Brands and technologies of the future: what speakers of Gazprom-Media Holding talked about at NAF 2023

Gazprom-Media Holding participated in the seventh National Advertising Forum (NAF 2023) that took place from 15 to 17 November in Moscow. The market leaders discussed possibilities of the artificial intelligence, key trends and overcoming the crisis in the industry. Aleksandr Zharov, CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding, spoke at the main strategic session “Role of advertisement in developing new economy in the country”.

Aleksandr Zharov talked about the power of media in creation of brands of the future, presented the market with latest numbers and cross-platform possibilities of the holding, and also shared data from the National Advertising Alliance showing that 731 Russian brands appeared on TV or returned there in 2023. Aleksandr Zharov also noted that this year, most advertising brands on TV are Russian as well*.

Yekaterina Veselkova, CEO of the Gazprom Media Sales House, presented results of the third wave of an industry-wide study dedicated to evaluation of TV sponsorship efficiency during the company’s own session “Sponsorship is the brand’s best friend”. According to their data, 76% of advertisers use sponsorship, and a quarter of them is ready to assign from 31% to 50% of the TV budget to this brand promotion format. In respondents’ opinion, sponsorship campaigns are most effective for themed and applied programs, comic shows and sports broadcasting.

Svetlana Doroganova, Head of Sales Management and Communications with channels Friday!, Saturday!, TV-3 and 2x2, continued to explore the topic of sponsorship on FUSE MDG’s author session “Maximum from sponsorship”. She noted that game mechanics that develop on TV channels at the moment are the future of the industry. Viktor Privorotsky, Head of the Production Department of GPM Radio and Program Director of Children’s Radio, spoke about formats for the youngest audience at the session “Marketing for children”. In his opinion, fairytales and music that propose learning through entertainment are most successful in marketing for children.

The session “I’m an artist, I see it that way. The art of monetization of creative ideas on the radio” was dedicated to special projects, another form of brand promotion. Discussion moderator Yulia Andryushova, Director of Business Communications and Analytics Department of GPM Radio, expert at the Gazprom Media Sales House and co-chairperson of ACAR Radio Committee, said that special projects compose 12% and over of radio content. Eduard Maas, Head of D.lab digital laboratory, spoke about use of neuroproduction in realization of creative ideas and creation of new formats. An example of first AICG developments is a visualization of an audio podcast of Children’s Radio dedicated to adventures of Vesnushka and Kipyatosha.

A separate session was dedicated to regional development of the advertising market. Ilya Popov, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Regional Advertising of the Gazprom Media Sales House, took part in the duscussion “Advertising Market of the regions: the survivor of a perfect storm” and discussed the transformation of the media landscape, newest trends and how local advertisers perceive them, with his colleagues.

The event has also been attended by Alexey Filiya, Director of Strategy and Development of Advertising Products of the Gazprom Media Sales House; Yekaterina Makarenkova, General Director of Getintent (part of the Gazprom Media Sales House ecosystem); Alexey Krupenin, Director of Sales Department of Digital Advertising of the Gazprom Media Sales House; and Yekaterina Sivoratchenko, Head of the Agent Group of the Gazprom Media Sales House. They spoke about advertising in digital environments, on TV and in mobile apps, and discussed advertising tools for small and medium business.

Dmitry Chudakov, Director of Legal Direction of Gazprom-Media Holding, spoke at a forum summit dedicated to interaction of the industry with governmental entities. The key discussion topic was proposed laws for adding countdowns to TV advertisements and showing social advertisements during prime time.

An award ceremony dedicated to ACAR’s 30th anniversary took place during NAF. Yulia Golubeva, Deputy General Director of Gazprom-Media Holding, and Yuri Kostin, President of GPM Radio, were awarded for their contribution to development of the advertising industry. Yekaterina Veselkova, General Director of the Gazprom Media Sales House; Yulia Andryushova, Director of Business Communications and Analytics Department of GPM Radio, an expert of the Gazprom Media Sales House and co-chairperson of ACAR Radio Committee; Marianna Ivanova, Director for Legal Issues of GPM Radio and the co-chairperson of the ACAR section; and Maria Smirnova, Director of Radio Sales of the Gazprom-Media Sales House, were awarded for active participation in ACAR’s activities.

Winner of the 33rd season of the Red Apple festival were also announced during the forum. The project Black Friday on Friday! by the Friday! TV channel and FUSE Media Direction Group for the Xiaomi brand received five awards.

This year, the National Advertising Forum took place under the auspices of the 145th anniversary of Russian advertising. The Gazprom-Media Sales House acted as a titular partner of the event.

*Sales data from the NRA. January–November 2023

**“Returned” refers to advertisers who were not on air for over 1 year. Advertisers are considered “new” if they both place their ads on TV for the first time and are on air for the first time in over 2 years