1. —1—
BOOK
OF STA B I L ITY
LEO BURNETT MOSCOW
M MVI I I

2. —2—
C R I S I S — turning point, radical change, decisive
period of a transient state. (Vladimir Dal’s Glossary
of the Great Living Russian Language)
C R I S I S — 1. Abrupt change, steep turning point.
2. A phenomenon of the reproduction of goods which
periodically occurs in the capitalistic economy and
leads to the bankruptcy of small manufacturers, de-
crease in production and increase in unemployment
(economic) (Ushakov’s Glossary of the Russian Lan-
guage)

3. —3—
LIQUIDITY CRISIS — Temporal lack of money in The Chinese words “crisis” and “possibility” share the
the banking system. This purely economic term has same character:
stormed into people’s life as abruptly as “privatiza- — crisis
tion” or “default”. The liquidity crisis began with — possibility
problems in the US mortgage market, when the larg- — means “key, important, favourable moment”.
est banks faced the threat of bankruptcy, and then Thus, the two characters in the word “crisis” mean
induced falls in the world stock market. It was a “danger” and “favorable moment”.
hard blow for George Bush’s administration. To cope
with the liquidity crisis, the US financial authorities
had to lower the discount rate, which weakened the
dollar and impelled the inflation. Russia is slightly
touched by the crisis: the Central Bank is feeding
the banking system with oil money; however, it is
becoming more difficult for large companies to bor-
row money in the West. This expression is also used
in a figurative sense: we have run out of money, no
money to pay. “Sorry buddy, I cannot borrow – there
is the liquidity crisis.” (Magazine «Bolshoy Gorod»,
(Big Town) No.25 2007)

4. —4—
FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Maria Tiunova, project author,
Director for Strategic Planning, Leo Burnett Moscow First of all, we would like to thank our authors: Natalia Fedorkova and Larisa Khabibu-
lina, as well as the whole team of the Book of Change, comprised of Arina Avdeeva, Julia
Taratina, Ildar Zaynetdinov, Vera Karpova, and Alexander Mirov.
This book is called “The Book of Stability” not because we are Special thanks to the veterans of the Russian advertising market who, despite their tight
schedules, found time to participate in our expert counsel: Sergey Koptev (Chairman of
trying to pretend that there is no crisis. Leo Burnett founded
the Board of Directors of Publicis Groupe Media Eurasia), Vladimir Tkachev (Vice-Presi-
our agency in Chicago during the time of the Great Depres- dent of Leo Burnett Group Russia), Julia Arakelova (Managing Director of the «Rodnaya
sion. To welcome his first visitors, he put a basket with apples Rech» (Mother Tongue) agency), Mikhail Kudashkin (Creative Director, Leo Burnett
Moscow), Ilya Olenev (Creative Director, Leo Burnett Moscow), Patimat Magomedova
on the reception stand on the day of opening. Ill-wishers (Director for Business Development Leo Burnett Group Russia), Irina Kulikova (Clients
were making malicious jokes that Leo Burnett would soon sell Group Director, Leo Burnett Moscow), Natalia Fedorkova (Senior Planner, Leo Burnett
Moscow), Tatiyana Maslova (Managing Director of the ARC WW Russia agency), and Kira
apples at the corner of the street where he had founded his
Laskari (Creative Director of ARC WW Russia).
agency. How wrong they were! We express our gratitude to our consultants, who showed sincere interest in the project
Our agency survived the Great Depression and survived the and enriched the book with valuable comments: Sergey Sheykhetov (Research Director,
Ipsos Russia), Natalia Plukhina (Executive Director of Qualitel Data Services), Natalia
Russian year of 1998. And, of course, we all will not only Karchazhkina (Head of the Marketing Consulting Direction, Qualitel Data Services) and
survive but take reasonable advantage of the year of 2009. Elizaveta Lavinskaya (Senior Manager of the Quantitative Research Department, Qualitel
Data Services).
This Book is your navigator in the new space and a guarantee
We also thank all our hunters for changes, namely: Arseni Akhapkin, Viacheslav Der-
of stability that in all times we will chase trends to offer you zhaev, Tatyana Vlasova, Ekaterina Schepanovskaya, Olga Novikova, Irina Novikova, Svet-
optimal solutions for your business! lana Pozdnyakova, Yaroslava Saveleva, Anna Malikina, Marina Kuleshova, Maria Kozlova,
Tatyana Zaraiskaya, Andrey Kashtan and Ekaterina Zimina;
Dmitry Jakovlev for the appearance of the Book of Stability;
Have great holidays – and stay with us! Natalia Safonova for helping us cope with our native language;
Andrey Zima for giving this book the possibility to come into the light,
as well as Mikhail Kudashkin and Serob Khachatryan for the wonderful cover for the Book.
Leo Burnett Moscow
with love

5. —5—
only 5-cent coins, whereas Coca-Cola had a stock of 1
D O YO U K N O W T H AT … ? milliard 6-ounce bottles. As a result, Pepsi-Cola be-
SEVERAL FACTS came extremely popular among children in 1939.
FROM THE TIME Source: www.brandpedia.ru
O F T H E G R E AT D E P R E S S I O N
(1929—1941) In 1931, the H.J. Heinz company started manufactur-
ing children’s food and fast soups to smoothen con-
sequences of the crisis for the company. This action
turned out to be quite successful, new products were
in high demand, and even today children’s food is
quite popular all over the world.
Source: www.adme.ru
We would have never played in Lego, if the Great
Depression had not happened. At the beginning of
the 30s of the last century carpenter Ole Kirk Chris-
During the depression of the 30s PepsiCo organized tiansen was searching for other ways to make his
a successful attack at Coca-Cola’s market positions. living as he was getting less and less work (because
It started selling Pepsi-Cola in bottles with the capac- of the decrease in house construction). And in 1932
ity of 12 ounces at the price of 5 cents per bottle. A he started making wood toys which were in demand
Coca-Cola bottle with the capacity of 6 ounces also because even during the hard times parents wanted
cost 5 cents. Coca-Cola could not use other bottles to buy at least something small for their children,
or reduce the price as its vending machines accepted and after several years Ole Kirk Christiansen made a

