthew) and a Grandfather to Freddie, Colin also enjoys watching football and rugby as well as playing a game of golf whenever possible.
Corneliu Cojocaru
Senior Adviser PR & Communication
Corneliu Cojocaru is a reputed communication professional who gathered over 24 years of hard working and success in the PR field, following a successful career in economic and financial TV journalism. He is an inspiring speaker, proving an in-depth knowledge of Public Relations & Communication, as well as of economics.
Between years 2013 and 2018 he acted as Principal Expert / Counselor in the Communication Department and as Spokesperson of the National Bank of Romania (2016), following a 16 years long successful career (1997-2013) as Spokesman and Head of Communication in Banca Comerciala Romana, the leading Romanian commercial bank by that time.
He is a member of the Jury of Honor of the Romanian Association of Public Relations (ARRP).
He was awarded as “PR Professional of The Year 2014” by Forum for International Communication, being proposed by Mrs. Catalina Rousseau, following many other awards granted for his excellence and efficiency in the field of Public Relations and communication. He has been Chairman of the Communication Commission of the Romanian Banks Association (RBA / ARB) for almost 13 years (2000-2012).
Cristian China Birta
Blogger since 2007, with more than 13.000 blogposts and articles written since.
He was awarded with ”The best Romanian blogger” title for four years in a row, in the rankings of one of the most important business magazines, Revista Biz. He received more than 20 important awards in his 12 years of social media activities.
As a partner in Kooperativa 2.0 – integrated communication agency, he is the co-organizer of social media courses for companies, aimed at the practical conclusion of solving problems the company is confronted with.
As a public figure, he is constantly invited to be on TV shows, covering all sorts of subjects, from social media to education or entrepreneurship.
He reaches an audience of more than 100.000 people (subscribers, followers, fans, connections) through all the social media channels he is present on.
Dana Oancea
President of Forum for International Communications
Dana Oancea is President of Forum for International Communications, a Romanian foundation which has been organizing since 2003 the Romanian PR Award. She has more than 20 years’ experience in public relations, both in Romania and abroad. Dana mixes a professional life of communications practice with her research interests that include ethics in PR, corporate social responsibility and lobbying. She holds a PhD degree from Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität in München. Dana has conducted a variety of interviews and has published hundreds of articles in her role as editor-in-chief for PR Romania, an online resources portal she initiated in 2009. She coordinated and edited the volume “The Golden Book of Romanian Public Relations”, published by Cărturesti in 2017. She a founder of the Romanian Diversity Charter. Dana believes in the professionalism and ethics tandem, the robust recipe of PR performance.
Demis Ghindeanu
Co-founder
Marks
Demis Ghindeanu had started his marketing communications career in the early 2000s with The National Romanian Television Broadcasting Company (TVR) as Brand Manager for the TVR1 Channel for 7 years. The position enabled him to push forth to the Romanian market an entire suite of televised events & programmes ranging from The Eurovision Song Competition, Formula One, through to the Beijing Olympics, Mondial and European Football Championships.
Starting in 2008 he’d already set-up the foundation of a brand-new, up-and-coming branding, advertising & digital agency dubbed MARKS as co-founder – capitalizing upon his previous experiences as an accomplished marketeer for TVR. Some of MARKS’ most meaningful branding projects within Romania include Regina Maria – The Private Health Network and Mathaus – an en-detail & consumer-focused spin-off by Romania’s largest building supplies & construction equipment retailer Arabesque.
From then onwards, Demis’ agency has addressed a myriad of marketing communication & digital projects spanning the entire gamut of strategy & creative ideation and generation – from television commercials & campaign microsites to country-wide full-blown 360 campaigns – for both local as well as international brand names such as Banca Transilvania, Unicredit Bank, Groupama Insurance, FAN Courier, Uniqua Insurance, Raiffeisen Bank, Sanador, Genpact & Dent Estet – just to name a few.
Starting in 2018, Demis has also become a co-founder of Romania’s first car-sharing company PONY – all the while constantly attending a myriad of business and entrepreneurship events & gatherings as a guest speaker.
Ecaterina Safarica
Communication Consultant
Ecaterina Safarica started her career as research fellow in Sensors and lecturer on Biosensors at the University of Bucharest.
She joined the P&G team in 1994, being among the first employees of the Company in Romania. In 25 years in P&G, Ecaterina covered several regions, she led hundreds of PR and Influencers programs and developed a vast team of Communications specialists.
Her experience and passion for communication, allowed her to initiate many regional brand communications campaigns as well as P&G Company Communications.
Ecaterina was also involved in several national and European industry associations, representing the company in task forces engaged in communitary acquis adoption, in areas relevant to the fast moving consumers goods producers and distributors and she has been for 5 year the President of the Romanian Advertising Council.
She retired as of end of 2019.
