– Representatives of the advertising industry are extremely reluctant to share the secrets of their profession. Are you ready to talk frankly?
– Of course! Moreover, I confess to you right away: the main secret of the influence of advertising is precisely to find the innermost desires and needs in the human soul. Penetrate into the hidden corners of his subconscious and purposefully influence them.
– Do you even mean latent sexual desires?
– Yes, no matter what happens in the world and no matter how changing social needs, sex still remains one of the basic human needs. It has long been no secret that many commercials are based on an attempt to satisfy a person’s sexual desires. Let me give you a trivial example. Maybe remember the video where a guy with a naked torso drills a board: heat, sweat, shavings. His girlfriend is half-naked and stands next to him. The tension and passion between the characters is growing … The viewer languishes in anticipation of a stormy bed scene. Here is a man throwing a tool and … instead of an erotic climax – a close-up of a blackboard with the name of the Suprimex company. What did the authors do? They did shoot a “hot” scene, thanks to which the actors conveyed the excitement of the anticipation of intimacy to the viewer. But the creators, who, by the way, were influenced by Fyodor Bondarchuk, replaced the final sex with an ingenious ending in terms of marketing. The desire to see the denouement made viewers watch the ad to the end – that is, before the brand was displayed. This is how the producers of commercials manage to evoke vivid emotions in the audience, the desire to experience them again.
– But, probably, there should be some boundaries?
– Of course, modern industry is more cautious in using provocative tools. It is important to understand that advertising is not just a way to influence people and increase sales, it is the engine of the entire economy. The common phrase “advertising is the engine of trade” appeared 140 years ago and, as you can see, is still relevant today. It belongs to the entrepreneur Ludwig Metzel. It was he who, in 1878, established the first Central Announcement Office in Russia. Advertising really develops the economy. Take the situation with the ban on TV advertising of beer. On the one hand, it was necessary to limit the promotion of alcoholic beverages. At some point, after loud demands from politicians, she really disappeared. It would seem that the goal has been achieved, the consumption of beer has dropped several times. But what did this lead to? Several breweries went bankrupt, people lost their jobs, and the worst thing was that a heavy substitute came to replace high-quality beer, which was no longer produced. This year alone, dozens of people have died from poisoning with such alcohol, and the economy has suffered significant losses from the reduction in beer production.
Another example is the ban on broadcasting advertisements in children’s programs. As soon as the law was passed, almost all federal channels decided that it was not profitable for them to place children’s programs on the air, since there was no income from advertisers. And programs for children quickly disappeared. Feature films and animation were virtually destroyed. Fortunately, common sense prevailed – and advertising began to return, and with it unique animation projects by Russian producers, which are now watched in other countries: Masha and the Bear, Smeshariki, Super Rally. Therefore, we always evaluate the effect of advertising from two sides: the impact on the feelings and behavior of a person and the impact on the economy. As statistics show, one dollar invested in advertising, but only in high-quality advertising, brings six dollars in profit.
– As I understand it, advertising can be used not only to promote products, but also as an instrument of political struggle?
– You know, at one time one of the founders of the French advertising agency Euro-RSCG Jacques Seguela, who was nicknamed “the creator of presidents”, suggested that a politician is the same product. It is curious how Seguela campaigned for presidential candidate François Mitterrand. One of the techniques for shaping the desired image has become a photo session in a certain style. In the photographs, the politician never stood straight, he always seemed to be leaning towards the viewer, thus saying “I am with you, I am among you.” Mitterrand won the presidential race, and later, thanks to Seguela, managed to take this post for the second time. What kind of fee did the political strategist ask for? Surprise, money was not the payment at all. The newly minted president just fulfilled the request of his ally – to transfer officials to the domestic French Citroën. The trick was that Seguela was promoting this brand in the market. And what kind of advertising could be better than the purchase of cars by the presidential administration? So politics and advertising are really inextricably linked. And, by the way, Seguela almost got involved in Yeltsin’s election campaign in Russia, but at the last moment the agreement fell through.
– Do you give examples of successful foreign advertising, it turns out that good creativity and direction are the lot of the West? Is Russia far behind in this direction?