6. —6—
decision to primarily concentrate on toys. The name
of the company appeared in 1934.
1998:
Source: www.brandpedia.ru H O W I T WA S
Natalia Fedorkova,
The Unilever company flourished during the Great Senior Planner of Leo Burnett Moscow
Depression: the agriculture fell into a state of decay
because of the crisis and for that reason the marga-
rine manufactured by the company was in high de-
mand in the 30s.
Source: www.adbrands.net
Zippo lighters – the lighters of a more convenient
design which could be lit with only one hand - ap-
peared during the Great Depression in 1936. The idea
of manufacturing more reliable lighters came to the
Company’s founder George Blaisdell’s mind as early
as in 1932, when he suddenly realized that a zipper
was something that a person would constantly need
regardless of his/her social status.
Source: www.brandpedia.ru

7. —7—
PRICES SOARED UP As a matter of fact, these products were imported be-
I N O N E S I N G L E D AY cause they were manufactured in Europe and bought
for dollars. The dollar became four times more ex-
pensive, and, accordingly, these products and brands
became more expensive in the same proportion.
Besides, the abrupt increase in price concerned not the
limousines or Louis Vuitton bags but touched fast moving
consumer goods – the most demanded products: house-
hold cleaning products, personal care products and food.
WE JUST BEGAN
GETTING USED
The substantial increase in prices (which means TO SOMETHING NICE
twice, three or four times) for those high quality
products and brands to which people just began get- 10 years ago people understood in just one day that
ting used to was most painful. These products and they could not anymore afford the good products
brands included high-quality and expensive laun- that they hadn’t so far enjoyed enough. Many, many
dry detergents, shampoos, hair care products, tooth of them just tried them, just started to like them,
paste, personal hygiene products, and some food just began feeling happy because easy laundry with
products, such as tee or coffee – basically, all the a good laundry detergent became part of their life
products that were the imported ones. not only on holidays, but also on an everyday basis.

8. —8—
Because “critical days” stopped being a problem and expensive coffee in an expensive caf or not drinking
because in the mornings they could drink juice and coffee at all, because it was impossible to drink that
good aromatic, sufficiently strong coffee. As you dishwater that was served in stalls in the streets.
know, in 1993, a package of J7 juice that just had ap-
peared in the market cost so much that people tried
to drink this package sparingly during one week. A O N H O L I D AY S
Pickwick tea bag (only 1 (one) bag) was added into A N D E V E R Y D AY
a teapot to create “aroma”. Brewing this bag just for
one cup seemed to be inadmissible squandering.
Even in one of Alexandra Marinina’s books, Nastya
Kamenskaya, main female character, who could not
live a day without a certain number of cups of coffee,
calculated her budget at the beginning of the 90s in
the following way: “Well, if I do not drink juice any
time I want it but drink it only in the mornings, when
I mostly need it to wake myself up, then one package
should be enough for a week.” And since she could not
live without coffee, she had a Nescafe Classic jar in her
Thus, in August 1998 most people were in a so-called
office, and she did not share this coffee with anyone
stage of transition from occasional usage to everyday
who came in. The coffee was offered only to her most
usage. And this process was quite emotional. People
precious visitors. Running in circles around the town,
enjoyed the fact that their income had increased and
Nastya had to choose between drinking one cup of
they could use qualified goods not from time to time

9. —9—
the puzzled Swedish asked in perplexity: “What for?”
but every day. Those who do not remember that pe- He must have wanted to ask “Why” but made a very
riod of time, when beautiful imported jars and boxes cute mistake by choosing a wrong Russian equivalent
were not thrown away after their contents had been for the word “why”.
used, but were instead transformed into decoration Do you remember when an absolutely ordinary
items for a kitchen or bathroom, would not under- shampoo or a pack of beautiful soap was considered
stand what a pleasure it was just before the crisis to a universal and excellent gift? At that time we did not
put such items in a garbage can! Because there was give each other “useless” gifts. We presented others
no need anymore to decorate your kitchen with emp- with something they needed, with something that we
ty detergent bottles – it was possible to buy new ones. could not buy ourselves as it was too expensive.
And to use this detergent every day. And to throw
empty bottles away. This throwing was also quite
emotional – people liked to think that their level of 1991—1998:
life reached such a point when an empty detergent O N LY A F E W Y E A R S
bottle could not by definition serve as a decoration H AV E PA S S E D A F T E R
item for their interior! THE ABJECT POVERTY…
People just started getting used to the fact that
they could go to a restaurant for no reason, and not We have already forgotten somehow that the abject
only when they had a wedding, anniversary or funeral and unconditional poverty to which the country had
repast. Do you remember how in the notorious film come at the end of the 80s lasted 7 years. It’s still less
“Inter-girl” the main female character’s mother said to than the period of time between 1998 and 2008. By
her daughter’s fianc e: “Edward, I do not even remem- 1991 the shelves of food shops were almost empty.
ber when the last time was I went to a restaurant.” And People had to use special cards and humiliating “the

10. — 10 —
Buyer’s identification cards”, without which a visitor too expensive. Recall how it was: you buy half a kilo
or a Muscovite who had forgotten such a card could of boiled sausage at the price of an airplane – each
not even buy anything. After 1991, when the prices of the three-four family members made a sandwich
were “freed” and people that had grown dumb with for themselves – and the sausage disappear as it had
astonishment were trying to get used to new prices never been there, but the family is still hungry… Or
for a whole year, certain types of products appeared you can buy a couple of chicken legs for the same
on the shop shelves. By 1998 products became more money. Of course, you have to spend some time on
or less affordable. It was a seven-year trip from the cooking them but, as a result, you will get a pan of
abject poverty to some abundance, although one soup and a second course. And you family is sated.
could use the term “abundance” only compared to Just the thought about poverty does not want to leave
what we had had “at the moment of entrance”. your mind…
One more thing: the “freed” prices made the very
basic food products so expensive (also from a psy- IMPORTED VS. LOCAL
chological point of view) that people had to stop
buying sausages or cheese, and had to start buying There are reasons why imported products and goods
meat (mainly, whole chickens and frozen chicken that gradually started appearing on the empty
legs) and cook broth from this chicken for the whole shelves looked so attractive for the majority of peo-
family, and then use the same chicken to prepare a ple. First, because of their novelty. Soviet people had
second course. Such little joys as cooking boiled sau- no idea that packages could be so bright, carefully
sages or getting some snacks from the refrigerator designed and simply beautiful. Second, the quality
at any time were relegated to oblivion – they were of these products and goods was higher than that of