Eliza Rogalski
Strategy Leader | Managing Partner
Rogalski Damaschin Public Relations
Eliza Rogalski is the founder of the Rogalski Damaschin Public Relations agency, where she coordinates the communication strategies of her clients. Having an experience of over 20 years in the field of communication, which crosses different disciplines – journalism, public relations and advertising – as well as a portfolio of projects that marked the evolution of the field in Romania, being awarded at national or international competitions such as Romanian PR Award, Effie, Cannes, Eurobest, SABRE, IPRA, European Excellence Awards, Eliza Rogalski has contributed to the professional development of several generations of communicators who today ensure this strategic role in important companies or communication agencies. Her professional activity is complemented by that of supporter of the non-governmental sector in Romania, either as a member of the board of some organizations, volunteer actively involved in communicating social causes or leader of an organization that advocates for patients’ rights in Romania.
Gabriel Pâslaru
President of ARRP
A trained linguist and journalist, Gabriel Pâslaru has a vast experience as a communicator. He worked as a redactor for Romania’s news agency Agerpres, then as an Associated Press staff writer before founding, in 1992, Romania’s first PR consultancy – PERFECT Ltd.Co (www.perfect.ro), a company he continues to own and run. In 1995 he was one of the founding members of the Romanian PR Association – www.arrp.eu and he currently serves as the President of this organization. In 2017, ARRP joined the International Communications Consultancy Organization – ICCO, and Mr. Pâslaru became a member of the Board of Management (https://iccopr.com/board-of-management/) of this prestigious professional group that represents some 3000 PR firms from 66 countries around the globe.
George Carpov
Senior Manager Company Communications and Government Relations
P&G SEE North & Central
George is an accomplished professional with progressive experience leading corporate marketing and internal communications for multimillion-dollar companies across diverse industries. He has proven success in initiating and directing high-profile communication campaigns from inception to completion for executing successful products/brands launches, customer activation, and other corporate initiatives. George is also passioned about CSR and Employer Branding, helping various organizations achieve their business goals.
Laura Dragomir
Communication Strategist
Owner & Founder of Powerful Communication
Laura is a strong communicator. Her advanced knowledge of Communication in Business enhanced by 25 year experience as TV journalist. Continuously, she has learned about human nature.
Over the years, she has focused on improving the business people ability to influence through communication – with a proven track record of delivering large and complex projects. She has a huge passion for communication and the positive impact it creates in transforming the business and evolving people.
Extremely skilled in the development of strategic communication programs, Laura focuses on the development and execution of human-centered portfolios.
She has traveled to many places around the world and, being constantly exposed to different cultures of communication, she has developed an unparalleled ability to relate to people of various backgrounds and understand their issues pertaining to how to communicate in order to become understood, to evolve professionally and personally and to build relevant relationships with others.
Laura is also an experienced Speaker & Conference Moderator, being rewarded with the BUSINESS MODERATOR AWARD.
Liliana Stanculet
B2B Marketing Manager
OMV Petrom Marketing S.R.L.
Liliana Stanculet is B2B Marketing Manager for OMV Petrom – the largest integrated oil and gas group in Southeastern Europe. She joined OMV Petrom team in 1997 and starting from 2017, she has held the position of B2B Marketing Manager. She is responsible for defining the marketing strategic directions for East Region (Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia), for both Cards and Sales East streams, including plans, projects and initiatives that drive revenue growth. Her sharp strategic mind and her extensive experience within a high profile brand and sales environment (with an emphasis on service, value and quality), helped Liliana succeed in strengthening OMV Petrom’s presence on the Romanian market.
Lucian Badila
Co-Founder & Franchise Manager
5 to go
Lucian Bădilă is a 29-year-old Romanian entrepreneur who currently manages some of the most successful businesses in the HoReca field: 5 to go, Cereal Crunch, Dialogue MNAC, FIKA 18, Sunday Bagel.
Lucian coordinates the implementation process of the new franchises of these businesses, but his contribution is also important in their marketing and branding area.
Over time, Lucian has managed to create impactful marketing campaigns (such as #NudoarLuni/ #NotjustMonday- 5 to go) and, together with partners from other businesses, has managed to develop the franchising system of each business.
Together with his partner Radu Savopol, he managed to create one of the most beloved Romanian brands: 5 to go.Conceived out of the desire to offer a daily experience to the coffee consumer, Lucian developed the franchise network, thus managing to standardize both the services and the quality of the coffee in over 300 5togo locations.
Manuela Necula
CEO
Ogilvy & Wunderman Thompson Romania
For almost two decades now, Manuela has been running, as CEO, the operations of Ogilvy Romania, part of WPP Group, one of the largest communication groups worldwide.
Since 2012, she has also been the CEO of Hogarth WW Romania, World’s leading marketing production services company, owned by WPP Group as well. In 2018, new responsibilities are being added to her CEO agenda, namely the operations of Wunderman Romania.