– I disagree, Russian teams know how to be on top. Even in the 90s, we had real pearls of advertising. At that time, a novice director Timur Bekmambetov shot a series of short videos for the Imperial Bank. Rather, even a small historical movie. The project made Bekmambetov famous, helped build a career in Hollywood, and most importantly, showed that advertising is not only a form of sales, but also an art. What is most interesting, in 2012, these videos were recognized as the best advertising in Russia over the past 20 years, but Imperial itself had long gone bankrupt by that time.
The modern advertising industry employs a huge number of celebrity directors, screenwriters, and actors. It is no longer uncommon for commercials to look more like a movie, and shooting budgets are sometimes comparable to those of good full-length films. This year, together with the official representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Russia, Vladimir Evstafiev, and the producer of the project, Daniil Kostinsky, we came up with a unique show “Music Revived”, which has every chance of getting into the Guinness Book of Records. The project was enthusiastically supported by Yuri Bashmet. For the first time in history, the hits of world advertising were brought together and broadcast on the big screen of the cinema accompanied by great classical music performed by the State Symphony Orchestra. Dmitry Shostakovich’s “Russian waltz” was performed in the famous Lars von Trier’s commercial for a French insurance company, Rossini’s overture to the opera The Thief Forty was featured in TV commercials … after hearing the live sound of the orchestra. After the event, the audience vied with each other that they would certainly go to the conservatory, such a strong impression was made on them by the merger of masterpieces of advertising and music. And the show itself is waiting for tours and world concert venues, which is a great success.
However, as well as the fact that I had the honor to represent Russia in the international jury of the authoritative Cannes Lions festival. Cannes Lions are in advertising the same as Oscars in the film industry. The festival’s award proves that the commercial is recognized as a work of art. And Russia had something to brag about this year. Thus, the special project “Aroma No. 23” was awarded “gold” in the PR Culture & Context category. In the house on Nikolskaya, 23, where in the 1930s more than 30 thousand people were shot, they planned to open an elite perfume boutique. To draw the attention of the public and government to the insane contrast between the terrible history of the building and plans for its reconstruction, a perfume with the smell of gunpowder was released. In terms of implementation, the case turned out to be ambiguous and caused heated discussions. But the creative approach to the problem definitely deserved the award.
Three more projects were among the winners: the clip You’re Born of the Tatarstan duet “AIGEL” with a story about a rejuvenated official after swimming in an ice-hole; a hotel in the Moscow region from the toy manufacturer Hasbro, where you can pay for accommodation with knowledge; and IKEA’s Kvartiroteka, an online platform with ready-made design solutions for interiors.
– What do you think is the most important in the development of the advertising industry at the moment?
– Save national brands. The economy of any country is built on its own brands. Check out Interbrand’s ranking of the world’s 100 most valuable brands: Apple $ 400 billion, Coca-Cola $ 57 billion, Toyota $ 54 billion. It is also important for Russia to preserve and promote its own. Now we see the transformation of Sberbank into Sberbank with a global ecosystem, a recognizable market player is Gazprom. With great regret I have to admit that some Russian brands with a rich history, for example, “Korkunov”, “Essentuki”, “Yubileinoe” and even “Russia is a generous soul!”, Have passed to foreign companies. That is why it is so important for us to learn how to grow and develop national brands ourselves, to preserve what millions of our residents know and love. Polls show that the most massive and expensive among the media is Moskovsky Komsomolets, on television – KVN and Good night, kids! That is, it is quite real. And returning to advertising, I want to note: the way the industry is developing today shows that intrusive, primitive and soulless advertising is becoming less and less. The future belongs to creative projects that act as works of art and can stimulate the economy. I will say this, an industry that was not visible, that tried to act unnoticed, is becoming an industry that moves us forward.
Today Valentina Mitroshenkova celebrates her anniversary. The editorial staff of Moskovsky Komsomolets congratulates the member of the jury of the International Festival of Creativity Cannes Lines, Executive Director of AVM Media, on his birthday and wishes him new creative projects and bright victories!
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