ROM is the chocolate bar with the national flag on it and has a long history of communication activating national pride.

In 2022 we it spotted a unique opportunity. For the first time, the Qatar World Cup was played in winter time and not in summer. Because of that, 1st of December, the Romanian National Day was, for the first time, right in the middle of the World Cup.

A perfect chance for a national celebration, but without the qualified players,the only Romanians present in Qatar were the referees. We had to create a campaign that sparks deep feelings and connects Romanians celebrating their national day with our brand.

We were also launching our new bar, ROM protein, with a higher content of fiber and protein and less sugar, perfect for keeping in shape just like the three amazingly fit referees achieving great levels of fitness each match they played.

In order to activate national pride, ROM created a wave of support in Romanians for the National Team of Referees, It gave them the tools to celebrate, just like they did with regular players from the national team.

It created a supporter’s kit with branded flags and referee t-shirts.

It created an iconic way for people to show their support by adding a blue card to the iconic yellow and red ones - therefore allowing people to recreate the colours of the Romanian flag.

It seeded anthems praising the referees and encouraging them throughout the matches.

it commented the official games live following the referees, not the players- through followed sports streamers, directly on their channels .

It sent flags in Qatar for supporters to encourage our referees during their live matches.

Enabling Romanians to cheer for their country like in the golden age.

Football is one of the most talked about subjects in the Romania.

The fact that the Romanian National Day was, for the first time, right in the middle of the World Cup)was the perfect entry point in generating a country wide conversation and ignite the national pride. Not only for football fans, but for every Romanian celebrating the National Day.

By coining “The National Team of Referees”, ROM managed to be one of the most talked about brands during the World Cup, being present in both mainstream media and sports news. All of this possible without ever sponsoring a global event such as this (we would have never had the resources to do it).

We became the brand that gave Romanians the reason to be proud of their team they were expecting for 24 years.

The National Team of Referees created by ROM gave media the perfect bridge in order to connect Romanians to the World Cup. Therefore generating value for both their audiences as for ROM as a brand.

We used social media channels to cover the supporters cheering for the National Team of Referees, We broadcast interviews with the supporters in Qatar supporting the referees during the live matches, We also handed out supporters kits based on contests to get our fellowship engaged and created an IG filter for every Romanian to be able to hold the three iconic cards in support.

We used streamers channels with a wider audience in sports to crate parallel commentary that just followed referees- celebrating the little moments we got to see them. The campaign was covered by TV stations for a number of 28 minutes, on 4 different occasions and by the biggest local publication in

Rom rode the sports wave with a patriotic power during World Cup & National Day, as positive reactions in media followed Istvan Kovacs' team in all 8 games in World Cup in Qatar.

For this unique moment, within one month, Rom’s National Team of Referee got to 4.5 mlns Romanians only on digital and gathering 6.7 mln digital impressions from branded display on sports sites and SoMe media with posts and videos on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok.

On TV only during National Day and World Cup, the campaign reached 1,6 million viewers.

As a result, a new retailer from modern trade was interested in having Rom Protein on the shelves in a month dedicated to sweets sales and less a power bars season. Thus, 27% from Rom Protein’s December confirmed orders (sell-in data) was covered by new retailer in their portfolio.