Groupama seeks advertising agency

France-based Groupama, which will shortly complete the largest merger on the Romanian insurance market, between BT Asigurari, Asiban and OTP Garancia, will soon hire an advertising agency to handle the promotion of the new company’s brand, Groupama Asigurari, with a several million-euro budget allocated for this purpose. “Now we are in the process of staging a pitch in order to select the advertising agency. We are aware that the Groupama name is still little known to Romanians. The promotional budget will amount to several million euros,” says Denis Rousset, head of the group’s Romanian operations. The French have already obtained the approval of the Insurance Supervisory Commission for the merger of BT Asigurari with Asiban. The new company, Groupama Asigurari, is to be registered with the Trade Registry in early August, and officially launched on the market at the end of September. The cost of the merger is estimated at 20 million euros. “This is the most difficult mission I have ever undertaken in my career, because it is difficult to achieve many targets at the same time. To do one thing well is achievable, but to do tens or hundreds of things well is more difficult. Fortunately, I have a very good team,” Rousset says.