Manuela turned around Ogilvy Romania by building a solid team and by launching innovative practices as a premiere on the local market. The work developed for Ogilvy’s clients contributed to the growth of their businesses and was recognized and awarded in numerous local and top international industry festivals (EFFIE, Cannes, London International Awards, Clio, D&AD, Internetics, PR Award, etc).
Actively engaged in the marketing and communications industry, with more than 20 years of experience, Manuela Necula is one of the pioneers who set up EFFIE Festival in Romania and a founder member of the WWF Corporate Club. She was also a member of the IAA Board of Directors.
Her recognitions include “CEO of the Year” distinction, “IAA Excellence Award”, 3 consecutive years of presence in the Romanian “Top 100 Most Admired CEO”, together with the invitation to chair and serve numerous industry jury panels around the world.
Mihaela Drăghici
PR Director
Romaqua Group
Mihaela Drăghici is the PR Director of Romaqua Group, the leading company of the natural mineral water market in Romania, since 2006. She graduated from The Academy of the Economic Studies with a major in Marketing. After graduation she started working at the Romanian American University as a teaching assistant. During her 11 years in the education field she enjoyed public speaking and fostered her students interest for marketing and marketing research. In 2006, Borsec – the star brand of Romaqua Group celebrated 200 years of industrial bottling and the company decided it needed a PR Director. Mihaela gladly accepted the challenge, took the job and ever since she has contributed, together with the marketing team to build and promote new brands (Aquatique and Albacher) as well as consolidate the existing powerful Borsec brand.
Mircea Kivu
Sociologist
Mircea Kivu graduated Sociology at the University of Bucharest (1978) and has a MA in Demography and Social Sciences at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales – Paris (1991). He is known as the author of several books and papers in sociology, with expertise in public opinion polling.
Since 1992, he held top positions in several markets research institutions (Research Director and CEO and IMAS Marketing si Sondaje, Vice-President for Research on Research at Ipsos Interactive Services, Operational Directors at Mercury Research).
He is involved in civil society activity as President of the Group for Participative Democracy – Plenum and as a columnist at Dilema Veche.
Mirela Bosoi
Head of Brand and Communication
Orange Romania
Mirela Bosoi has been working for Orange Romania since 2002 and she has been the Head of Brand and Communication since 2009.
She graduated from Academy of the Economic Studies in 1996 and she holds a Master degree in the Economic Development of Enterprise and an Executive MBA.
Mirela is responsible with the development and implementation of the Orange brand strategy in Romania and manages the commercial communication, events and sponsorship for mass market and business clients. She coordinated over the years some of the most successful integrated campaigns recognized both locally and internationally.
Mirela Bosoi has over 20 years experience in all fields of advertising, branding, events and Public Relations, working for well-known multinational and local brands.
Monica Cadogan
CEO and co-founder
Vivre
Monica Cadogan, CEO and co-founder Vivre began her entrepreneurial activity in consultancy when she was 23-year-old. She experienced different businesses, from selling ice cream to organizing professional training courses and even the family’s constructions and real estate development business. The idea of an online retailer came at the end of 2011 and in April 2012 Vivre was already born, one of the first exclusively online home & decor shops in Romania. The enthusiasm, the thorough preparation and the team have helped the business grow on a new niche, at the beginning of e-commerce in Romania.
Since then, Vivre has become the main online retailer of the home & decor industry in Central and Eastern Europe, led by its founding team and with the initial decisional structure.
Paula Felicia Rusu
Independent Journalist
Paula Rusu has 16 years of TV experience as a reporter and TV anchor at the main TV stations in Romania: PRO TV, TVR, Realitatea TV, Antena 3, Romania TV.
She is an activist for health, nominee at the USA State Department prize International Woman of Courage in 2018.
Mrs. Rusu is a trainer in communication for the big companies. She is also a communication leader of the European project Screening TB in Romania.
She works as a blogger and independent journalist at www.paularusu.ro and she is the owner of the online TV interview-show Live cu Paula din Sufragerie.
Raluca Michailov
Director General
BP Publishing Media
Raluca Michailov is the owner of BP Publishing Media, the publisher of Forbes Romania, Forbes Life Romania, Forbes Kids, Forbes Top 500 and Lifetime Magazine – Collectible Watch Stories.
The Forbes Romania magazines are leaders of the business, lifestyle and parenting media sectors, while Lifetime Magazine is now published also in Germany and Austria, where it successfully debuted last year.
Raluca Michailov started her media journey almost 23 years ago, whereas the entrepreneurial side began in 2012.
She is a firm believer in ethical, objective, high-quality journalism and information. She has been following and analysing brands for 20 years.
