"Who am I?" Romania sees healthy growth

If past years we were observing an increased level of attention paid to physical health, today this tendency extends to cover also psychological and spiritual areas, such as values and personal search for identity. Once survival is no longer a constant struggle, people start asking themselves more rarely “what am I going to eat tomorrow?” and more often “who am I?”, “what is my life purpose?”, “how can I become happy?”. They look to define their values and priorities, are more inclined to be introspective and aspire more and more towards finding “meaning” in everything around them.

The current context is all about psychological maturity – people’s attention gradually moving from immediate success to long-term accomplishment. People are learning how to find their own balance, how to take educated risks, how to cooperate with others and how to pay constant effort in order to attain a certain goal.

More and more, they are becoming “active” rather than “reactive” – taking responsibility for their own life and happiness. And still, although they are now more open and more tolerant, Romanians have never been as selective as they are today. In a world that drowns them in stimuli, they are not willing to make time for anything other than things, activities and relationships that are truly important for them.

The brands of tomorrow will be the ones with a clear purpose in people’s lives

Brand love doesn’t just “pass through the stomach” anymore – in other words, it’s not enough for a product to fulfil practical and functional needs. To earn their spot on people’s busy agenda, brands have to also feed their psychological and spiritual needs – bringing meaning and relevance into their lives, as well as being a trusted partner in people’s personal journey towards achieving a higher purpose and ideal.

On territories where there is a gap in brand relevance and meaning, new players are now appearing, and their potential is high on the long term. New-comers have the advantage of building on healthy ground, in a stable environment, with clearer guidelines than any other moment in Romania’s post-revolution history. Some of them will persevere and become success stories, while others will fail, but the most important factor in their evolution will clearly be the way in which they will manage to connect and resonate to consumers’ constantly changing needs.

On a different note, pressure is clearly increasing for brands that are already present on the market. To be able to navigate successfully through an ever-evolving landscape, it is vital for them to keep in touch with changes occurring in people’s internal compass. Their future will largely depend on the way in which they will manage to understand the rapid social changes and find a way to align with consumers’ actual ideals and values.

The new Hunters division was born exactly to answer this need for permanent connection to the newest trends in consumers’ lifestyle – from identifying evolution areas and measuring trends intensity, to offering applied consultancy for every business.