Russian consumers are very focused
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2025 5:53 am
I found the post by Ekaterina Kuskova (German-Russian consulting company MARKETING-Complete, Cologne) interesting regarding the stereotypes of Western companies entering the Russian market. Many points, in my opinion, are also relevant for companies entering the Kazakhstan market (from my personal experience). Therefore, I am posting Ekaterina's post in full , plus her responses to some comments made during the discussion.
In this article, I have reflected several observations from my italy cell phone number list daily work with Western European companies entering the Russian market, from communication with specialists in Germany, and from my research activities. This is only a small selection of perceptions of Russia in Europe. I have selected the most common ones, regardless of the industry. Of course, different categories have their own specifics, but this article is a first step towards a discussion.
I would like to once again touch upon the topic of Western brands in Russia and their perception by Russian consumers. With what convictions do Western companies enter the Russian market and what features of consumer behavior and market regulation do they encounter in Russia?
Here are some examples of advice from Western marketers for positioning in Russia:
— on prestige, status and showing off their wealth, so they prefer well-known brands with a decent name and packaging.
— In Russia, the umbrella brand strategy is more successful, as consumers prefer strong brands.
— Russian consumers believe that production in Russia worsens the quality of products. The country of origin plays an important role here. Therefore, it is worthwhile to carefully consider all the details of communication when moving production from Western Europe to Russia.
— In some categories, consumers prefer Russian brands (for example, chocolate or even cosmetics). Here, Soviet brands are experiencing a renaissance. Therefore, it is sometimes profitable to buy an existing brand with a Soviet history.
In this article, I have reflected several observations from my italy cell phone number list daily work with Western European companies entering the Russian market, from communication with specialists in Germany, and from my research activities. This is only a small selection of perceptions of Russia in Europe. I have selected the most common ones, regardless of the industry. Of course, different categories have their own specifics, but this article is a first step towards a discussion.
I would like to once again touch upon the topic of Western brands in Russia and their perception by Russian consumers. With what convictions do Western companies enter the Russian market and what features of consumer behavior and market regulation do they encounter in Russia?
Here are some examples of advice from Western marketers for positioning in Russia:
— on prestige, status and showing off their wealth, so they prefer well-known brands with a decent name and packaging.
— In Russia, the umbrella brand strategy is more successful, as consumers prefer strong brands.
— Russian consumers believe that production in Russia worsens the quality of products. The country of origin plays an important role here. Therefore, it is worthwhile to carefully consider all the details of communication when moving production from Western Europe to Russia.
— In some categories, consumers prefer Russian brands (for example, chocolate or even cosmetics). Here, Soviet brands are experiencing a renaissance. Therefore, it is sometimes profitable to buy an existing brand with a Soviet history.