Ruxandra Bandila
Marketing and Business Development Director
Deloitte Romania
Ruxandra Bandila joined Deloitte Romania in 2019 as Director for Marketing and Business Development. With an impressive career path, taking her through various fields, from project management, marketing and business development, to strategy and operations in different industries, Ruxandra Bandila rejoins now the professional services sector.
Prior to joining Deloitte Romania, Ruxandra Bandila worked for CRH Romania, which acquired Lafarge Romania, as Chief Operating Officer. Before that, she was a Strategy and Business Development Director for Lafarge Romania for more than two years.
Between 2007 and 2013, Ruxandra coordinated the Marketing and Business Development department of PwC. Her professional experience also covers positions such as Executive Director for the Foreign Investors Council, where she contributed to increasing the profile of the organization and solving business environment issues. Formerly she was Head of the Socio-Economic Department of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Ruxandra Bandila holds a PhD in Energetics from Ecole des Mines in Paris. She is also a member of the European Association of Communications Directors and member of the board of the National Centre for Sustainable Development
Ruxandra Pirojoc
Head of Communication
Bayer Romania & Bulgaria
A passionate communicator fueled by extensive experience and a valuable insight provided by an MD degree. For the past 10 years Ruxandra held various positions in major Pharmaceutical and FMCG companies like Abbott, AstraZeneca and Procter & Gamble.
She graduated the Faculty of Stomatology back in 2004, but her passions determined her to go in another direction. After 4 years of working as a medical representative, she joined P&G as External Relations Manager Balkans, initially in charge with the Oral Care division, to later round up her responsibilities with Professional Relations and Beauty Brand Communications.
Skillfully mixing creativity and customer centricity with a bold vision and meaningful goals, Ruxandra now develops Bayer’s corporate communication and branding strategy along with major CSR projects focused on education, health and social needs.
Outside business hours, it’s the love for art, culture and her beautiful family that make her world go round.
Teodora Şaguna
Marketing Strategist and Coach
With more than 17 years of experience in marketing strategy and planning, Teodora has a vast retail and e-commerce expertise, with excellent results in digital and omni-channel projects, marketing for retail brands, brand positioning, and CSR projects focused on education and sustainability.
Previously, Teodora was leading the Marketing, PR and CSR communication for 26 shopping centers in NEPI Rockcastle portfolio in Eastern European, held a marketing executive position for Fashion Days group, managed the Retail Marketing and Communication strategy for Bancpost & Eurobank while her career in marketing started with Raiffeisen Bank in 2005 as a Brand Manager.
Teodora is an affiliate Marketing Trainer at the Marketing Institute in Romania and a Digital Marketing Professor at the University of Bucharest, teaching students the complexities of digital marketing.
Outside business hours, she finds her drive in the passion for travel, cultural and food experiences, and her family.
Teodora has a Master Degree in Communication and Public Relations at David Ogilvy University and a certification as Chartered Marketer at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Oxford, UK.
Virginia Otel
Deputy General Manager of Garanti BBVA Leasing
Communication Leader of Garanti BBVA Group Romania
Virginia Oțel is a senior executive with more then 20 years experience in the financial sector in Romania, gaining expertise in general management, business development, marketing, corporate communication, human resource management in various financial institutions, such as venture capital fund, securities trading & investment banking, banking, and leasing. She has served in management boards and board of directors of financial institutions she worked for. Ms. Otel has been working since the end of 2006 within Garanti BBVA Group Romania, currently holding the positions of Deputy General Manager of Garanti BBVA Leasing and Communication Leader of Garanti BBVA Group Romania.
Virginia graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest with a Bachelor degree in Economic Cybernetics. She completed her post–graduate studies in Management and Public Administration with the National School of Political and Administrative Studies of Bucharest in 1992 and obtained a Master’s degree in Management and Public Administration from Liverpool University, UK, as a Chevening Scholar, in 1993. Otel graduated the Executive MBA with the Romanian-American Postgraduate School of Business in cooperation with the University of Washington, USA, in 1999.
Virginia has dedicated her energy, efforts, and time to volunteering in various NGOs. She has been serving as a Board member of the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society (FDSC) since 2002. Virginia joined the association Professional Women’s Network (PWN) Romania in November 2011 and became President of PWN Romania in 2016. She was elected Co-President of PWN Global at the end of June 2021. Since February 2013, Virginia has been a member of the Romanian Business Leaders Foundation, being involved in the “Antreprenoria” project.
Volker Moser
Entrepreneur & Coach
Volker Moser is a German national who has been living in Romania since 2007. Since 2013 he has been splitting his time between Berlin and Bucharest. In Romania, he is a co-founding partner at Romania Insider.
- Romania-Insider.com: market leader for English news about Romania, online only, 3.6 mln unique readers in 2020.
- City Compass Intercultural Consulting, which provides executive coaching and training services in adapting to Romania for expats and repats, covering leadership, business communication and etiquette, Romanian business mentality, cultural insights and team building across borders.
