About Me
René Romer is owner of the TransCity, Diversity Marketing & Communications, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Juist check the website www.transcity.com for all about my company. Since 1982 I've had various positions in the field of marketing and communications. Before establishing TransCity in early 2003, I have worked for almost 6 years as Strategy Director for the TBWA advertising agency in Amsterdam. I served both Dutch and international clients. In recent years I have chosen to specialise in cultural diversity within marketing communications.In 2002 I published ‘At home in the Netherlands, practical handbook for diversity marketing.’ Since establishing TransCity, I have served clients such as the Royal Netherlands Airforce, KPN Telecom, Western Union Money Transfer, Heinz, the Dutch Red Cross, Nike Northern Europe, Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, TPG Post (TNT), City of Rotterdam, City of Amsterdam, Pepsico, Vrumona (Heineken), Rabobank, Beiersdorf (Nivea), Ministry of Social Affairs and others. I have given workshops for a number of organisations, amongst them Pubic Television in the Netherlands. TransCity has a close cooperation with ethnic, cross cultural and urban media such as the popular FunX radio, The Box (MTV Networks) and SEN Magazine. I am also responsible for the management of Kora All African Music Award winner Suzanna Lubrano, currently the most popular female pop singer from the Cape Verdean Islands.TransCity is itself a small agency but works within a large network of specialists in various marketing communication disciplines as well as key persons within many ethnic cultural communities. TransCity advices its clients to focus on the common grounds between the various ethnic cultural communites - to start developing communication based on what people from various communities have in common rather than what differentiates them. Not that TransCity neglects the differences between communities, but developing marketing communication based on differences can never be the starting point in a country where large national mainstream media are at least as important for the various communities as are ethnic media. In general, it can be said that most people from various ethnic cultural communities do not want to be part of a small, irrelevant group within society that is not taken into account with when developing media content. If they do not recognize themselves within local and national media, they seek recognition in global media.
