Rusu+Bortun Named Independent Agency of the Year at ADC*RO Awards 2025

7 nominations • 4 awards • 2nd Place Client of the Year (Monument For / Bucharest City Hall) • 2nd Place Agency of the Year

After a year marked by international recognition at Cresta Awards, Golden Drum International Festival of Creativity, and ADCE – Art Directors Club of Europe, Rusu+Bortun has been ranked the second most creative agency in Romania at the ADC*RO Awards 2025 — and the highest-performing independent agency in the overall competition.

The agency secured the most nominations of the festival (7) and won 4 awards, while partner Monument For / Bucharest City Hall ranked 2nd in the Client of the Year category.

ADC*RO 2025 – AWARDS WON

Gold – Print & Outdoor
Vote for Maria Ressa — ZYX Books

Gold – Design
Made of Goals – The Golden Generation Monument — Monument For / Bucharest City Hall

Silver – Print & Outdoor
Made of Goals – The Golden Generation Monument — Monument For / Bucharest City Hall

Bronze – Film & Audio
The Clean Label Law — Cris-Tim

Brand Experience
Vote for Maria Ressa — ZYX Books
The Right Stitch — Apollo111 Pizza
Made of Goals – The Golden Generation Monument — Monument For / Bucharest City Hall

“Sometimes it’s really cool to be the second best! The result honors us and motivates us to keep going, especially when it comes after an international jury decision chaired by one of the most relevant and awarded creatives in the world. We’re still early in our journey when it comes to festival participation, and each year we learn how to tell the stories of our ideas in a way that keeps us competitive wherever we enter.

I’m thrilled with the number of nominations: 4 projects, 9 entries, 7 finalists across 4 categories, and 4 awards – 2 Golds, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze. We’re proud that the projects central to our business strategy are also the ones performing creatively, both locally and internationally.

We’ve grown the team and we’re evolving as an independent business model focused on creativity and on integrating the capabilities of our group of companies, under Casa Maură, on Corbeni Street. We can’t wait for the next project. That’s what matters most!”
— Cătălin Rusu, Chief Creative Partner & CEO, Rusu+Bortun

ADC*RO Awards is Romania’s only festival dedicated exclusively to creativity, organized by ADC Romania and powered by ADC Europe & The One Club for Creativity USA.

The 2025 edition featured an entirely international jury, chaired by Pum Lefebure — Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Design Army® Washington.

Jury members included:
Pedro Américo — Creative Director, Jung von Matt
Angel Iskrev — Creative Director & Co-founder, proof
Fernando Silva — Creative Copywriter & Supervisor, Uzina
Una Rozenbauma — Creative Director, Rozenbauma un māsas
Juraj Dvorecki — Creative Director, oh my DOT
Martin Polcovick — Associate Creative Director, THIS IS LOCCO
Ana Rocha — Executive Creative Director, VML London
Seppl Kretz — Managing Partner & Creative Director, Magma Music Agency
Muhmmet Avsar — Senior Copywriter, Havas İstanbul

We’re proud and grateful to everyone involved — clients, partners, sponsors, artists, collaborators, and the entire #Corbeni3 team — for a year in which the projects that delivered strong business results for our clients were celebrated both locally and internationally. It’s a fantastic achievement for an independent agency that strives every day to do things its own way in a highly competitive market.

Rusu+Bortun is an independent agency recognized at festivals such as Golden Drum, ADC Europe Awards, Rebrand100, Effie Awards, ADC*RO Awards, Sabre Awards, Romanian PR Awards, and Cresta Awards. According to the Art Directors Club, Rusu+Bortun is among the most creative agencies in Romania in 2023 and 2024.

Since 2008, the agency has integrated advertising, branding (through Brand Growers), and digital to support entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial growth.