OPPORTUNITY

RESEARCH

PLANNING

EXECUTION

CONTEXT

Almost all countries with which Romania compares itself aspirationally (UK, France, Germany, USA, etc.) have standardized assessment systems, which are sometimes used for high impact (e.g. Baccalaureate) or low impact (e.g. current classroom assessment) decisions. International comparative tests in education, e.g. PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS, ICCS, ICILS, etc., use standardized tests. The major university admission tests are standardized tests. So we can conclude that standardized testing is widely used by all those systems that want to ensure fairness in assessment and control the assessment errors typical of what we call “classical assessment”.

However, in Romania we often hear phrases that label children: “He’s an A student” or “He’s an F student”. This begs the question: what should really matter, grades or knowledge? In Romanian education culture, grades are the pinnacle of a pupil’s progress in school and proof of a teacher’s success. But can we really talk about “progress” and “success” in an educational system where the standard of evaluation is rather subjective, not uniformly applied and differs from school to school, from urban to rural? The answer is that the assessment of pupils must be done objectively, through uniform grading standards, the only way we can have actionable data at both the individual (child) and macro level (classrooms, schools, counties, etc.).

Moreover, the recent pandemic has also shown us the need for digital tools in absolutely all areas. The field of education has been one in which online methods have been used, in a long line of firsts for pupils and parents as well as for educators, to replace physical classes. For a variety of reasons, not all of these have been successful, and repeated changes and approaches have generated a rather adversarial attitude from the general public based also on a major lack of functional digital skills.

Thus, the standardized testing by digital tool that Brio® is performing came on a “no men’s land” of the Romanian collective mind. In general, for Romanians, new things about which little is known generate rumors, dividing society in two: those for and those against.

In short, this is how the Brio® journey began, opening up a new market and building a new product category: standardized and digital educational tests.

Even though Brio® was a virtually unknown platform in the Spring of 2020, with only 12,000 users, it had all the ingredients to succeed: a smart & modern product, the way to get the right people to invest in it and develop it, founders that are expert in education field, who think outside the box, forward-thinking early adopting teachers and a school population with devices at their fingertips.

RESEARCH

According to a Eurostat report on the digital skills of young people in Europe (16-24 years old), those in Romania rank last in the EU.

56% of them have basic digital skills, compared to the EU average of 80%. Romania ranks last in the general population, only 10% of Romanians have superior digital skills (vs. 33% EU average), while 43% have low skills (vs. 28% EU average).

Despite the low level of digital skills, in compulsory education Romania has the highest number of hours allocated to digital competence as a separate compulsory subject in upper secondary education. At the same time, Romania has the best results in the Connectivity dimension, due to the high use of very high-speed broadband and the wide availability of very high-capacity fixed networks, especially in urban areas. The lack of digital literacy in Romania could, thus, be said that is not determined by the lack of access to information or tools, but by the low interest and poor training among all actors involved in the educational process.

Moreover, the PISA results, which show the results of the education system and “what the child learns”, do not look good for Romania: 44% language illiteracy, 44% numeracy illiteracy, 45% scientific illiteracy, the last place in Europe for basic general digital skills among young people. This is the reality in which students learn and the need for rapid intervention to correct the main areas of testing: the ability to understand and operate with texts and numbers.

PLANNING

The BIG and bold idea was to introduce the benefits of digital standardized evaluation to Romania.

The communication campaign was primarily intended for students in grades I-XII, parents, educators, schools and other institutions involved in the educational process in Romania. This universe consists in 3 million students, 210 thousand teachers, 7 thousand principals. The institutions involved in the educational act, targeted by this campaign are: the Ministry of Education and Research and the School Inspectorates.

Investors were our secondary target in order to secure financial support for the extensive needs generated by the development efforts.

Channels: Media: print, online, radio, podcasts, TV; Own channels: website & social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube); Endorsers’ channels: social media, blogs; Direct meetings with authorities’ representatives; Investors channels: business media, equity crowdfunding platforms, investors events.

EXECUTION

According to Anthony Kennada, the 3 ingredients that you need for creating a new product category are: a crazy marketing leader, a ton of money and fearless tenacity and consistency.

Brio® has managed to make a cocktail of these 3. It started with a management team that publicly pushed forward two daring personalities, an expert – Prof. Dragos Iliescu, PhD, one of the most important contemporary names in educational testing worldwide -, and an experienced marketer passionate about education – Gabi Bartic. They were the “crazy” leaders. With them at the wheel, the execution campaign was ready to unfold.

A product of this kind needs years of research before being ready for the public. This is why, in its first years, Brio® needed as many visionary investors as it could get. At the beginning we launched an extensive campaign in order to explain the market what ed-tech means and raise money.

