Cheil | Centrade is the new integrated communication partner of First Bank on Romanian market

Business, Creativity

Cheil | Centrade has won the pitch started by First Bank in February for the selection of a strategic communication partner, a selection process to which several top players from the Romanian industry were invited.

The agency will provide strategy and through-the-line creative consulting for integrated brand and product campaigns for the next three years, which will help strengthen the American brand’s presence on the local market, after taking over the Romanian operations of Piraeus Bank and Leumi Bank.

“In an increasingly dynamic market, we needed an equally dynamic partner to help us implement our communication strategy in the most efficient way possible. We are glad that we found in the Cheil | Centrade team the perfect mix between strategy and creation, and we hope that this mix will generate the most beautiful projects possible,” Viorel Ruse, Marketing and Communications Director First Bank, said.

Cheil | Centrade has built a solid experience in Banking for over a decade, it is the lead agency for important brands in the Energy and Insurance industries, and the lead social agency for the number 1 brand in Romanian social media.

“We provide our clients with a diversified expertise and services focused on reinventing the way people connect with brands and we always try to customize service packages, according to each client’s needs and objectives. With the help of our integrated centre of digital services and data analysis – Digital Intelligence and Analytics (DIA), which is unique on the Romanian market, we will provide an additional boost in the area of ​​digital marketing, integrating digital tools to strengthen insights. It is an essential competitive advantage in the current context, which has led to many changes in terms of consumption behaviour, needs and content consumption, but also to the rethinking of business strategies so as to quickly adapt to the new normal“, adds Radu Florescu, CEO Cheil | Centrade South East Europe.

“We were happy to discover that the client came forth with a very ambitious, open, constructive team, with a true American mindset. I think that the state-of-the-art services and products they have in their portfolio, along with the bold communication we have proposed will quickly turn this brand into a top challenger. While this is not the first pitch, it is the most important one we have won since adapting our way of working, internal processes and relationship tools to the Work from Home System,” continues Mihai Gongu, Executive Creative Director, Cheil | Centrade.

Cheil | Centrade is one of the largest integrated communication companies in Romania and serves as a regional hub for the Korean Cheil network in Southeast Europe (10 markets), coordinating the communication and creation strategy for Samsung. The Cheil | Centrade portfolio also includes ENGIE Romania, NN Insurance and Pensions, Raiffeisen Bank, Dr. Oetker, Mondelez, KTI, Point Pickup, ANAIS Association and United Way. Since 2018, Cheil | Centrade Bucharest has also launched the Digital Intelligence and Analytics (DIA) division, a unique data intelligence service centre that serves several markets in Europe. Cheil | Centrade is the only Romanian agency awarded at the latest edition of the London International Awards and also the only one to have a member in the jury of the most recent edition of the Euro Effie Awards.

Centrade is part of the international holding company Centrade USA – with operations in Bucharest, Houston and Zagreb, along with Chainsaw Europe, Kubis Interactive and Epidemic Worldwide.

Following 18 years of experience, Piraeus Bank Romania becomes First Bank after the acquisition by J.C. Flowers, one of the private equity industry leaders. Our mission is to embrace and use the benefits of digitization to provide customers with an easier approach to banking. We will use technology without losing the human interaction that our customers appreciate so much.