At Minio Studio since 2018, with a break of a few months, Marius’ journey with the team demonstrates leadership qualities that he promises to use to the full in his new position. Determination, 360 understanding of business needs and focus on real results, just some of the elements that build the portrait of a Millennial leader with a GenZ soul, who speaks passionately and modestly about his work. We invite you to discover him, if you haven’t had the chance to meet him already, in the interview below.

This month marks 3 months since you took up the position of Head of Reputation at Minio Studio. What’s it like? What has changed? What has stayed the same?

I can’t say that much has changed, I think that the activities now are even more meaningful because, with my nomination, the Reputation Department was also formed.

As before, I will continue to be in charge of the reputation activities, but in this team formula we will set more objectives and try to have even better results.

What exactly does your new position entail? What are your responsibilities?

The new role comes as an extension of my job so far, so together with Mădălina Badea (PR & Influencer Marketing Executive) and Patricia Bălan (Social Media Executive) we will further support reputation projects for the agency as well as for our clients, beyond welding our team.

I realize that your position goes beyond PR and covers both Influencer Marketing and Social Media. Can you describe each component of your position for us?

Each of these is a solid component, and the mix of activities is actually the daily challenge for me. Under the umbrella of Reputation, fall the activities of PR & Media Relations, Influencer Marketing and Social Media. I’ll break them down:

• Influencer Marketing: involves implementing influencer campaigns for clients (we cover the complete process: from research, influencer proposal to campaign management and reporting);
• PR & Media Relations: for both agency and clients. When we talk about agency we mean press releases, media opportunities for appearances and visibility of our projects, our colleagues, participation in events – either as speakers or for learning and networking. For clients we issue press releases, manage press relations for visibility of projects, do Direct Mailing.
• Social Media: we communicate and manage Social Media channels for the agency, but also for clients such as Coca-Cola, BAT, Ciuc Radler, SemințeLE Alka.

Who is Marius Marin, the Reputation Professional? What motivates him?

He is the man who has the ability to make things happen, and often quickly. I know who I should talk to when I need to, how to reach that person or someone who knows that person, and I think things also work out for me because of my way of being and my respect for the people I work with.

I don’t like sloppy work or wasting time. I try to be as efficient as I can, because there’s a lot going on at once, a lot of simultaneous projects, and otherwise I wouldn’t be able to complete them.

All right, we’ve figured out who we’re seeing in the meetings. What about after hours?

This job keeps me very much connected to the field. From the category of who, what they’ve done, when they’ve done it, and how they’ve done it comes the following: from what’s in the media, what projects have happened, what other agencies are communicating, what events are coming up, what’s new in Social Media, trends, new content creators and so on. Challenging, isn’t it?

So in the free time I have left, I try to rest, read more, watch more shows. And I try to keep moving – to take a walk, go for a run in the park and get out of Bucharest. I’ve realised in the last couple of years that it’s also good to disconnect more often and I find that I really disconnect when I go and see other places, other things.

At your core, you’re a PR man. What does good PR look like?

The funny thing is that I’m actually a journalist at root. Having come to the agency, I realised that I’ve always loved PR because I’ve always been interested in showing and seeing people talking about the projects I work on and highlighting colleagues who have something to say.

For me, good PR is about making the subject count and have an impact: a topic of discussion online or one presented in the media, reaches the attention of people, institutions, organisations, society (if we’re talking about something that impacts a mass of people) and makes a change, a contribution.

What do you think is missing from PR in Romania? Where do you think the industry still needs work?

PR is often an afterthought in larger campaigns. Unless it’s a one-off PR project, there are a few good steps and a lot of patience that goes into getting to that component. I mean the project comes up, it’s primed, it’s implemented and then you want to show it off, build buzz around the topic, as we keep hearing, and see it being talked about, written about.

What I find is that most of the time we do PR on the fly, we try to tick off a minimum of actions and move on and then realise that the project is not visible enough. There are few brands that do PR. Big brands often have a stronger PR component.

In our rush of many appearances we don’t have time to let the process flow naturally, let the subject become of interest, have discussions with the press and bring it to attention. We settle for a little digital PR and that’s about it.

I see less brand PR and more in the CSR area – on such campaigns I see the best PR results. I think we need more consistency and more substance than form.

What does success look like for you? Awards or results? Is anything else more important than the 2?

For me, success comes from the satisfaction of doing things well and, why not, confirming them – that is, through results and even awards. It makes you happy, it drives you, it motivates you to do more and better.

Even more satisfying when the result is that you have contributed to a cause, to a change: so that children can have a better life, you can contribute to building a house, raising funds to save lives, feed animals and so on. And not just at work, I think every one of us can do a little PR for good.

Now a bit about challenges: every project has its fair share of challenges? What are the biggest ones that PR man Marius Marin has overcome and how did he do it? And what are your tips for those who will go through similar ones in making future reputable projects?

Oh yes, every project has its challenges.

The bigger the project and the more components, the more it has. From someone not answering your call in a key moment, to having a tight deadline, to having to receive certain material from an influencer and thinking about whether it’s right for the client.

If I think of the biggest challenges, I would say: managing multiple projects at once, finding the right mix of influencers for a campaign (sounds simple, it’s not), clear briefs, negotiating costs, and let’s not forget the people – I deal with different types of people every day, so different interactions.

What are your favourite PR campaigns of all time?

I don’t know if I can even say of all times, but I can tell you of some that I have in mind now. They all share a particular message, they go beyond the screen, they have emotion, they resonate, and they have memorability.

I Stay Home (Ikea, 2020)

#SocialiseResponsibly (Heineken, 2019-2021)

For Magic Home (Magic Home, 2018)

#NICIOSCUZĂ (Minio Studio și JYSK, 2028)

What are your PR role models? Which global agencies do PR the way you would like each of your projects to be? What do you like about them?

I know that we often tend to say ” like abroad” or ” just like they do abroad”. But I don’t necessarily relate to that, because I have to relate to the local context, where we communicate, the audience we communicate to and the local resources we have to do the job. I haven’t so far done PR campaigns for other countries in Europe, for example, but of course I would like to.

There are also agencies in our country that do good work, sometimes I look with admiration at certain campaigns, but it depends on the clients you have, the potential of the projects, the budgets, the amplification.

What are your plans for the Reputation Department at Minio Studio? What are your short, medium and long term goals? (managerial vision)

• In the short term: to do our job well, to deliver results in the PR, Social Media & Influencers campaigns we are running, to meet our clients’ expectations and to continue to be visible as a team and as an agency in the market.
• Medium and long term: to be as visible as possible in the market, to be present at more events, to have recognition for even bigger projects, to have internal initiatives, to highlight our team of professionals.

Starting out in your career is often difficult. What advice would you share with a young someone who wants to start on this road of Reputation: be it PR, Influencer Marketing or Public Affairs?

• It’s always about people – always;
• Connections are very important;
• Learn, observe, apply;
• Don’t take things personally – as much as possible;
• Do your best and the rewards will come.

If I were to be one of the above people, what would you tell me if I wanted to work in your department?

1. That I appreciate people who have initiative and want to do things;
2. That I always help the people I work with – you’re not left alone with “do this”;
3. That we`ll make a good team;
4. That this component is a challenging one and you can grow by seeing it.