For Oradea, Brandient designed a crown made of crowns
Bucharest and Singapore, May 2019
Oradea launched its city brand — Brandient’s work with the regional tourism association APTOR, begun on the 2018 Centenary of modern Romania and unveiled on Europe Day 2019, with pro-bono support from Brandient. Its symbol is the “Supercrown”: rather than imitate a historical artefact, it stacks crowns — one for each face of the city’s pride, and a heart for its people:
- a crown for the historical past, for the City of kings;
- a crown for the art-nouveau architecture of the city, for the Museum city;
- a crown for the wonderful nature, for the geothermal baths, the butterflies, the water lilies, for the Geothermal city;
- a crown for a multi-ethnic society, for the City of faiths;
- a crown for a multi-cultural community, for the Cosmopolitan city;
- and a heart for the people of this city, for their good understanding and harmony, for their beliefs and above all, for their Children;
The brand promise is “Art Nouveau, Life Nouveau” – a novel expression which unites the past, the present and the future of this wonderful and blessed city.
The project was coordinated by Mihai Jurca, Executive Director of the APTOR Association, with the support of the Oradea City Hall, and after a consultation with representatives of the economic and business groups, education, faiths, opinion leaders, culture and arts, young people and students, managers of public and social projects, etc.
„Odată finalizat acest proiect major al orașului, Oradea se impune și în zona branding-ului, prin munca și rezultatul exemplar. Simbolul Supercoroanei surprinde armonios istoria, cultura și patrimoniul bogat al acestui oraș și este în același timp un simbol al toleranței și acceptării diversității, în toate formele ei. Le mulțumesc celor care au răspuns invitației noastre și au contribuit decisiv la realizarea acestui proiect.”
“Once this major project of the city is finalised, Oradea asserts itself in the field of branding as well, through its exemplary work and result. The symbol of the Supercrown harmoniously captures the history, the culture and the rich heritage of this city, and is at the same time a symbol of tolerance and of the acceptance of diversity, in all its forms. I thank those who answered our invitation and contributed decisively to the realisation of this project.”
—Mihai Jurca, Executive Director APTOR
The creation of a city brand is a modern strategic approach to the relationship of the respective city with its inhabitants, visitors (tourists) and investors – all of them being stakeholders in the development of the city. Such a conscious and programmatic approach to city branding always leads to the superior valorisation of the economic and social potential, and the local development policies benefit from an ideological instrument of alignment of the plans and aspirations of the various groups of stakeholders. The result is the satisfaction of the expectations of those who live, work, do business, invest, and enjoy spending time in the respective city.
„Am finalizat unul dintre cele mai frumoase proiecte de branding făcute în 17 ani pentru România; simbolul Supercoroanei este o metaforă a demnității și unicității Oradei, în timp și în prezent, și sper ca sub acest semn, această comunitate tolerantă, optimistă și multi-culturală să prospere multă, multă vreme de acum înainte.”
“We have completed one of the most beautiful branding projects made in 17 years for Romania; the symbol of the Supercrown is a metaphor of the dignity and uniqueness of Oradea, in time and in the present, and I hope that under this sign, this tolerant, optimistic and multi-cultural community will prosper for a long, long time from now on.”
—Aneta Bogdan, Managing Partner Brandient
Brandient has offices in Bucharest and in Singapore and works with a multidisciplinary team of brand consultants and designers. The Brandient approach is always subordinated to the objectives of maximising the value of the business and the reputation of its clients. More details about Brandient, as well as case studies, can be found at www.brandient.com
About the Association for the Promotion of Tourism in Oradea and its region
The Association for the Promotion of Tourism in Oradea and its region (APTOR or Visit Oradea) is the destination management organisation of Oradea, a public-private partnership whose main purpose is the development of the local tourism policies and of the local cultural agenda. Established in 2014 at the initiative of the Oradea City Hall, with the involvement and support of Ramada Oradea, Double Tree by Hilton Oradea, Lotus Center, Group President Băile Felix, the Oradea Metropolitan Area and the Local Development Agency, the organisation has reached and even exceeded the objectives set at the moment of its establishment. A good indicator of its activity is the number of tourists, which in 2014 was 160,000, reaching the figure of over 250,000 tourists in 2018. Relying on the coherent and sustained investment policy of the local administration, APTOR has managed to maintain an annual growth of over 10% in the number of tourists and to make known the most important values, achievements and places that the city of Oradea has.
About Brandient
Brandient is an independent brand strategy and design consultancy founded in Bucharest in 2002 by Aneta Bogdan, Cristian Kit Paul and Mihai Bogdan — never part of a global network, working directly for the owners, CEOs and boards of its clients, with an all-senior team and category exclusivity. In over two decades the firm has created or rebuilt more than 300 brands, 279 of them published as case studies at brandient.com/work — from Romania’s national leaders to brands carried worldwide. The firm has been active in Southeast Asia for more than a decade. The work has earned 84 international awards and distinctions — most recently a Red Dot (2025) and two Graphis Golds (2026) — 64 documented mentions in international design books and publications, and, in 2015, a place among the inaugural inductees of the REBRAND Hall of Fame, alongside Interbrand and MetaDesign.
About Oradea
Oradea, a city of some 184,000 on Romania’s western border, is the country’s Art Nouveau capital — with around 89 listed Art Nouveau buildings and a place in the Council of Europe’s Réseau Art Nouveau Network — and was, after a decade of urban regeneration, named Europe’s best Art Nouveau destination in 2022. Brandient created the city’s destination brand pro bono in 2018–2019 and carried the work forward through 2022: the Oradea case, the Cetatea Oradea case.