Advertising Industry 2023–2024: New Reality
Back in the 19th century, the founder of the first advertising agency in Russia, Ludwig Metzl, said that advertising is the engine of trade.
And over the past century and a half, practically nothing has changed – advertising is still one of the most effective ways to promote a product. What is the current state of the Russian advertising market, and what trends await us in the coming year?
Domestic advertising market: up or down the ladder?
The Association of Communication Agencies of Russia estimates the volume of the domestic advertising market at the end of 2022 at 392 billion rubles, which is 2% less than in 2021. However, this indicator includes segments of advertising on the Internet, radio, in the press and outdoor advertising and does not take into account data on advertising sales on TV.
A variety of trends was observed across segments. The volumes of outdoor advertising and radio advertising increased by 6% and 5% to 47.6 billion rubles and 14.7 billion rubles, respectively. Last year, a unique situation was observed – for the first time in the history of the advertising market, the volume of advertising on the Internet decreased to 324.9%, which is 2% less than in 2021. The advertising segment in print media demonstrated the largest decline – its volume decreased by more than 40%, to 4.8 billion rubles. At the same time, the audience of print publications, according to ACRA, grew in 2022: in the segment of mass-market magazines it increased by almost 66%, in the newspaper segment by almost 20%. The reason for such significant changes is the termination of work in Russia by a number of large advertising companies, as well as the cessation of the existence of some publications.
According to experts, this year the Russian advertising market will grow by approximately 5-7% compared to 2022 figures. There are several reasons for this trend, such as the gradual adaptation of market players to work in new conditions, the development of brands’ own trademarks, the launch of co-branding advertising campaigns using the “retailer + brand” scheme, as well as the entry of new brands into the Russian market. At the same time, the contribution of the latter is unlikely to exceed 6-8%, since new players need time to launch their business.
Are advertising structures a keystone?
It’s not enough to develop an advertising campaign. The production of advertising structures is of paramount importance In total, there are about 6 thousand players of different sizes working in this segment in Russia – from small companies with a staff of about 20-30 people to the largest players on an interregional scale, employing hundreds of specialists. Interestingly, about 60% of companies have been working in this field for over 10 years. According to preliminary estimates, the volume of the industry reached 180-190 billion rubles in 2022, which is generally comparable to the figures for 2020-2021.
As mentioned above, the outdoor advertising segment showed the greatest growth in 2022. Even 10-15 years ago, there was an opinion that it would start losing ground due to the development of digital services. However, the reality turned out to be different – the DOOH format, which appeared as a collaboration of digital solutions and traditional outdoor advertising, began to gradually displace the traditional OOH advertising. It is the digital segment that has become the driving force of 2023 and will most likely remain just as in demand in 2024. The most popular formats for such advertising are video screens, billboards, lightboxes, LED screens, scoreboards, interactive panels (including touch screens). They allow you to form an attractive and memorable image of the product among the target audience, involve them in the interaction process and motivate them to purchase a product or service.
The use of modern digital solutions in outdoor advertising is also worth noting. The programmatic buying methods work together with a software product that evaluates the audience, reads faces, and also receives information from Wi-Fi scanners about the Mac addresses of smartphones. Due to this, personalized content is generated that meets the interests of a particular target audience.
In the current conditions, there is an active struggle for the client in the advertising market. Therefore, a serious factor is the company’s reputation and its recognition in the industry. Participation in the largest market events is a great way not only to promote your own brand, but also to find new clients and partners.
Participation in the Printech Exhibition will help the market players in addressing a number of business challenges.
For example, in summer of 2023, more than 2,500 professionals visited the exhibition participants’ stands, which is by 37% more than in 2022. This is in addition to 30,000 visitors of the RosUpack Exhibition, who express their interest in particular in printing equipment used in packaging industry. Learn more about exhibition sectors >>>
You can showcase your solutions and equipment for the production of advertising structures to potential clients and customers at the 9th International Exhibition of Equipment, Technologies and Supplies for Print and Advertising Production Printech, which will be held on 18–21 June 2024 (Moscow, Crocus Expo IEC, pavilion 3, hall 12).
