BusinessWeek Russia, (Moscow) – April 21, 2008

On April 7, last year’s best branding projects were named in Manezh. The best brands operating on the Russian market were awarded with the most prestigious international award in the sphere of brands – THE BEST BRAND/EFFIE 2007.

A total of 287 projects competed in 28 different categories. The following companies received the grand prix: Nissan (“Goodwill and Confidence”), Russian Railways (“Change of Image”) and Sochi 2014 (“New Name”). Among the guests and participants of the ceremony were representatives of the leading companies working on the Russian market, advertisers and marketing managers – professionals working on the creation and promotion of brands. The most prominent business people, politicians, officers and artists were also spotted among the guests: First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Tatiana Paramonova, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Euroset Yevgeny Chichvarkin, Chairman of the Center for Political Technologies, writer Darya Dontsova, TV anchors Nikolai Drozdov and Boris Notkin, singer Lada Dance, artist Nikas Safronov, and many other celebrities.

The evening started off with cocktails and jazz improvisations by Igor Butman’s jazz band. The tables were draped with black and gold fabric, and the guests were served Hennessey cognac by waiters dressed in long black gowns and golden masks (a special thanks for this theatrical performance to Concord CATERING). While the candles slowly burned away leaving streams of melting wax, the guests discussed brands in this unforgettable atmosphere of mystery and magnetism.

At the opening of the award ceremony, RBC General Director Yury Rovensky pointed out that THE BEST BRAND / EFFIE award was celebrating its anniversary. “Over the last 10 years we have become friends, and our annual meetings to honor the winners are not simply about recognizing the best, but also a celebration of our mutual successes and an opportunity to exchange experiences.”

According to chairman of the jury Vladmir Filippov, a ‘dialectical branding’ stage was currently being faced by companies. This means that certain industries were demonstrating strong work and outstanding creativity in promoting brands, while other industries could be called ‘problematic’ in this respect: the brands were demonstrating an unclear communicative strategy. “I really liked Nissan’s application, and I would happily grant it 100 points for creativity. In general, the work of all automobile brands can be characterized as great this year,” Filippov stressed. Meanwhile, he added that “branding in the banking and insurance sectors, especially when we are talking about image advertising, looks quite weak.” At the same time, Vyacheslav Chernyakhovsky, advisor to the president of the Russian Association of Communication Agencies, noted that there was no reason to be looking for anything out of the ordinary in the applications: “Our country has a young economy, and growth costs are inevitable. The main idea here is that the Russian companies learn from the best experiences of global branding and ultimately reach the average global level, and that they have no fears when submitting applications to be considered for the award.”