Pro Hello: Raluca Kovacs
Raluca Kovacs is one of the six best strategists in Europe, according to the Effie Index. Over the last 20 years, she has played regional and global roles, leading award-winning strategy teams, getting most of the accolades in the industry from Cannes Lion, D&AD and Euro Effies. At 26, she started her planning career in McCann Bucharest overseeing all Nestle and Heineken brands. She won her first Grand Effie after successfully launching Dedeman, a local DIY retail brand that became a national leader in less than a year.
Raluca sees advertising as a platform that helps brands have a better relationship with the world. She believes that few brands actually had the courage to do just that, and together they transformed the business. She started Better knowing that ideas flow better (pun intended) in smaller groups of people who liked and envied each other's work for decades. Her role at Better is to solve problems with creativity.
Today, Raluca tells us about her journey so far.
LBB> What do you do, and where are you based?
Raluca> I’m a CSO and founder of Punk Agency, a place that grew organically from brand consultancy and turned into a creative shop. After 23 years in adland, I'm still an ad nerd in love with the business. I started in my 20s, and since then, I've basically done it all, from strategic planner at McCann to CSO at Publicis, playing regional and global roles, leading award-winning strategy teams and getting most of the accolades in the industry from Cannes Lion, D&AD and Euro Effies.
LBB> What recent campaigns might we know you from, and what was your input on these campaigns?
Raluca> I’m a firm believer that the value of creativity is the sum of the problems it solves. The partnership with Regina Maria, the biggest healthcare network in Romania, went from pure strategic consultancy to full creative service and resulted in meaningful work meant to positively impact people lives.
The 'Live Longer Together' campaign is a heartwarming initiative that leverages AI to craft personalised animations, painting a poignant picture of a future shared between mothers and daughters. It's a future filled with hope and dreams -- a future spent together.
AI's role in this initiative is both powerful and thought-provoking. By inviting mothers to envision their future, the campaign raises a compelling question: “If there is something you could do to ensure this future, would you do it?” The animations serve as a reminder of the critical nature of early breast cancer detection and the potential repercussions of neglecting one’s health.
Regina Maria's campaign for the pioneering mental health movement was another. "How do you really feel?" is not just a question, it's an invitation -- a call to revive the lost art of sharing our emotions. Dr. Oana Nicolau, a clinical psychologist, reminds us: "Although it may be challenging at times, being vulnerable with others and expressing our emotions can lead to feelings of connection and support. We wanted people to see what we experience with our patients in therapy everyday: how easy it is to lose contact with one’s emotions and how this affects our entire existence."
This initiative is more than just talk. It's about real connection, and nowhere was this more evident than at Untold, the largest electronic music festival in Romania. Regina Maria set a precedent by being the first healthcare brand to offer mental health assistance right where the heart of youth culture beats. The response was overwhelming, with queues of people eager to exchange words that heal.
LBB> How did you first get into the industry, and how did you realise what you wanted to do?
Raluca> I joined adland after reading one of Ogilvy’s books on advertising. I fell in love with the industry, applied for a job and never looked back.
LBB> Tell us about your journey so far.
Raluca> I’ve never thought I would be still in love with advertising after so many years, but here we are. I feel fortunate to have worked with people whose talent taught me most of the things I know today, but mostly set me high standards. The last 20 years were a series of great partnerships and meaningful encounters. I want to mention one of the people that influenced me the most, Lucy Jameson from Uncommon, who was my teacher in 2018 during the Strategic Leaders of the Future course in APG London.
I also have a lot of 'thank yous' to give to my former team in Publicis, with whom I had a lot of fun and did some amazing stuff that I am proud of:
- We built a strong planning team that in 2023 was ranked as the sixth most effective planning department in Europe according to Effie
- Winning Effie Agency of the Year in 2021
- Becoming the most awarded Romanian agency at Effie Europe in 2022
- Winning Internetics Agency of the Year in 2021 and 2022
LBB> What projects / campaigns that you’ve been involved in have been the most personally satisfying to work on, and why?
Raluca> Inventing a tool for MRI patients that helps them help reduce anxiety during their investigation. The project was shortlisted at Cannes Lions this year, and has also won three Golden Drum trophies.
And of course, leading the strategic work for the global repositioning of Bonaqua.
LBB> What’s been your proudest achievement?
Raluca> Changing a law, together with Aqua Carpatica, the purest mineral water in Romania. We initiated a new water law that demands all producers to disclose the nitrate levels on the label and align the Romanian law to the EU laws. The water law passed in Senate with 76 votes and starting 2014 Romanians can check for themselves the water purity on the labels.
The following year, we launched the 'Purity Test', the first nitrate test destined to give people the power to see what kind of water they drink.
LBB> What do people (clients, agencies etc) come to you for specifically?
Raluca> To solve business problems with creativity. And for this you need a great partnership and full transparency, total implication in business and a long term collaboration. I found this when I started working with Regina Maria nine years ago. Honest conversations turned into strategic decisions, into new product ideas, and eventually into the most respected healthcare brand in Romania. The partnership with Regina Maria went from pure strategic consultancy to full creative service and resulted in meaningful work meant to positively impact people lives.
LBB> What are your strongest opinions relating to your specific field?
Raluca> Creativity is the most effective growth engine in business. Companies that shake their industries using creativity are my source of inspiration. They are the ones that do:
Marketing Innovation
99% of the briefs that traditional agencies receive do not address the real problems and struggles of the company, do not set themselves for greatness, are not ambitious or revolutionary. So, there is more than ever the need for brutal honesty and shaking the corporate numbness with creativity and show how this produces revenue and accelerated growth.
Marketing Disruption
Most of the categories are mature and saturated. People don’t need more stuff. Our role as an industry is not to push volumes but to add value. Our role is to become interested in our clients’ business and help them disrupt their categories.
LBB> What sort of projects really get you excited at the moment?
Raluca> I’m excited to work with clients and have a say in much more than their comms plan and strategic vision. I’m currently being part of a big portfolio change, deciding together with the team on the quality of the product, packaging down to the positioning and creative approach. This proves that partnership with clients can go deeper into the business and that agencies shouldn’t be afraid to be part of the client board meetings.
LBB> Who are your creative heroes, and why?
Raluca> I follow a lot of people from the industry, but the new wave of creativity motivates and inspires me. I would nominate the ad agencies I follow the most -- Gut, Rethink, Mischief and Uncommon.
LBB> Outside of the day job, what fuels your creativity?
Raluca> My husband and my kids -- we travel with a motorhome whenever we get the chance. And not least living in Romania... our country produced a lot of creative talent because, as a country, we’ve always been limited in resources but abundant in ideas.
