The National Advertising Forum 2018 started on November 12 in the Russian Chamber of Commerce with the industry conference "Advertising - the real economy.” Dmitry Chernyshenko, CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding, spoke at the event. Andrei Kashevarov, deputy head of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service, read a welcoming speech from Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the government of the Russian Federation.
“Today, advertising also plays a crucial social role, promotes sport, a healthy lifestyle, and calls on people to care for their loved ones,” says the message from Dmitry Medvedev. The chairman of the government also noted the special role of the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia in promoting advertising innovations. His welcoming speech emphasized that the Russian advertising industry, which is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, has become truly professional and is now not only a means to commercial gain. Advertising forms consumer demand, promotes economic growth, and helps to improve the people's living standards.
For his part, Dmitry Chernyshenko stressed that television, as the most widespread media with a monthly audience that encompasses 99% of the nation’s population, has a direct impact on economic development. Chernyshenko forecast that TV advertising will increase by 10% over the next year.
“Television is at the center of the media universe and is the driver of media consumption growth. Only premium content - high-profile premieres of TV series, the best shows, top sports broadcasts - allows advertisers to get an emotional connection with the viewers. Thus, the investment of advertisers in TV is a long-term strategy that helps to preserve brand loyalty,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.
He also noted that today media holdings act as factories for the production of television content, which can be viewed on different media platforms.
Other participants of the conference included business leaders and leading experts of the media industry, the president of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Srinivasan Swamy, head of the marketing and advertising department at the RSUH Institute for Economics, Management and Law Alan Abaev, president of the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia Sergey Piskarev, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Elena Dybova, CEO of Mediascope Ruslan Tagiyev, and general manager of NMI Group Yulia Orlova. Igor Trosnikov, co-head of RBC, and Alexey Popovichev, executive director of RusBrand, moderated the conference.