Russia - Trade Promotion and AdvertisingRussia – Trade Promotion

Television, radio, print, and billboard advertising is ubiquitous in the Russian market.  Most international advertising agencies are active in Russia along with domestic counterparts. 
The Association of Communication Agencies (ACAR) estimated Russia’s advertising market at 417 billion rubles in 2017, up 14% year-on-year from 2016. This followed 11% growth 2015-2016.  Accounting for the production of creative products, advertising goods, and payment for agency services, the total value of marketing communications is estimated at 730-750 billion rubles.

Television continues to be the principal advertising medium in Russia, and this sector increased by 13% and amounted to 170.9 billion rubles in 2017 following 10% growth in 2016. By the end of 2017, the regional television advertising market was expanding (up 14% to 24.8 billion rubles).

Internet advertising continues to expand rapidly and the market was 166.3 billion rubles in 2017. This spending level equated to 22% year-on-year growth following 21% growth in 2016.   Experts anticipate spending on internet advertising will overtake television in 2018. 

Russian advertising market growth is distributed across a number of media and the volume of advertising on the radio grew by 3% since 2016, to 16.9 billion rubles. According to Alexei Zyatitsky, Sales Director of GPM Radio, the growth in this segment was mainly driven by growth in the Russian regions and the Moscow market stagnated during this same period. At the same time, he foresees growth in 2018.

The following summary of 2017 Russian advertising market performance was derived from the Russian Association of Communication Agencies experts.  The numbers from 2011-2016 have been compiled by CS Russia from Russian Association of Communication Agencies reports.

Segments	2017 (Rubles, billions)	2016 (Rubles, billions)	2015 (Rubles, billions)	2014 (Rubles, billions)	2013 (Rubles, billions)	2012 (Rubles, billions)	2011 (Rubles, billions)
TV	170.9	150.8	136.7	159.2	156	143.2	131
Inc. Terrestrial Television	165.6	146.9	134.2	155.7	152.2	139.9	128.9
Cable	5.3	3.9	2.5	4.1	4	3.31	2.16
Internet	166.3	136	97	84.6	71.7	56.3	41.8
Incl. Media Advertising	n/a	n/a	18.7	19.1	20.1	17.9	15.3
Contextual Advertising	n/a	n/a	78.3	65.5	51.6	38.4	26.5
Press	20.5	19.0	23.3	33	37	41.2	40.4
Incl. Newspapers	8.7	5.4	6.5	8.1	8.7	9.5	8.8
Magazines	11.9	10.7	11.6	16.5	18.5	20.1	19.8
Advertising Periodicals	n/a	3,6	5.3	8.5	9.9	11.6	11.8
Outdoor Advertising	33,8	31,4	32	40.6	40.7	37.7	34.3
Radio	16,9	15,1	14.2	16.9	16.5	14.6	11.8
Other	n/a	n/a	4.2	5.1	5.7	4.9	4.1
Total	417	n/a	307	340.1	327.8	297.8	263.4

Source: 35TAssociation of Communication Agencies in Russia35T

Social Networking
Russia is Europe’s largest internet market by number of users with over 105 million people.  74% of the population has internet access and 82% of those utilize social media.
Both Russian and Western social networking sites are growing in popularity, especially among users from younger demographic groups.  The two most popular social networks are Russian-based VKontakte - a platform similar to Facebook - and Odnoklassniki35T, a conduit for connecting old friends and classmates.  Nearly 65% of all Russian internet users are active on these services.  Instagram and Facebook are the third and fourth most popular services, attracting 23% and 20% of Russian internet users respectively. My World (9% of users), Twitter (7% of users), LiveJournal (3% of users) are among other popular applications. 
Another Internet site with growing popularity, LinkedIn, had approximately 6 million Russian users before it was blocked by Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor.  Linkedin was blocked after it failed to transfer Russian user data to servers located in the country, violating the 2014 data localization law, which requires all online sites to store personal data on servers in Russia.
The following is a list of media outlets and print publications, listed by market penetration from highest to lowest in Russia:

TV ChannelsP0F

1. Russia 135T
2. Pervyj Canal
3. TNT
4. 35TNTV35T
5. STS

Radio Stations P

1. Europa Plus35T
2. Dorozhnoye Radio35T
3. 3Avtoradio35T 
4. Russian Radio35T
5. Retro FM35T

PressP2F
Daily Newspapers

1. Metro 
2. Rossiskaya Gazeta (“Russian newspaper”)
3. Moskovsky Komsomolets 
4. Moskva Vechernaya3 
5. Sport-Express3

Weekly Newspapers3

1. Arguments and Facts
2. Komsomolskaya Pravda Tolstushka
3. 7773
4. Vechernyaya Moskva  
5. Moskovskovskiy KomsomoletsT

Weekly Magazines4F

1. Antenna – Telesem T
2. TeleprogrammaT
3. 7 Days  
4. Teleweek3 
5. Teshin Yazik  

Monthly Magazines

1. 3Za rulem35T
2. Vokrug Sveta
3. Caravan of Stories3
4. Lyublyu Gotovit’3
5. Teshin Yazik/Zyatek3

Most Popular Web Sites6

1. VKontakte3
2. Yandex3
3. Youtube3
4. Odnoklassniki3
5. Google35T

Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.


Russia Trade Development and Promotion