Surprisingly, the most refreshingly boring brand conversation at Cannes Lions happened with a state agency. Vlad Țonu from ARICE manages Romania's national stands at the world's trade fairs. He and Andrei Tarnovski discuss the reality of building a national image. Presence, not omnipresence. One consistent identity ("simply Romania") instead of a rebrand. Small steps, event by event. The conversation moves to the minimis aid that gets exporters to the table, the startups borrowing credibility from bigger neighbors, and the use of seriousness as a long-term position. The ten-year aspiration is unglamorous because it is: serious people, loyal partners, long-road partnerships. Trust as an export.

This episode was recorded in Romanian at the Romanian Creativity Pavilion during Cannes Lions 2026. English subtitles are included with the YouTube video.

The conversation covers:
· The remit of ARICE: promoting exports, not just supporting them financially
· "You can't be competitive on every market, but you must be present" — presence as a nation-branding strategy
· The public-private partnership of the Export Council
· Minimis aid: the rule-bound state support that puts exporters at the world's trade fairs
· "No one is born big" — how established brands provide a scaffold for smaller firms and startups
· Why ARICE chose a visual identity ("simply Romania") over a full rebrand
· Digitalising the trade-fair programme for better transparency and preparation
· What Scandinavia, Korea and Brazil did right with country brands and the patience required to build them
· The ten-year outlook: "Serious people, loyal partners."
· Why institutional credibility often outweighs the money (with Mihai Lupu of FEPIC)

Boringly Effective marketing podcast is hosted by Andrei Tarnovski, marketing strategist and founder of TARNOVSKI, a branding and marketing consultancy. It's for marketers, founders, strategists and business leaders who'd rather understand what works than chase whatever is fashionable this week.

No magic. No hacks. Just the fundamentals, argued properly.

This Cannes Lions series was produced by SYMBOLON, with support from the RoCreativity program by FEPIC and ARICE.

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Chapters:

00:00 — Cold open: what a national stand really does
01:02 — Welcome to the Romanian Creativity Pavilion
01:54 — Creativity as the added value that puts a country on the map
02:59 — How the stand works: federations, ARICE and minimis aid
04:54 — "It has to be producers" — the parenthesis that matters
05:15 — Digitalising the trade-fair programme
06:19 — A long-road project: one strategy, one stand brand
07:11 — Consistency beats instant results
07:41 — Strategy from necessity: small steps, event by event
08:59 — Beyond the money: export plans and credibility
09:20 — Big firms, medium firms, startups — one pavilion
10:29 — What Scandinavia, Korea and Brazil got right
10:49 — The national brand problem: "simply Romania"
11:54 — "Welcome to Romania" — and the ten-year question
12:47 — Serious people, loyal partners
13:46 — The state's patience: incremental results
14:10 — Political effervescence vs. business stability
14:47 — The public-private partnership that still works
15:01 — Credibility beats cash (the Mihai Lupu / FEPIC echo)
15:25 — Closing: "Only together can we do it"