11. — 11 —
the existing Soviet ones. Third, the purchase of these were drinking the purest water and eating the green-
items enhanced the prestige of buyers and served as a est grass in the world. Do you recall? For former So-
proof, although an indirect proof, that they “had suc- viet people New Zealand seemed almost as far as, for
ceeded in their life”. example, the Moon or Mars…
In 1998 people had a clear idea of the division of In general, the gap between the perception of import-
products and goods into localand imported. They ed and localproducts was huge.
thought that good and effective household deter-
gents, good shampoos, tooth pastes, and hair styling Compared to insolently bright imported products,
products could only be imported. There was no such localproducts looked so pale and poor that people
unequivocal opinion of food products but, neverthe- wanted to avoid the necessity of buying them as soon
less, Lipton tea (“A sign of good taste and example of as possible.
traditions…”) and Anchor creamery butter were con-
sidered much more understandable choice compared The quality of localproducts was extremely unstable.
to their localanalogues. Today it is difficult to recall People were sure that it was because the quality control
why, as a pack of localbutter was only slightly differ- in the dying localfactories was so weak that, for ex-
ent in price compared to a pack of Anchor. However, ample, the taste of mayonnaise would depend on who
compared to that how the pack of localbutter looked, was in charge of the particular shift and what exactly
the pack of Anchor was a real artwork. Besides, the and in what proportion was put in a mixer. That’s why
appropriate TV commercial told us a wonderful story foreign companies emphasized for quite a long time that
about how this Anchor butter was manufactured in the quality of their products was stable and consistent. It
the distant New Zealand where cows all year long was their point of difference and competitive advantage.

12. — 12 —
By the way, when most foreign companies-manu- “And you’ve got different ones, have you?” would
factures moved their production plants to Russian be the best one to characterize the spirit of the
production sites, people noticed that “the quality second half of the 90s of the XX century in Russia.
decreased” and long after that opposed the original
German Schauma to the Russian Shauma, and “native”
French Danone to the Russian Danone. By 2008 this ETERNAL MEMORY...
differentiation had almost disappeared. BUT SOMETIMES
THEY COME BACK
And, finally, imported products were new to us.
We had only heard that there could be more than
500 sorts of cheese. Coffee could be of different
kinds. Tea sorts “with an elephant” or No. 36 were
not the only sorts of tea. And M&M’s billboard that
appeared in the streets of Moscow was saying that
“This chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your After the crisis of 1998, people that just started get-
hands”. It meant that chocolate could be different, ting used to good products had to forget forever or
too. The well-read Russians immediately recalled for quite a long time several brands to which they had
the relevant citation from Michael Bulgakov’s attached and with which they fell in love.
“Master and Margarita”: “What kind of cigarettes
do you prefer? – Voland asked Ivanushka Bezdom- Companies-manufacturers had to reconsider their
niy. – And you’ve got different ones, have you? – portfolios and remove the brands which were too ex-
the poet answered him spitefully.” This phrase – pensive to support the necessary sales volume.

13. — 13 —
Thus, the OMO laundry powder capable of recognizing THERE WERE NO CREDITS
and removing all sorts of stains, Sunlight dishwash- B U T T H E R E W E R E S AV I N G S
ing liquid, Organics shampoos, and all Neutralia range
from Garnier left the Russian market. The Dove and Cif
brands also left but came back after several years.
In 1998 we did not know the joys and sorrows of
buying something on credit. At that time, we only
heard the stories of those who knew how people lived
on credit in the West. However, Russian people had
some money. And they were saving money to buy
expensive things. To buy a car. To buy a wahsing ma-
chine. Especially an automatic one. They were saving
money to buy an imported electric iron. Even to buy
an electric kettle or toaster. And some people already
started saving money to buy an apartment.

14. — 14 —
The crisis of 1998 deprived many people of their
bank accounts. And the money they had in their mon-
eyboxes at home could have been enough to buy a
desired vacuum cleaner before the 16th of August,
but was enough to buy only a forth of this vacuum
cleaner on the 17th of August.
Those people who kept money at home and in dol-
lars, not in roubles, were lucky. However, the people
ran out of these dollars quite quickly – the life be- VSE V BANKE
came too expensive. (EVERYTHING IS IN THE
BANK / GLASS JAR)
N ATA L I A P L U K H I N A ’ S C O M M E N T S
Dept also existed at that time. People borrowed money (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF QUALITEL
from each other. There were no consumer credits. DATA S E R V I C E S ) :
Besides, if people borrowed money in roubles, they
paid the debt back in roubles according to the existing A scene just after the crisis: an employee of
exchange rate. Actually, people tried to lend money in the Real Estate Agency has just come to the
dollars… And then the dollar became four times more office after having been on vacation. An hour
expensive. Many friendly relationships were destroyed. has passed: there are only her and a secretary
Even today many people say that they haven’t been in the office. Another hour has passed: there
lending money after 1998. And if they lend money, are only her and the secretary in the office.
they realize that they might never get it back. Several more hours have passed – finally, the

15. — 15 —
employee asks the secretary: Those people who, as that employee in the story,
— Where is everybody, anyway? had just came from vacation, just bought a car or
The secretary answers: renovated their apartments – and had luckily spent
— Well, everybody is at the banks, they rushed their savings before the crisis observed that wave
to withdraw their money, as the dollar is grow- of losses. How was it avoidable not to come to the
ing; by the way, why don’t you go? conclusion that it was not just silly but very silly
— Well, my husband and I spent our last 600 to keep and save?
dollars on vacation – so I have no problem now.
In general, if you remember, there were no con-
During those dynamic days many people seemed to sumer credits before the crisis of 1998 – however,
have only two vital tasks: to withdraw their de- saving money and getting interests on deposits
posits and somehow exchange them for dollars. were in fashion. At the rate of inflation of 10-12%,
People who had money sorrowfully observed that there were banks – and a lot of banks! – which
the bank’s exchange rate was 9 roubles per dollar, offered the annual interest of 15-17%. Deposits
while in the streets it was already 12 rouble per were very popular. People with the income of 100
dollar, that another bank just stopped putting dollars per month managed to keep some money,
money in its ATM machines, and that yet another deposit it in a bank to get interest – and to save
one refused to return to its clients their savings money for large purchases! But who remembers it
… it was impossible to get your salary by using a today? And how can we remember it, if after 1998
bank card – and bank card owners, who had been everything changed to its opposite? All these sto-
considered very advanced and modern before this ries about lost deposits and deposits that were
moment, were suddenly transformed into unhappy, returned to their owners a year after the cri-
hopeless and lost people… sis according to the exchange rate of 9 roubles