PHASE 1: INVEST WITH BRIO®

Listing the company on SeedBlink, the largest equity crowdfunding platform in the CEE region, was the way to reach potential investors. In 2020, the company’s market value was 2.7 million euros before the first listing. Almost 50 investors were attracted and 285,000 Euros capital was the final amount attracted. In 2022 the company opened to the market for the second time after almost doubling its initial value to 5.5 million euros (post-money evaluation). The second round was led by businessmen Horia Manda and Valentin Tăbuș, partners in AXXESS Capital, who invested 550,000 euros. The two investors were joined by a new round on SeedBlink, of 250,000 euros.

PHASE 2: LEARN WITH BRIO®

The money was used for product development and for multiple programs that were meant to both support the community and increase familiarity of the target audience with digital standardized testing. BRIO® was launched by offering free training testing for the first exams in the pandemic (Baccalaureate and National Evaluation of 2020) adopted by more than 20,000 students and 400 teachers, continued with putting together a coalition (The Alliance for Remedial Education (AER)) with other companies that offer digital teaching instruments, and offering free remedial education for 4,500 students and free digital education trainings for 2,500 teachers from 5 counties. Furthermore, BRIO® initiated the first digital mathematics Olympics in Romania, Brio Challenge, that had four editions until now enrolling 25,000 participants.

In order to generate these results, we relayed heavily on media relations campaigns mixed with special projects in partnership with different types of media & influencers.

PHASE 3: EDU-DATA BY BRIO®

In order to show the target audiences of the importance and the benefits of standardized testing, BRIO® decided to conduct thorough evaluations of the state of the nation regarding different types of literacy of the Romanian school population.

We decided to partner with other private and NGOs and we signed protocols with UiPath Foundation (for digital literacy) and BRD Groupe Société Générale and their program ALFABETAR (for Romanian language literacy).

PHASE 4: AUTHORITIES RELATIONS

In September 2021, at the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum, the Minister of Education Sorin Cîmpeanu said that there are still no dedicated and secure platforms to have a proper, quality assessment in online education. This is when Gabi Bartic writes an editorial in which she points out that such platforms do exist and express their disposal for consultations with the ministry in the field of standardized assessment.

We wanted to make the government act and we did not stop with one Facebook post. We participated at as many public consultations as possible, we discussed with representatives of the Ministry of Education at every public event that was held on our topic. Public consultations on the Romanian Laws of Education were held as part of this project, and Gabi Bartic lead the Evaluation Commitee. Furthermore, in order to reach the institutional target, we organized a series of events in partnership with media.

Our efforts culminated when, at the conference announcing the results of the State of the Nation Literacy Report, Minister Cîmpeanu publicly invited Brio to help implement the first pilot standardized testing program in Romania. BRIO joined Ministry of Education and did the Pilot Testing Program in 526 schools from all around Romania at all levels: primary, gymnasium and high schools with a total of 280,237 tests taken.

BRIO used its platform for the Pilot Testing Program and, at the end, issued a report and handed over all data to the experts of the Ministry. Following the Pilot Testing Program, Standardized Testing was introduced in the new Education Laws starting 2024. The Laws will go to Parliament for voting later this year.

OPPORTUNITY

RESEARCH

PLANNING

• one grey tick – the message has been sent, but the recipient has not yet received it.
• two grey ticks – the message has also been received by the caller’s phone, and when the two grey ticks turn blue, the caller has also read your message.
• two blue ticks – the message has been read.

EXECUTION

Communication channels and support

OPPORTUNITY

The new strategic context created by the change in legislation and its alignment with European rules, gives SIFs a wider range of action in investment activities, but also the opportunity for a rebranding that SIF Moldova had proposed for some time.

Created in a society in transition, redefined from the FPP as one of the 5 SIFs, SIF Moldova had unfortunately, over the years, accumulated negative associations in terms of reputation and image, creating confusion in the collective mind by identifying with the Romanian state.

Against the backdrop of the development of the capital market and the performance consistently achieved, the company’s management decided to separate the name from the other SIFs by changing the name, the visual identity, redefining the identity and repositioning. The measures were implemented with the approval of the ASF and thus began an extensive rebranding process supported by a two-year PR campaign.

It was the first time in the history of the Romanian capital market that a SIF changed its name.

RESEARCH

The five SIFs were set up almost 26 years ago during the first “cuponiade” (there was another one in 1995), with the “mass privatisation programme”, namely the forced and ill-advised privatisation of state-owned companies.

