At Bannersnack we focus on three main Directions: Creativity, Collaboration, and Productivity, reveals the Founder and CEO Gabriel Ciordas

First of all, how are you and your Family doing in these COVID-19 Times?

Gabriel Ciordas: We are safe, and we are healthy, so things are as good as they can be for us during a pandemic. We’ve been under mandatory lockdown for a while, and consequently, life, as we know it, has changed. Amidst this unexpected situation, we focused on cooperating with the authorities by adopting new rules and regulations to assist their efforts to overcome this unprecedented global crisis. 

To give this topic a positive twist, I believe these challenging times reflect on the fact that we sometimes take things for granted. Once everything is back on track, I think that we’ll be more grateful and appreciative of simple things. 

Tell us about you, your Career, how you Founded Bannersnack 

Gabriel Ciordas: Where do I start? Back in 2004, I started Jumpeye, a digital marketing agency that first provided a series of generic digital marketing services, and then developed handy Flash tools and solutions. 

In those days, Flash was a dominant platform for online multimedia content, way before the global transition to HTML5 and other platforms. Things were going great, as many web designers, developers and animators relied on our tools to simplify their everyday work. 

It was 2008 when I felt that we had to expand our services, as things in tech seemed to change by the hour back then. They say that it’s not the strongest who survives, but the most adaptable, and tech is no exception to the rule.

We wanted to offer better solutions and cater to our community’s needs by delivering a powerful design tool. Our goal was to help people create banner ads fast and efficiently, enabling them to save time and money. This is how Bannersnack was born.

Bannersnack was first a subscription-based online Flash design editor, requiring no download or installation, and believe me, back then, this was a massive achievement for a small-town company from Romania. Bannersnack enabled people to streamline design, allowing them to create professional-looking ads and promotional campaign deliverables in an intuitive, yet cost-effective way.

Our first month was a real challenge, as we made less than a thousand dollars in revenue, but the very next month, the revenue almost doubled, and things got even better in the months to follow. At that point, I was sure that our customers were on board with our product and approach, and ever since, things have been great. We thrived by embracing the latest technologies and industry trends.

Our first milestone was probably when Bannersnack reached its first million customers in 2010, and then, its first million dollars of revenue in 2012. 

It’s a beautiful story; I am incredibly proud of my team, and I’m lucky to be surrounded by such talented people.

How does Bannersnack Innovate?

Gabriel Ciordas: At this time, Bannersnack focuses on three main directions: creativity, collaboration, and productivity. Innovation is at the core of our business; hence it is part of every feature that we launch, of everything we do. 

One of our most popular features is the Design Set Generator, a feature which you can use to generate up to 50 visuals at once, allowing you to save a lot of time. 

Back in 2019, Google noted at the AMP conference in Tokyo, that Bannersnack is one of the few tools on the market offering AMP HTML technology. We provide quite a few powerful features, including AMP HTML Ads, HTML5 drag-and-drop banners, PSD file editing, a Magic Animator for one-click preset animations, and more. 

Due to a recent core update, you can now use Bannersnack to create video ads, and boost your advertising campaigns with short, professional-looking video ads.

Teamwork makes the dream work, and so does our collaboration package for design teams, as it replaces many high-priced tools. With Bannersnack, you can collaborate with teams on multiple projects, and all the data is stored in the cloud.

I believe that what makes Bannersnack shine is our utmost dedication towards our community. We strive to deliver impeccable customer service, as our business has a customer-centric approach. We’re developing Bannersnack based on the needs of our community. To us, success translates into enabling people to create high-quality visuals without them breaking the bank or wasting time.

How the Coronavirus Pandemic affects your Business, and how are you coping?

Gabriel Ciordas: We’re lucky to be part of an industry that stays afloat during these challenging times. Online and digital products have to suffice when real-life interactions are no longer encouraged or allowed, so these days we’re keeping busy, working on fresh features, and trying to stay on top of things.

We still needed to focus on finding solutions to assist those providing mission-critical services, so we offered free team plans to nonprofit organizations fighting COVID-19, as well as free COVID-19 design templates to prevent the spread of misinformation and keep our communities safe.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Gabriel Ciordas: The first lesson we had to learn was how to adapt to remote work, as we’ve always worked from the office, side by side. When the pandemic started, we had to start working remotely on the very next day. 

We also had plans concerning our product that clearly had to change. We started working on features addressing more industries, especially those affected by COVID-19. We continued to provide extensive design solutions that enable people to create professional-looking visuals in minutes.

Many small businesses had to go digital for the first time and build a trustworthy digital persona in record time, so we knew we had to provide better solutions for them. It’s essential to pay attention to what’s happening around you and understand how clients rely on your company and product in the current context.

How do you deal with Stress and Anxiety? How do you Project yourself and Bannersnack in the Future?

Gabriel Ciordas: The minute I realize I’m in a stressful situation, I try to disconnect or stop for ten good minutes to think of the situation. I jot down a list of advantages and disadvantages, and then carefully analyze them. Yet, I believe that the secret of a company’s success is to delegate and let go. We each share responsibility. We don’t work alone, we’re part of a team, and we each know our tasks.

Who are your Competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the Game?

Gabriel Ciordas: Our competitors split into two categories: design and collaboration. However, we are somehow at the intersection of these two categories, which makes our product unique. 

We like to believe that Bannersnack is where creativity, collaboration, and productivity meet. We aim to become even closer to our consumers but at the same time, stay rooted in the industry by delivering well-crafted brand and product experiences.

Your Final Thoughts

Gabriel Ciordas: Our industry is shifting towards efficiency and convenience. As people, we are constantly looking for instant reacts and solutions, yet some things still take time, and great design sometimes does. 

We work tirelessly towards developing amazing features with the sole purpose of helping our customers achieve the results they need and deserve for their online campaigns. We’ll continue to deliver the best customer experience by making available beautiful content and designs. 

Success is about listening, developing, and expanding, or so we like to believe. If you’re not familiar with our platform, you can sign up for free or request a demo anytime. The chances are that if you’re looking to streamline your design processes or save time and money, Bannersnack can be a lifesaver. 

And just in case you’re already a member of our community, we’d like to say thank you for choosing Bannersnack!

Your Website?

 https://www.bannersnack.com/