16. — 16 —
per dollar (when the dollar already cost about VIVA VFM! Dosia brand
thirty roubles) damped down and even destroyed put a slogan on the mar-
for a long time people’s desire to give their money ket: “Why pay more if you
to somebody else’s malicious hands. The pendulum don’t see the difference?”
had swung to the opposite side – and the credit A “piggy bank” – analogue
bacchanalia began. to rolling coins, appeared
in the laundry powder
commercial in the lower
part of the screen. The
W H AT D I D C O M PA N I E S D O ? number of people who
bought Dosia for the first time was quite high. Many
of them, however, did not only see the difference but
irrevocably damaged their clothes, especially when
these clothes were made of delicate or synthetic tis-
sues. Those never made a repeat purchase. Although
it was 10 years ago, everybody still remembers Dosia
slogan, as a benchmark in the “value for money” cat-
LOW PRICE. Low price communication was the very egory. Moreover, “Why pay more if you don’t see the
first and anticipated reaction of the market at drasti- difference?” became an informal explanation of the
cally changed living conditions in the country. TV com- marketing term VFM.
mercials started to show rolling coins, these coins were
used to build pyramids, and commercial actors winked IT’S BETTER TO HAVE LESS BUT OF BETTER QUAL-
and rubbed three fingers, hinting at a low price. ITY! What did quite expensive and quality brands

17. — 17 —
have to do? To cheapen the recipes and packaging in Fairy. However, people
order to remain available to buyers to some extent? got a clear understand-
Some brands decided to go this way. But there were ing what they paid their
others. And, as it turned out 10 years after, we all money for.
still remember the Fairy commercial where a woman It is curious that a year
met a friend of hers in a shop who had a Fairy bottle after that, researching
in her basket (it is curious that the bottle was lying the lifestyle of extremely low income consumers (who
there alone - there was nothing else in the basket). had amounted to half of the country’s population by
The woman was puzzled: “Why are you buying such this time), we saw bottles of Fairy in their delapidated
an expensive dishwashing liquid? I will buy two bot- kitchens which desperately needed renovation. And
tles of cheaper liquid for the same price!” Then the people explained their choice quite convincingly: yes,
commercial showed that the woman who had bought it’s expensive, but the price is justified.
Fairy was still washing her dishes with it, but the
other woman, who had bought two bottles of cheap Domestos tried to follow the
dishwashing liquid, had already run out of both same strategy. This brand
bottles. So, the key point was the high efficiency and really had a hard time.
the economizing effect of Fairy: it’s better to have less While Fairy, if we can say so,
but of better quality! And if you use your brain while launched the whole category
shopping, then buy Fairy. of dishwashing liquids in the
Russian market (do you re-
Later commercials demonstrated to housewives the member what had you used
whole Great Chinese Walls of dishes which could be to wash dishes before Procter
washed with “one drop”, pardon, with one bottle of & Gamble launched Fairy?)

18. — 18 —
and offered unquestionable benefits, Domestos had safe, and perhaps Domestos was expensive, but it
always had a very familiar and extremely cheap com- was a very effective product. And it was so efficient
petitor Belizna (Whiteness). that if you use it in a smart way, then it turns out
What was emphasized in the communication? that it is not so outrageously expensive because it
Efficiency and economizing effect. A new aspect ap- lasts for a long time.
peared in the description of the product. The com-
mercials started saying “new thick Domestos”. Cheap CHEAPER RECIPES AND PACKAGES: FOR AND
liquid pours out of a bottle too quickly and one needs AGAINST. Having faced the problem of dramatically
a lot of it, while Domestos is pouring out slowly due increased prices, many brands faced the dilemma: to
to its very thick consistency. And that’s why it is so ef- make the product cheaper to keep it affordable or to
ficient (“It kills all known germs”) and a smarter and keep the previous level of quality and perception but
savvier choice (it will last for a long time). to lose sales. There were brands which followed each
Unilever performed tests in the open markets of the two ways.
where its employees visually demonstrated that
thick Domestos was slowly and viscously pouring Thus, Mayskiy tea brand
out of a bottle. That’s why one bottle was enough decided to preserve the
for a long time. And the housewife who uses her previous level of quality.
brain while shopping would make the right choice. And it launched Lisma
In the same 1999, within the framework of the same brand for the mass
research of life style of people with low income, we market. The quality and
saw that if there was a child in a family, the fam- package design of Lisma
ily bought Domestos: they wanted their home to be were inferior to those
of Mayskiy. However,

19. — 19 —
when people’s income rose, they returned to Mayskiy kept sighing when they were recollecting the old,
whose quality they had not doubted all this time. pre-crisis Timotei…
By 1998, Timotei shampoo brand The decision not to use cheap recipes while keep-
was manufactured in Europe. The ing low prices was no less wise. Exactly due to this
crisis of 1998 coincided with the decision the Baltica brand (BBH) has won the beer
transfer of the production site market, by having gained people’s confidence, when,
to Russia, to Severnoe Siyanie during the first months of the crisis, the volume of im-
(Northern Lights) factory. Trying ported beer which was sold in Russia fell to 1%. Peo-
to make the product as affordable ple were searching for support – and they found it in
as possible, the company-manu- newly-born Russian brands. The sincere Stariy Melnik
facturer decided to significantly (Old Miller) (Efes) and the flawless Russkiy Standard
reduce the cost of the formula and of the packag- (Russian Standard) appeared in the market in exactly
ing. As a consequence, after a while people saw an the same period.
absolutely different Timotei. This brand is still very
successful and is one of leading brands in the Rus-
sian market, but people are not as happy with it as
they were before. The perception of the brand moved
from almost premium to nearly value for money one.
With time people got used to this new Timotei and
the brand acquired its loyal consumers, but long
after the crisis the respondents in the focus-groups

20. — 20 —
WE ARE INEXPENSIVE BUT EXTREMELY EFFEC- that MYTH avoided making the focus on communi-
TIVE! At the height of the crisis, in 1999, a new cating low price. It continued selling its advantages.
MYTH for automatic washing machines was
launched. Nowadays most people have automatic By the way, the same motive was enhanced in the
washing machines at home. Powder detergents for next Myth commercial. An envious neighbour liter-
automatic machines dominate over detergents for ally put her nose in a keyhole and muttered: “They
hand-wash. In 1998 hand-wash or activator-type must be doing their laundry with expensive pow-
machines were prevailing, and powders for automatic der!”, as she could smell Myth’s freshness even
laundry machines were significantly more expensive. through the keyhole.
Myth started communicating its multi-functionality in
1996: “Myth-Universal saves the capital”. It meant that MARS ANTI-CRISIS
the product was good for everything: laundry, bath-tub FINT (RUSE)
cleaning and floor washing. And Myth always said that
it was not related to expensive powders. During the first years of
the crisis the brands which
So, in the time when looking for cheaper prices be- were not obsessed with their
came the key need of the people, MYTH airs a com- lower prices but continued
mercial which in the first turn says about the product to clearly communicate their
advantages and at the very end introduces coins that own advantages and emphasized the value in the
roll out in the screen, saying that in addition it is not “value for money” ratio were popular among consum-
expensive. However, the most important thing was ers. Rondo brand acted in this way, “making commu-
nication easier with the help of fresh breath ”

