Students show their skills in advertising
By Natalia Shuvalova
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Eager students listen to a master class | Tomorrow’s advertising practitioners from around Russia showcased their talent during the last week of April at the Ninth International Student Advertising Festival in Moscow.
When the country was making the transition from the Soviet regime to democracy, advertising was new to Russians. The first TV commercials, posters and newspaper advertisements were deplorable.
The Rector of the Moscow University of Humanitarian Sciences (the biggest non-State University in Russia), Mr. Igor M. Ilyinsky, realized that Russia would have the same demand for proficiency in advertising as the West; and very soon.
“It was very logical to me. Where the market goes, advertising follows. Obviously, advertising could not stay at such an unprofessional level for a long time. High demand for this type of education in the West gave me a clear picture of the future in Russia”, he says.
Yet, it required a great deal of determination to continue. Most of the people in the industry at that time were so overworked meeting the demands of multinational clients such as Proctor & Gamble, Nestle and Unilever that they did not have the time or money to invest in educating their creative staff. The University sent about 800 letters to adverting agencies and other related institutions but did not receive a single reply.
The other challenges they was the absence of skilled and experienced professionals, and basic text books in the field. Finally, they got support from RARA (the Russian Association of Advertising Agencies). Its directors: Vladimir Philippov, Vladimir Estafiev and Sergei Koptev, took an active part in the development of the first Russian curriculum of advertising, which began as non-degree courses under the name of High School of Advertising at the University.
Today the Faculty of Advertising, which is headed by Dean Alexander D. Borodai, 1,560 students. The leading industry practitioners from the Russian branches of multinational agencies such as McCann Erickson, Grey Worldwide, BBDO and Young & Rubicam fall over themselves to hold master classes and meet the students, many of whom are recruited.
Over 80 institutions from around Russia, including Krasnodar, Omsk, Tambov, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk, competed. Entries were also received from students in Bulgaria, Vietnam, China, Israel, Ukraine, Belorussia, Georgia and Latvia.
The three-day event was dominated by the opening and closing ceremonies and the presentation of certificates and awards by the winning students of the competition.
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MosGU Rector
Dr. Igor M. Ilyinsky |
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Leading advertising luminary Vladimir Philippov |
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L-R: Michael Loskutov, Vladimir Evstafyev, Dr. Igor Ilyinsky | |
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L-R: Dean Alexander Borodai and guest
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Students looks at entries in the Festival gallery
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Entertainment by students was a part of the opening and closing ceremonies | |
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