After a short summary on the outcomes of the Euroforum 2008, the advertising specialists attended a panel discussion on the current state of affairs of the respective countries, overshadowed by the economic crisis. For the panel discussion on the topic of: Are Bulgaria and Romania in an economic crisis? Prospects and risks for the Viennese advertising industry, sought-after lecturers and experts from the selected regions were invited.
The panel included: KR Karl Javurek, Chairman of the Section Advertising Vienna of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Mag. Alexandra Deutsch, Out There Media, Mag. Eva Hegedüs-Brown, Schönherr Lawyers Bukarest, Eva-Maria Braneti, Msc, Braneti Communications Vienna/Bukarest and Mag. Boris Metodiev, lawyer, member of the chamber of lawyers Vienna/Sofia.
Eva-Maria Braneti mainly referred to the prospects of the crisis: brand strategy and positioning are to be of fundamental importance now and are the main success factor on the Romanian market.  She substantiated that companies in Romania could until now predominantly if not only concentrate on their sales and the outstanding increasing sales figures. Brand development and establishment, strategic positioning and intercultural aspects have been neglected. Owing to the current major economic crisis in Romania, the moment has come to strategically and sustainably position ones product on the Romanian market.

„As long as the Romanian consumers had money, they happily spent it. Now that they are short of money, the consumers either choose the cheap product or the well-known and well-positioned brand. All others fall through the cracks“, states Eva-Maria Braneti.

Furthermore Braneti establishes her comments with the statement that media spendings in Romania have declined by up to 70%. Therefore the media and publishing houses, partly only have 30% of their original budgets at their disposal, which in turn has resulted in a drop of media costs. On the entrepreneurial side, there are some companies, that have not managed to hold their ground during the crisis any more and have therefore had to completely withdraw from the market.
One of the quintessences of her elaborate explanation was that as a result of the lesser competition and the lower media costs, the time is now, that a stronger medial presence and higher recognition with the target groups can be accomplished. Strategic brand establishment and sustainable positioning can therefore cause an increase in market shares despite the crisis.
Eva-Maria Braneti has been intensively studying the communications market Romania for many years and advises her clients to capitalize on the prospects of the crisis.

Braneti Communications, founded by Marius A. Braneti has been an expert on the Romanian Market for many years and offers competent and professional communications consulting to Austrian as well as Romanian companies in situ. Braneti Communications councils clients from many different areas including the automobile industry, the financial services and the paper industry, the cosmetics and beauty industry and the healthcare sector as well as NGOs. Clients include Renault, Dacia, Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper, Schenker Logistics, Salinen Austria, Voestalpine, the Romanian Ministry of Culture, Bavaria rent, the Trade Commission of the Austrian Embassy in Romania  as well as various other Embassies.