21. — 21 —
The launch of Fint brand was an interesting tactic deci- public job. And despite any financial difficulties and a
sion. Fint was unbelievably successful among teenag- small salary it was very important to her to look good
ers. The product was cheap and absolutely “crazy” at and neat every day. She said that she could not afford
the same time: wild, unusual colour combinations and to buy expensive clothes for herself on a regular basis
excellently targeted communication, including the in- and for this reason it was important to her to keep the
teractivity which was totally clothes she already had in a good condition. She had
innovative at that time. tried to save some money and to wash her blouses with
All this led to the success inexpensive detergents. However, she had to soak, rub,
and, probably, would have and wash the blouses for several times. Finally she had
led to further success, if the company did not make a realized that she was simply damaging her clothes. But
decision to stop the product production. if she used Ariel, it would keep the clothes in a good
condition longer, as Ariel was capable of removing
WE ARE NOT THAT RICH TO AFFORD TO BUY any dirt at one wash. The commercial ended with the
CHEAP THINGS! The most expensive brands had the phrase: “It’s possible to look decent and preserve dig-
hardest time. The majority of their consumers lost not nity even in our times”.
only the capacity but also the motivation to buy their
products. Ariel communication stood out against the This communication proved to be brilliantly targeted!
background of general depression. The first consumer researches carried out in 1999
already showed the change in consumers’ attitude to-
An absolutely ordinary woman appeared on the screen. wards shopping and consumption. Many people began
It could have been your neighbour, mother, or friend. brushing their teeth with such a brand as Blend-a-med
She said that she was a teacher. Or a person who had a only once a week – for the purposes of treatment and

22. — 22 —
prevention, and started buying the cheaper local Zhem- It is the sale of products and goods by single piece that
chug (Pearls) which they had looked at with contempt became the economy pack of 1998. Today it is difficult
before. The attitude towards laundry also changed in to believe that Always pads, cigarettes, No-Shpa, and
the same way. People started to use expensive deter- Lipton tea bags were sold by single piece / by single
gents to wash really expensive clothes only and buy pad/ by single tea-bag during the first after-crisis
cheaper local brands that they had tried to ignore be- years. Pet food was sold and is still being sold in bulk.
fore the crisis to wash cheaper clothes. By the way, it deserves mention that people were will-
ing to save money by depriving themselves of certain
WHAT IS AN ECONOMY PACK OF 1998? Many foreign products but tried to do everything they could in order
companies considered launching economy packs. The not to save money on their children or pets.
more so because the research showed that people had
leant very quickly how to make complex calculations In addition, the crisis of 1998 gave birth to such a
and to figure out the price per product item to clearly packing format as “sachets”. Detergents, home care
understand for what they paid and how they could save products, shampoo and coffee were sold in sachets.
money. However, even the very concept of a 2-3 kilo- And such sachets were not meant to be samples for
gram packs of detergents proved to be totally irrelevant trial purchase. They were meant to give the possibil-
to people. The explanation was very simple: people ity to buy the favourite brand at an affordable price.
clearly saw how much they could save but were not able Because people simply did not have enough money
to physically subtract the sum of money that equalled to buy the ordinary pack.
the purchase of a 2-3 kilo pack form their family bud-
get. Moreover, if the consumer did not have a car, it was
physically hard to carry such a pack to his/her home.

23. — 23 —
TO UNITE DIFFERENT BENEFITS IN ONE? Well, when Moreover, when 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 product concepts were
everything becomes so expensive, the 2-in-1 or 3-in- tested on focus-groups, people looked with caution at
1 products might seem a proper solution. However, it such product innovations. Well, it could be good, but how
was not so in 1998. The point is that the very concept will it work? For example, in 1999, the respondents in
of 2-in-1 products, not to mention 3-in-1, was very in- the groups failed to find the concept of a 2-in-1 detergent
novative and unusual in the Russian market in 1998. credible or realistic enough. People just did not think that
Actually, the only brand that substantially occupied this such products were able to provide any tangible benefit
part of the market was Vidal Sassoon Wash & Go manu- in the conditions of the crisis of 1998.
factured by Procter & Gamble. The commercial phrase
“shampoo and conditioner in one bottle” immediately
spread among people. For example, when in the series DO NOT LOOK
“Streets of broken light lamps” police officer Larin, who AT L O C A L B R A N D S
was investigating the case of clopheline sellers, looked WITH NEGLECT…
through an advertising newspaper that contained invi-
tations to make acquaintances, he found offers to sell
clopheline on the same page. “Well, there are both cli-
ents and clopheline here… Just on the same page. In
other words, shampoo and conditioner in one bottle”.
However, besides Vidal Sassoon shampoo-conditioner
no other 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 products had appeared in the The crisis of 1998 made both consumers and foreign
Russian market by that time. companies totally review their attitude towards local
(Russian) products and brands. Before August 1998,

24. — 24 —
brand-managers did not even think of local products yanki (Russian women), Korovki (Little cows) and Che-
and brands as of competitors. They did not even in- burashki provoked either no emotions or totally nega-
clude them in appropriate cells in brand pyramids, tive emotions as they personified that “Soviet life style”
brand keys or brand ladders. People, who finally got which everybody was so eager to forget.
the possibility to buy good-quality imported goods,
also did not show any interest in Russian products.
Moreover, they wanted to forget these products for The crisis of 1998 introduced significant changes into
good and never use them again. But life realities vio- this perception mode:
lated these intentions. First, many people simply lost the financial capacity to
I remember the conversation I had with a female em- buy imported goods and products. This purely financial
ployee of a research agency who had to change her job change was followed by the psychological one: it was
due to the crisis and, as a consequence, had to move from hard for people to admit their financial impotence. They
a Western-type office to some Soviet-type miserable prem- needed some justification. Instead of saying that they
ises which, nevertheless, were also called an office: “I have were not able to buy certain product any longer, many
spent half of my life to make sure that there will be no started saying: “Well, I don’t really need it!” It was the
sauerkraut soup smell, dirty lobby and cutlets with buck- second year of the crisis that proved to be the maximum
wheat in my life. And now all this has come back.” black PR in the local media and galloping spread of ru-
Actually, before the crisis of 1998 the gap between the mours that Rama, for instance, was actually made of oil,
perception and appearance of western goods and lo- imported juices and yoghurts contained a lot of preserva-
cal ones was huge. Moreover, at that time even the very tives and artificial colorants, imported detergents could
names of western brands sounded like music, while the cause permanent allergy, etc.
localXozyayushki (Housewives), Zor’ki (Dawns), Rossi-

