HARE / BRAND STRATEGY
Launching a new hospitality brand at the peak of the second pandemic wave, when the HORECA sector was effectively shut down and operating under severe curfew restrictions. All this within an already saturated market and with an initially misaligned vision of the ideal clientele.
Sole communication lead from inception, responsible for brand positioning, narrative development, growth strategy, and creative direction across all touchpoints.
Oversaw communication, community strategy, digital ecosystem, and creative production (copy, photography, design, UX).
In time, I took over the other 2 accounts part of the same enterprise.
Although I was briefed on an ideal consumer, I sensed it wouldn't work for the price range and location.
So, I conducted new consumer research to redefine the ideal customer profile and realign stakeholder expectations with actual behavioural and demographic insights.
Since the first positioning and TOV were speculation, we repositioned the brand as a space of belonging, an aspirational yet accessible transition point between everyday casual venues and premium hospitality environments.
Leveraging its open-park location, the brand was structured as a dual day & night experience: a relaxed green oasis by day and a vibrant cocktail-driven social space at sunset, allowing it to evolve organically with time, light, and mood.
Building an ownable aesthetic and language was the first step towards interpellating a community: a visual and verbal identity distinctive enough for people to recognise themselves in it, and to answer its call.
Developed a distinctive, conversational social media voice and recognizable visual identity, building a >10K loyal community that remains active five years later.
Partnered with local artists and DJs to create signature parties and recurring event formats, positioning HARE Garden as a cultural touchpoint rather than just another venue.
Relaxed live music sessions with the stage levelled with the tables: a conversation between the bands and our guests. The bookings were made especially to widen our audience on weekday evenings.
Thursday is the new Friday, and the turnover should reflect it. A sexy aperitivo evening featuring:
Komorebi, noun (Japanese): sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees.
An event concept for late-summer Sunday evenings, when time stands still and you just want it to linger a little longer. Our illustrator designed a collectible stamp series, so guests could keep proof of the Sunday evenings that always fly by too fast.
Impromptu one-offs for the occasions our crowd already loves. Part of what keeps the community engaged is spotting the moments that bring people together, and turning them into a reason to show up.
It just happened, but stray cats became our brand ambassadors. As a pet friendly location, we’ve adopted generations of park cats which we sterilised and adopted as mascots. And our clients love us for that.
HARE is truly community-driven: everything we built is about the people who give life to this space, and it shows strongly in our social media presence.
The neighborhood lunchtime club and an after-work happy hour to strengthen local retention and repeat traffic.
We don’t joke about our anniversaries either. Our friends get exclusive merchandise and personalised invitations, always.
Built a strong digital footprint through ongoing SEO, SMO, Google Maps optimization, and premium listings, ensuring discoverability among expats and lifestyle audiences.
Check the websiteCheck the gram
Ads are kept to a minimum so as not to disrupt our organic growth, which is by far majoritary. We keep ads and boosts tactical for events or specific services and highly optimised for different target groups.
Corporate Christmas parties are a high-value service with a short booking window, so this ran as a tightly targeted carousel rather than a broad awareness push.
I got to build this brand nearly from zero at the worst time possible. And I grew alongside, from solo execution to leading a communication team in strategy and creative direction.
Five years later, it’s still relevant and evolving. That’s the kind of brand building I stand behind.
Brief me on your project. Open for Freelance strategy and copy projects, agency collaborations and full-time roles. Based in Bucharest, working in English, German and Romanian, with clients in Romania and abroad.