The five SIFs received (free) holdings in thousands of state-owned companies. The value of the portfolios amounted, at the time of the 1999 stock exchange listing, to almost a quarter of GDP. Note that Romania’s economy was at one of its lowest levels in recent history.

The evolution of SIF securities from listing to the present is astonishing, with increases of tens of times even after having gone through several crises. The generic SIF category has unfortunately managed to accumulate, over the years, strongly negative associations from a reputation and image perspective.

Even though SIF Moldova has over time achieved positive and different investment performance from the rest of the SIFs, the reputation of the generic category called “SIFs” has constantly influenced the reputation of each individual player. Breaking away from these negative representations and building new representations related to the power to bring value to investors in Romania and beyond is the central goal of the rebranding project.

PLANNING

The main objective, to build awareness of the new brand, but at the same time to move away from the existing negative perception of the category, was extremely difficult to achieve as the new name had to be communicated for a while alongside the former company name.

This challenge was compounded by the setbacks of the pandemic. Given that it was an extremely bold, almost historic move, but also that SIF Moldova could have lost the trust of current investors, the communication strategy was one that reached multiple audiences with tailored messages, on selected channels, precisely to get the right information to all stakeholders:

Messages for current active investors – Adaptability to global investment market trends, stability, experience, courage and investment responsibility.

Potential investors – Extensive experience on the Romanian capital market, best opportunities, very good investment return.

Messages to the BVB and the authorities – Stable and experienced investment company, modern investment company driven by the ambition to become a reputable and respected European player, professionalizing the business environment.

Messages for employees – Stability, experience, growth in strength, precision, courage, responsibility and a rigorous way of acting.

Messages for the general public – Stability, experience, growth in strength, courage and bold decisions, transparency, accountability.

The communication strategy was developed over a two-year period (phase one – communicating the new brand, phase two – reinforcing perception) and included both a classic PR component (press releases with financial results, investments, analysis, pitching stories, media relations, participation in industry events) and a media buying component.

EXECUTION

Several channels and tactics were used to communicate the new brand, precisely to show the transparency of the company and to remove the brand from the perception that SIFs “hide” things, do not communicate, are secretive.

The process of announcing the rebranding was challenging given that it was not an easy brand to communicate. The financial market in which Evergent operates is one with many specificities and is highly regulated.

In this context, the process of announcing the rebranding of EVERGENT, although organised before point 0, involved a large deployment of forces in an extremely short time because it depended on the authorisation by the ASF. Also the communications of entities operating in the capital market must be extremely well supervised by the agency given that the first information of the decisions of the General Meetings of Shareholders is made to the BVB and only afterwards to the media and the public.

”AD HOC” press conference

A moment of such importance that was writing history on the Romanian capital market had to be properly marked in the relationship with the media and partners.

We chose the newly-built hybrid studio at the Radisson, where an impressive 14 /3.5 metre LED screen was mounted to display Evergent’s figures and achievements behind the speakers. The event took place on 8 March 2021 and was a success. Leading general and business publications attended online to announce the rebranding.

TEASING

We have chosen to use the entire waiting period for ASF approval (Nov 2020- March 2021) to place as much information as possible in the media about this company’s performance. We used this period as a “teasing” financial communication. We have thus conveyed to the press information about 2020 financial results, Evergent management and business strategy, private equity segment.

Solid media strategy

We supported this extremely important moment in communication for our client with a solid media strategy. We chose to place the message on the cover of the most read and appreciated business publication in Romania and to present their top 5 business results.

The most important investment company in the capital market needs to build a brand, so the rebranding process and breaking away from the past was essential.

Over the next few months we chose 10 cover stories and other online media materials as part of our media strategy to have constant and effective communication and to create awareness of the new brand.

Change of symbol at the BVB

The change of the stock exchange symbol was also the subject of a special event organised at the Bucharest Stock Exchange when the bell was rung when the EVER symbol was introduced on the stock exchange.

The event was also attended by representatives of the authorities, which shows once again the importance of the company on the capital market.

Media relations

All these tactics have always been accompanied by an extensive media relations strategy. In the first year after the rebranding, 19 press releases were sent out with the decisions taken at the General Assemblies, financial results, Evergent partners, generating around 400 materials and 16 million opportunities to see.

The 10 management interviews in leading business publications brought in around 800,000 unique visitors.

In Romania, 1 in 5 victims in the prosecutors’ files is a child. Through the #LocDeBine campaign, we managed to get the word out to those who decide and to increase the degree of awareness on this inimaginable cruel reality and the number of hearing rooms for minors. 

