Awards were handed out on October 26 to Russia's most influential companies. That evening Moscow's Forum Hall became host to the Ninth EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND 2006 Award Ceremony, the most important and prestigious Russian national prize in the area of branding.

Representatives of leading Russian companies that have submitted their best projects over the past year awaited the commission's decision. EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND is currently Russia's only internationally recognized award, which holds a license from the American Marketing Association (AMA).

"The Best Brand is a sort of "litmus test paper", which determines how firmly established the company is and how effective its product and service promotion strategy is," RBC's General Director Yury Rovensky said. "But the award is already accomplishing an even greater mission now, at this new stage, - to paint the objective picture of the overall Russian market condition".

This spectacular event has gathered almost all of the Russian capital's marketing and advertising public. Among the guests were Deputy Culture and Mass Communication Minister Dmitry Amunts, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wimm-Bill-Dann David Yakobashvili, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Euroset Yevgeny Chichvarkin, Arnold Worldwide Managing Partner/ Group Account Director Barbara Reilly, Union of Right Forces (SPS) political party leader Nikita Belykh, producer Iosif Prigozhin, TV presenter Boris Notkin, singer Valeria, artist Nikas Safronov, fashion designer Helen Yarmak, TV soap star Nelly Uvarova, and many others.

This year, EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND has reached a new level. A record number of 302 submissions was made, the all-time high in the award's history. The number of award categories has increased. This means that Russia has already come to the realization that a strong and trusted brand is one of the main advantages of a company, and its added value to consumers.

"If you want to gain prosperity and plan to create a stable business, you must from day one start working towards your company's brand - your business card, your reputation. It is a strenuous process which will require a lot of hard work, but it is impossible to do without it in today's world," said the EFFIE/THE BEST BRAND jury chairman and President of the Russian Advertising Academy Vladimir Filippov. However, as the saying goes, "many are called, few are chosen."

The Grand Prix was awarded to three projects this year: Aeroflot - Russian Airlines ("Change of Image"), MegaFon ("Reputation and Credibility"), and the family bonus card loyalty program Malina ("New Name"). The remaining 108 brands won gold (40), silver (41) and bronze (27) prizes.

Then, the award ceremony itself began, astonishing everyone with its magnitude and style. The informal part of the evening began with an animated film, which in its cheerful manner gave a brief overview of the history of Russian brand building. During breaks between the announcements of winners in various categories, the guests saw performances by Valeria and the stellar world famous opera quartet Amici Forever. Specially invited Russian television stars Anton Komolov and Yana Churikova were the hosts of the ceremony. The show finished late into the night with dancing fountains by the fabulous Aquatique Show.