25. — 25 —
Second, local manufacturers used this opportunity to and convenient plastic pack,
improve the quality, appearance and communication of with a foreign name, and,
their products and brands. The gap between local and most importantly, cheaper
imported products was rapidly reducing. than creamery butter! It is cu-
rious that people very quickly
Third, the massive PR campaign “Buy Russian goods. got used to the name “Rama”
Support local manufacturers!” also yielded results and that was quite unusual for
made a positive impact on the image of local products Russian ears (“rama” in Russian means “frame”). And
and brands. they seemed pretty much happy with the fact that liter-
ally Rama was margarine. They did not even refer to a
particular product type when buying the brand. They
BREAD AND RAMA. just called it Rama.
C R E AT E D F O R E A C H O T H E R
The crisis of 1998 made the prices for local cream-
Probably, the brightest example that can show how the ery butter and Rama almost equal. Many people
crisis of 1998 changed people’s attitude towards the cat- lost the capacity to buy Rama. The defensive justi-
egory in general and towards the foreign brand in par- fication “I don’t really need it!” was switched on:
ticular is the example of Rama. “Bread and Rama. Cre- people explained their inability to buy Rama by
ated for each other!” – this was the key motive of the the absence of a desire to buy margarine, which in
communication of this brand. When Rama margarine most Soviet people’s minds was strictly associated
appeared in the Russian market at the very beginning of with misery and poverty. There had never been a
the hungry 90s, people were absolutely happy with it: tradition to eat bread with margarine in Russia.
tasty, of good quality, easy to spread on bread, in a nice And the category of spreads just did not exist in

26. — 26 —
Russia. Spreading margarine on bread was tradi- YEAR OF BIRTH –
tionally recalled and perceived as a sign of extreme AFTER 1998
poverty. We, the Russians, always ate bread with
And yet, this is the crisis of 1998 which we should
creamery butter. The category of soft butter did
thank for the birth of such products and brands as:
not exist at that time, although some local manu-
facturers used this name for their margarines (for
instance, Maslo Mygkoe Derevenskoe (Soft vil-
lage butter) and Smolenka. Unilever, the owner of
Rama brand, did not consider it possible to violate
the law and continued to put the name “marga-
rine” on the pack. And despite all the efforts that
were taken to change people’s attitude towards
the brand, Rama was not able to recover from the
strike of 1998. Rama Vitality that you see on the
shop shelves today is a product with different posi-
tioning and a different target audience. The word
“Rama” was even removed from such product as
Cr me Bon Jour to avoid the possible associations
with Rama margarine.

27. — 27 —
L O O K AT M E The manufacturers also started paying closer atten-
AND DO AS I DO… tion to purely Russian tastes and preferences. Thus,
Beseda brand (Unilever) launched variants with typi-
Foreign companies-manu- cally Russian tea additives: mint, black currants, wild
facturers started to create strawberry, raspberry, and melissa.
Russian names for their
brands. If before the crisis
of 1998 the group of Rus-
sian names of “non-Russian
origin” had included only the Yubileynoe biscuits
(nobody had any slightest idea that Bolshevik fac-
tory already belonged to Danone), Beseda tea and
Tsveti Rossii soap (Unilever), and Tolstyak pro- Trying to keep or get back their consumers, the
duced by Sun Interbew, then after the crisis the foreign manufacturers started paying more atten-
foreign companies started paying special atten- tion to the communication of the natural content of
tion to the fact that the Russian consumer should their products. Because at that time Russian people
perceive the new brands as “native, ours”. Rossia had, and they still have, the opinion that imported
(Russia) and Savinov from Nestle, Rastishka from products are “saturated” with chemical substances,
Danone, Pishka from Unilever and Stariy Melnik in contrast to local ones. It is curious that people
from Efes appeared in the market. This tendency themselves explained that in the following way: “Our
was strengthening and developing. chemical production is underdeveloped, the facto-
ries are in ruins. That’s why our products contain less

28. — 28 —
chemical substances. Thus, we have to thank our pov- ADDITIONAL TENDENCIES
erty for the higher natural content of our products.” OF THOSE YEARS
N ATA L I A K A C H A Z H K I N A ’ S
COMMENT (HEAD OF THE MARKETING
One of the most widely spread “fears” was a list of C O N S U LT I N G D I R E C T I O N ,
food additives under the letter E. Nobody knew for Q UA L I T E L DATA S E R V I C E S ) :
sure what E470 or E471 meant but the unanimous
public opinion was that “the less E, the better”. Law on the Russification of packages. The mys-
ticism of import gradually went away; the evi-
In 1999 Nestle was the first company that removed dent boundaries between import and Russian
its “E” from the list of ingredients on ice-cream packs. packing materials disappeared. Fewer incidents
E412 was replaced with “guar gum”, E410 was re- occurred, for example, people stopped trying
placed with “locust tree gum”, etc. This was a very to wash their hair with epilator, as the only
clever move. The list “Contents” stopped to look word they could understand on the epilator
frightening, and nobody really paid close attention to packing was “hair”.
the exact enumeration of ingredients. Mass industry of counterfeits and mimicry.
“Martin san”, for example, together with Mar-
tini, Adibas, etc. Many of them were welcomed by
consumers as they were cheaper equivalents. But
there were clever entrepreneurs who success-
fully registered the brand name “Ordinary” for
a detergent, since in many TVCs the benefits of a
detergent were demonstrated in comparison to
the so-called “ordinary” detergent.