OPPORTUNITY

The drama of each child ends up in a file at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the little ones are passed through institutions: from the police, to the DGASPC, to the prosecutor, to the judge. However, throughout Romania, prior to the campaign initiated by the “Zi de Bine” (”The Good Day”) Association, there was only one hearing room specially designed for the child victim or witness. Thus the #LocDeBine (#TheGoodPlace) project was born.

There is a face of Romania that many of us do not know and would not know how to recognise. It looks as Mari, the turquoise-eyed girl kidnapped by a criminal group and forced into prostitution, tells it, which included, among other things, running a foster home where the police took her to be safe.

The reality is also as Mihai tells it, kidnapped, drugged, raped, forced into prostitution in the “Mica Sodoma” club in Brasov, a gay club frequented by priests, mayors, lawyers, renowned surgeons.

The reality is, as Larisa confessed to us in the podcast “Zi de Bine”, a survivor of human trafficking, abused and enslaved by her own father, married with tears in her eyes and a knife in her back, taken across the border without any papers, disappointed and left alone by every state institution she turned to for protection.

The reality is that one in five victims in cases brought by Romanian prosecutors is a child.

RESEARCH

Both in the United States and in Europe, there is an international model of good practice, which in the US is called the Child Advocacy Center, and in Europe, Barnahus.

This model refers to multidisciplinary and interagency interventions organised in a child-friendly setting. Through meeting the child under one roof and in an integrated way, the Barnahus provides for coordinated, instead of parallel and overlapping, criminal and welfare procedures.

A key goal is that all Barnahus and similar services progressively develop excellence in practice according to international law and to the Barnahus Quality Standards and that there is a balanced response including all “four rooms”, embedded in a multidisciplinary and interagency environment.

PLANNING

The main objective of the campaign was to raise the alarm about the repressive trauma to which child victims or witnesses of crimes are subjected, through multiple hearings at different stages of the judicial process, by those who should bring them justice, and to generate at the same time a systemic change, by setting up 7 hearing rooms at the prosecutor’s offices in the country.

The campaign addressed several target audiences: authorities and stakeholders throughout the justice system, minor defendants and victims of crime, corporate environment, media & general public.

The message of the campaign is best focused in the name “Loc de Bine” which was designed as an antithesis to any experience that child victims of bullying have been exposed to.

The main message was then broken down for each audience category and spread through national and local media (TV, radio, print and online) and social media.

EXECUTION

“Loc de Bine” is an initiative that gives the opportunity to conduct the hearing of the minor following an age-appropriate protocol and by a specialist interviewer, in a space specifically designed for children, with elements and support materials to help them tell their story.

PHASE 1: attracting founding

For the implementation of the project LOC DE BINE, the Association encouraged individuals to form an association, in order to have more credibility and traction. Thus, the Association for Victims of Sexual Offences (VIS – in Romanian means DREAM) was born, which aims to support by all means the investigation of crimes of violence against minors, together with which Day of Good has realized the first 3, and by the end of the year 7 hearing rooms for minors. The funding for the first 3 juvenile hearing rooms in our initial plan came from three large companies with social involvement values close to those of our campaign: LIDL, e-ON and Unicredit Bank.

PHASE 2: Implementation

In order to be able to build these rooms, we needed permission from the Public Ministry. We had, from the beginning, the support of the Attorney General of Romania and, especially, that of the prosecutors who handle cases of sexual offences involving minors and who understood very well the traumas to which these children are endlessly subjected through hearings and rehearings until the end of a trial. They had also witnessed the pain and tears of the little ones so many times in the past.

PHASE 3: Communication

The communication was divided into two sections:

1. A) The project announcement.
2. B) The moment when the first minors’ hearing room was completed.

PHASE 4: Instead of Epilogue, 4 more rooms

The echoes of our campaign have been so resounding that requests have also come from other prosecutors’ offices in the country. So far, we have inaugurated 4 more rooms in Argeș, Sibiu, Mureș and Bacău.

PHASE 5: afterward

Just one year after the launch of our #LocDeBine campaign, we initiated a new campaign: #LocDeAdevar after we attracted the Ilfov Public Prosecutor’s Office, Ilfov County Council, DGASPC Ilfov, the National Centre for Mental Health and Drug Abuse Control and the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Trauma.

Practically, we have realized together with them the first Integrated Centre in Romania for Supporting the Investigation of Violence Against Children.

The new multidisciplinary space, consisting of a hearing room, an assistance room, a forensic investigation room, including the first forensic colposcope in Romania and a social and therapeutic assistance area has been inaugurated in Săftica. LocdeAdevăr was created by replicating the international best practice model which in the USA is called Child Advocacy Center and in Europe, Barnahus.