Managing partner of the branding agency Depot WPF, co-president of the Association of Branding Companies of Russia (ABKR), academician of the Russian Academy of Advertising (RAR) Alexey Andreev told the portal "Made in Russia" about the benefits of branding for business, the relevance of labeling Russian goods with the mark Made in Russia and told about why it is important to develop a national label integrator in the current conditions.

How important is branding for business?

Those who communicate with me a lot have probably heard this phrase a million times, but I'm not tired of repeating it: in the world of goods and services that are indistinguishable by their quality and properties (that's what the world becomes), only branding remains the only effective tool for competition.

Russian businessmen clearly understand this paradigm and increasingly pay attention to the competent construction and promotion of brands. Both Depot WPF and other agencies that are members of the Russian Branding Companies Association receive more and more requests. And these requests are becoming more and more meaningful and elaborate: for branding services communicate with the understanding of what benefits they can bring to business.

What is the benefit of the Made in Russia brand for promoting Russian products abroad?

Made in Russia is not a brand in the full sense of the word, but a label integrator. Its task is to gather Russian companies and become a powerful consolidation tool for them. International experience shows that such initiatives are a very strong and promising story.

Why does the state need it?

If an initiative develops successfully, we get a synergetic effect as a result: commercial brands are supported by a reputable state brand, and the state gets a plus to its image in return for being represented by outstanding companies and products. This is how territorial branding works: commercial brands promote themselves at the expense of a strong consolidating state brand, but they also promote the state themselves.

Is this tool relevant in the current economic situation?

Absolutely! Today more than ever it is important for us to support, promote and raise the prestige of Russian products abroad. Questions related to the development of Russia's non-resource exports arise at the country's main business events. In my opinion, the support of non-material exports is one of the ambitious goals of the Made in Russia project.

On the one hand, the program should work to increase the prestige of Russian producers and their brands, help them optimize the costs of promotion abroad. On the other hand, the creators of the project must show Russian business that it is easy and simple to get support from the government.

What successful foreign analogues can you remember?

Russia is far from being a pioneer in the sphere of creating a brand-integrator. The first such program was launched in Germany - the Made in Germany label started to flash actively on German goods as a quality mark back in the middle of the XX century. Following Germany, the initiative was picked up by many people.

States, including Canada, the USA, Italy, the UK, China, India and many others. Programs work differently in different countries: somewhere they are programs providing for certification of products, somewhere they are labels, which can be used by any business operating in the territory of the state, somewhere manufacturers are forced to indicate at the legislative level that the products are made in the country. What all these initiatives have in common is that they have become powerful communication tools that are clearly read both at home and abroad and add value to the products they label.