If politicians were replaced by companies, Romanians would choose BMW to be their country brand. Adidas would be the next option, a study conducted by McCann Worldgroup reveal.
„Why was BMW ‘chosen’ to represent Romania? Probably because owning your own car is one of the most valuable things for us Romanians”, according to Andrei Florian, Cultural and Insights Manager at McCann Worldgroup.
BMW constantly ranks in the top 10 best-selling car brands in Romania when it comes to new cars. In the second-hand market, BMW is even more popular, often battling Volkswagen for supremacy.
The popularity of second-hand BMW cars brought from Germany can be seen in Autovit data, which shows that last year there were more than 32,000 ads for sale of BMW, compared to 40,000 Volkswagen ads.
BMW brand appears on the first place in a top of „digital health” in Romania, made by Digitas Romania. The automobile sector has one of the biggest advertising budgets and also attracts the most feedback from users. Even though BMW is always ranked No. 1 in the Digital Health Index, the brand’s notoriety is primarily due to the discussions generated by users on forums, or to car sales ads, and less to the fact that BMW pumps huge sums into advertising.
If Romanians were to let themselves be governed by BMW, most Europeans would choose Google to replace the ruling class in their countries, the study The Truth About New Europe, conducted by McCann Worldgroup showed.
In line with the European average, 50% of Romanians worry that they will not be able to provide enough food to the family. On a larger scale, the highest percentage of growth in 2018, in terms of what worries Romanians, was recorded as fear of climate change; a percentage that almost doubled, reaching the top 3 worries of the Romanians.
Some 27,000 people were interviewed for the study, along with the predictions of 62 de business leaders, academics, lecturers, futurists and journalists, the study reveals the shape of the “European dream” and its implications for the future of global commerce, culture, and creativity.
„What would a European continent run by Google look like? Participants say it would be better managed and monitored in real time, major laws and reforms would be decided by the people but AI would actually write the laws and implement them, we would have a very advanced transport and we would have a hybrid life, in which augmented reality would have a much bigger role to play,” says Rodney Collins. Executive Vice-President and Global Head of Human Sciences.
Other questions included: What role do Europeans expect Europe to play on tomorrow’s global stage? How will today’s hopes and fears shape dreams of a European future? Which brands are leading the way forward for a renewed Europe?
Europeans are split as to where inspiration will come from. When asked if they see the golden age of Europe in the past, present, or future, the majority of Europeans – 54% – say that Europe’s golden age has passed. While in Denmark, Romania, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, and Portugal, the majority of people believe Europe’s golden age is happening today or is yet to come.
The majority of citizens understand the role of their respective nations as a ‘follower’, with few exceptions.
France, the UK and Turkey saw themselves as leaders, while Romanians said they were victims.
