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

Gazprom-Media Holding participated in the seventh National Advertising Forum (NAF 2023) held in Moscow on November 15–17. Market leaders discussed the 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 the nation’s new economy.”

Aleksandr Zharov spoke about the power of media in creating brands of the future, presented the market with the current figures and cross-platform capabilities of the holding, and also shared data from the National Advertising Alliance, according to which 731 Russian brands appeared on TV or returned¹ in 2023. Aleksandr Zharov also noted that this year, most advertisers on TV are domestic as well².

Aleksandr Zharov

CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding

All new advertisers need marketing support and relevant content. Gazprom-Media Holding is the largest diversified media holding in Russia and a leader in content creation. The holding’s mediamix has all communication channels that allow us to quickly and efficiently gather a maximum amount of viewers, both reach- and target-wise, and tell them about a brand. We observe stable growth of interest for sponsor integrations in all environments. The average share of sponsorship in the TV budgets of the holding’s channels is 20%. The content amplifies the emotional perception of a brand. For us, this is a really strong signal that tells us that quality and relevant content is the key power for all media.

Ekaterina Veselkova, CEO of the Gazprom-Media Sales House, presented the results of the third wave of an industry survey dedicated to evaluating the efficiency of TV sponsorship during the company’s own session titled “Sponsorship is the brand’s best friend.” According to the data, 76% of advertisers use sponsorship, and a quarter of them are willing to allocate between 31% to 50% of their TV budget to this brand promotion format. According to respondents, sponsorship campaigns are most effective for themed and applied programs, comic shows, and sports broadcasts.

Svetlana Dorogonova, Head of Sales Management and Communications for the Friday, Saturday, TV-3 and 2x2 channels, continued to explore the topic of sponsorship at the FUSE MDG’s author session “Maximum from sponsorship.” She noted that game mechanics, which at are currently being developed on TV channels, 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 to Children.” In his opinion, fairy tales and music that offer learning through entertainment are most successful in marketing to children.

The session “I’m an artist, I see it that way. The art of monetizing creative ideas on the radio” was dedicated to special projects, which is another form of brand promotion. The moderator of the discussion, Yulia Andryushova, Director of Business Communications and Analytics at GPM Radio, Gazprom-Media Sales House expert, and co-chair of the RACA Radio Committee, said that special projects account for 12% and more of all radio content. Eduard Maas, Head of the digital laboratory D.lab, spoke about the use of neural net-based production in the realization of creative ideas and the creation of new formats. An example of first AICG developments is the visualization of an audio podcast by Children’s Radio (Detskoe Radio) dedicated to the adventures of Vesnushka and Kipyatosha.

A separate session was devoted to the regional development of the advertising market. Ilya Popov, Deputy CEO of Regional Advertising at Gazprom-Media Sales House, took part in the discussion titled “Regional Advertising Market: The Survivor of a Perfect Storm” and talked about the transformation of the media landscape, the latest trends, and how local advertisers perceive these trends.

The event was also attended by Alexey Filia, Director of Strategy and Advertising Product Development Department at Gazprom-Media Sales House; Ekaterina Makarenkova, CEO of Getintent (part of the Gazprom-Media Sales House ecosystem); Alexey Krupenin, Director of Digital Advertising Sales Department at Gazprom-Media Sales House; and Ekaterina Sivoratchenko, Head of Agency Group at 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-sized businesses.

Dmitry Chudakov, Director of the Legal Directorate of Gazprom-Media Holding, spoke at a Forum summit dedicated to the interaction of the industry with government bodies.The main topic of discussion was the proposed legislation to add countdowns to TV commercials and show public service announcements during prime time.

During the NAF, an awards ceremony was held to commemorate 30 years of RACA. Yulia Golubeva, Deputy CEO of Gazprom-Media Holding, and Yuri Kostin, President of GPM Radio, were awarded for their contribution to the development of the advertising industry. Ekaterina Veselkova, CEO of Gazprom-Media Sales House; Yulia Andryushova, Director of Business Communications and Analytics at GPM Radio, Gazprom-Media Sales House expert, and co-chair of the RACA Radio Committee; Marianna Ivanova, Head of Legal Division of GPM Radio and co-chair of the RACA section; and Maria Smirnova, Director of Radio Sales at Gazprom-Media Sales House, were awarded for their active participation in RACA activities.

The winners of the 33rd Red Apple Festival were also announced during the Forum. The “Black Friday on Friday!” project by the Friday TV channel and FUSE Media Direction Group for Xiaomi won five awards.

This year’s National Advertising Forum was held under the auspices of the 145th anniversary of Russian advertising. The Gazprom-Media Sales House acted as a titular partner of the event.

¹“Returned” refers to advertisers who have been off the air for more than 1 year. Advertisers are considered “new” if they are placing their ads on TV for the first time, or if it is their first time on the air in more than 2 years

²Sales data from the NAA. January–November 2023

Do you want to advertise?

Send us a message right now, and our managers will get back to you right away!

What type of advertising are you after?