29. — 29 —
Short-term but noticeable mixture of prices. appeared at that time due to the possibility to
A tin of red caviar cost as much as sausage, based reduce costs.
on the number of sandwiches that one could made
E L I Z A B E T H L AV I N S K AYA ’ S C O M M E N T
of it, while expensive cosmetics, which were sold in (SENIOR MANAGER OF THE QUALITY
shops at old prices, suddenly became available, as R E S E A R C H D E PA R T M E N T , Q UA L I T E L
DATA S E R V I C E S ) :
the cheaper ones became slightly cheaper.
The number of uses (in case of detergents,
In 1998 it was FMCG that were primarily touched
for example) and concentration of healthy
by the crisis. And it really was perceived as a catas-
substances became new factors helping people
trophe, the end of life. I remember that my mother
define what was too expensive – people started
and I had gone to the Crimea, I called my husband
buying thicker juices and milk products. Vital-
from there and he told me: “Liza, a Marlboro pack
inia non-fat yogurts disappeared quickly.
is 25 roubles!” (it was 6 before, as the dollar was
A new format of individual entrepreneur-
equal to 6 roubles, and became equal to 25 rou-
ship such as hair cutting or manicure at home
bles). And a smoker could not at once afford to
(as it was too expensive at hairdressing salons);
buy these cigarettes and had to buy Prima or some-
people started to “give rides for money” more
thing as “nice” as it. However, when I came back
actively and purposefully; video rental of-
to Moscow, I saw, for example, such a situation:
fices enlarged (it was too expensive even to buy
a female friend of mine who had recently bought
non-licensed films for one time); the Internet-
an apartment was slowly furnishing it with great
sale that let entrepreneurs save a great deal
pleasure and taste at “old prices”. That is, prices
of money on office overheads was gradually
for goods that were not fast moving but slow mov-
increasing; that is, many services which are
ing were getting more expensive not at once but
now estimated highly for their convenience

30. — 30 —
gradually, and, in general, those people who had could earn at least 300 dollars (if they had earned
dollars could afford to buy them. It was really 500 dollars before), as after the crisis 300 dollars
important to spend the money as quickly as pos- was considered a very good salary.
sible but everybody (this is my opinion) was trying The consumption structure changed. And
to spend them not on FMCG but on slow moving such an important consumption element as show-
goods, as the slow moving ones were sold at “old off also changed. It was especially evident in re-
prices” and, for all that, furniture would last gions. If at the beginning of the 90s people had
longer than tooth paste. not thrown away plastic Fanta bottles, then it was
Salary reduction and transformation in rou- important before the crisis to have a nice pack of
bles. I think that before the crisis a lot of people, juice on the table and let your guests know that
at least in Moscow, were getting their salary in it was expensive juice. After the crisis of 1998 it
dollars put in envelopes. The situation changed at was not important anymore what was put on the
once during the crisis. Employers said something table (by the way, hospitality always was part of
like: “We will pay you, but not in dollars - in rou- the Russian tradition, but I think that after 1998
bles and according to the old exchange rate.” That it started disappearing gradually), but it was im-
is, the salary was immediately turned into nothing. portant on what kind of table you set up, in what
For example, if before the crisis an employee’s sala- kind of apartment (house) and whether your apart-
ry was 500 dollars per month, then after the crisis ment was renovated in “the European style”. People
his/her salary was only 100 dollars (multiply the started measuring each other’s wealth not by ciga-
before-crisis salary by 6 and divide it by 30). Many rettes and alcohol but by cars, apartment, Europe-
people quit such jobs by voluntarily terminating an renovations, and, in extremis, by mobile phones.
their contracts, although nobody wanted to fire
them, and tried to find some positions where they

31. — 31 —
OBVIOUS
1 9 9 8 VS 2 0 0 8 AND EXTRAORDINARY
Larisa Khabibulina, Trend Watcher of Leo Burnett Moscow,
and Natalia Fedorkova, Senior Planner of Leo Burnett Moscow AT T H E S A M E T I M E
S TA B I L I T Y , P R O S P E R I T Y
A N D PAT R I O T I S M
A lot of things have happened since the rouble was
devaluated. First of all, the country’s political climate
changed: a strong leader that nobody was ashamed
of appeared in the country. And, unlike other leaders,
this leader is associated in people’s mind with stabil-
ity. Indeed, the majority of people had improved their
well-being and started to believe in their good future
and in the country’s strength during the years of Mr.
Putin’s presidency.
Mr. Putin’s main achievements are the country’s eco-
nomic growth (21% of respondents in 2008) and the
improvement of the life style, increase in salaries and
pensions (16% of respondents).
Source: Levada-Center, www.levada.ru
The years of 2000-2008 have become the time of new
consumerism; people received the possibility to ac-

32. — 32 —
quire goods without rigorous economizing or depri- According to the research results, 80% of the contempo-
vations. rary young generation does not remember what exactly
Confidence in the future has become the key was going on in August 1998. Only every firth Russian at
motive of the 2000s. the age of 18-25 years (19%) could say something about it.
Source: Public Opinion Foundation, www.fom.ru
The numbers confirm the satisfaction of the Russians:
in March 2008 60% of respondents thought that the We should not forget that during the last years the
country was moving in the right direction (while in dollar stopped growing and started slowly falling.
2000 only 25% of respondents thought so) and 51% of All salaries were transformed into roubles and in
respondents said that they felt confident in the future people’s mind our national currency started playing
(compared to 36% in 2004). an important role. In other ways, the situation has
Source: Levada-Center become so favorable that many do not even believe in
the very possibility of a crisis. Even a year ago, when
A new generation has appeared in the country during the crisis started in the USA, many Russians felt rath-
these ten years. This generation is often referred to as er happy than upset. The thought that “everything is
“Putin’s generation” – the youth that does not know the all right in our country” and only “they” have a crisis
hard times and is used to the fact that everything goes was dominating people’s minds even this autumn:
well in our country. This generation takes some interest — The crisis is in America, everything is stable in our
in politics and is loyal to Putin (for this reason differ- country.
ent youth movements appeared, such as Nashi (Ours) — I support the opinion that there is no crisis. They say:
or Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard), and the youth the last crisis made the poor poorer, while this crisis is
forum is hold at Seliger Lake). making the rich poorer. However, the rich comprise 3% of
the country’s population. How can apply the word “crisis”

33. — 33 —
to something that that touches only 3% of the population? Besides, the number of Muscovites who are fully satisfied
http://nokiayesdaewoo.livejournal.com with their life style has increased: 23% of respondents
said so in 2000 and 43% in 2007.
“My acquaintances (they are both 37 years old) optimisti- Source: Levada-Center.
cally think that there is no crisis and the very possibility of
a crisis is a vey much unlikely thing. They do not have any
arguments except: “It cannot happen because it cannot ever IMPORTED VS. DOMESTIC
happen in any way”. That’s why they’ve started repairing
their apartment and conceived another child with no doubt.”
Anna Malikina,
Senior Planner of Rodnaya Rech (Mother Tongue)
The stability in the country, in its turn, has induced a
new wave of patriotism: Putin’s fan-clubs, fashion for Before the crisis of 1998 people thought that import-
everything that is Russian and the pride for Russia – ed goods and foreign brands were better than local
all this has been uniting people for the last two years. ones. Today it is not that easy to distinguish between
And there is a number of confirmations of that: foreign and local brands: the majority of products are
Thus, as early as in 2006 81% of Russians said that if they manufactured in Russia. Moreover, western brands
had been given the possibility to choose, they would have have lost their original appeal: due to the crisis of
preferred to be born in Russia. 1998, licensing and simply the fact that people have
Source: Russian Public Opinion Research Center tried them and finally “have had enough”. In some
http://wciom.ru. categories, for example, in the food category, “our”
products are rated higher than the foreign ones.

34. — 34 —
my mother kept making stores of everything she could
NEW CONSUMERS
buy; even today she has the same habit of storing. Al-
though now people have realized that products are
available and that there is no need to stand in lines, you
can go to a shop next door and buy anything without
queuing up for it . And salespeople have become so po-
lite. It was not long ago when they just yelled: “One kilo
per person only!”, and were so rude! But now they bow
and smile: “Would you be so kind to raise you foot, I will
try this shoe on your foot”. Now people buy goods when
they need them and do not make reserves. Of course,
The main difference between 2008 and 1998 is that to-
some do, but not that much.”
day we have an absolutely different consumer. The cul-
Besides, a lot of discount programs and loyalty pro-
ture of consumption has undergone significant changes.
grams appeared in the market. A great number of
Thus, consumers have become more choosy and
consumer’s cards also appeared. Now if a company
harder to please. Salespeople have become more
has no program for its regular consumers, it is con-
consumer-oriented. Besides, the sphere of customer
sidered a little strange. Because now it is a norm. An
service has become more important. The better cus-
average consumer has so many cards in his/her wal-
tomer service – the easier to attract and keep the con-
let/purse that people have started buying business
sumer. This change is well illustrated with the quote
cards wallets to keep these cards. And some people
made by our change-chaser Maria:
have started taking only those cards which will be
“At the earlier time we were buying everything we could,
necessary: when they know for sure that they will go
even when the situation became stable. After that crisis
to a certain shop in near future.

35. — 35 —
There is yet another important issue to be men- sumers to make weighed purchase decisions and
tioned. The number of glossy magazines in the 2000s thoroughly select purchase places according to the
significantly exceeds that of the 90s. Usually these rational or status related needs.
magazines reflect consumer behaviour models (each
magazine always has subsections “fashionable” and
“actual” which describe the most notable things to BANKING SERVICES
purchase and to upgrade your status). In order to
find out what novelties have been put on the market,
sometimes it is enough to open such a magazine and
take a look at advertising pages. And each glossy has
quite a number of these pages. The last pages always
contain the addresses of the shops where you can buy
things described in the glossy you are reading. Some
magazines directly show the prices for certain things
(Glamour magazine, for example).
Besides magazines, there is Internet that provides The main difference between the situation of 1998 and
actual (and more objective) information on goods the current situation is that by today a huge number of
and services. Internet gives you the possibility to people have become consumers of banking services.
find detailed descriptions of goods, make com- Before 1998 the majority of people tried to keep away
parisons and figure out best prices (as in Yandex. from banks and did not practise taking bank loans as
Market, for example). All these services enable con- actively as they have been doing for the last 2-3 years.
The crisis of 2008 primarily touched the banking

36. — 36 —
sphere. This is the reason why the majority of people of course, the very loss of the possibility to buy “here
cannot not help being worried and nervous. A certain and now” is perceived as “deprivation”.
number of people took the decision to turn to bank Besides, now we have a whole generation that
services themselves. It was their personal voluntary hardly remembers what was happening in 1998 and
choice and decision. They opened a bank account, is used to the life on credit, sometimes without even
took a loan or had a credit card issued in their name. thinking of the possible consequences.
But there are people that got involved into banking A good illustration of what has been going on with
services without their personal will – the companies consumer credits for the last years is an article in the
they work for transferred their salaries into bank ac- December issue of Esquire which contained several real
counts. During the years of “stability” and “prosperity” (and quite typical) stories of those who suffered first:
the overwhelming majority of these people have suc- some people with small salaries took credits for mobile
cessfully acquired only one single skill: namely, with- phones, others – for a cherished plasma TV set. It is
drawing cash from ATM machines. worth mention that the majority of characters described
People have acquired the taste for life on credit in the article are not even 30 years old.
for the last several years. This concerns not only mort- Before 1998 people actively borrowed money from
gage, but also consumer credits, purchase of a new each other. However, after the crisis people experi-
foreign car or the most recent model of a mobile phone enced trouble paying their debt back, as the size of
on credit. Thus, if in the previous period of time the debt significantly increased (as a rule, the money was
key reason for worry was the growth of prices, now borrowed in dollars). A lot of friendly relationships
people are more worried about both the deposits and were destroyed after 1998. And with the appearance of
the possible increase in rates for consumer and auto- the possibility to buy in credit people almost stopped
mobile credits, to say nothing of mortgage rates. And, borrowing money from each other (as they remember
their sad experience).

37. — 37 —
afford really expensive things. For comparison: in May
W E H AV E G A I N E D
2001 the ratio of respondents was different: 28% and
SOME WEIGHT
6%, respectively.
Source: Levada-Center
Moreover, according to MASMI’s research, in spring
2008 85% of respondents had a mobile phone,
70% — a personal computer, 57% — a DVD player,
56% — a digit camera, 49% — a mp3-player, 35% —
a plasma TV model, 28% — a video camera, and
20% — a home cinema.
www.onlinemonitor.ru
We were much poorer in 1998. By today people have
somehow purchased the necessary clothes, footwear
and home appliances, i.e., they have accumulated
WE’VE ACQUIRED
some material stock which will sustain them for a
THE EXPERIENCE
certain period of time.
O F S U R V I VA L
People who survived the crisis of 1998 feel them-
Thus, in April 2008 43% respondents said that they had
selves a little bit more trained and experienced in
enough money for food and clothes but that it would
surviving: “we’ve done it before” and “we will survive
be difficult for them to buy durables, and 15% said that
again somehow”.
they had enough money to buy durables but could not

38. — 38 —
BUT WE’VE KIND WE’VE CHANGED OUR
OF LOST IT MEDIA PREFERENCES
“In 1998 people proved to be trained to quickly
adapt to hardships. They still remembered “strate-
gies for survival by living from hand to mouth” that
we all practised during the transitional period of late
80-s – early 90-s. Ten “fat” years have made people
too much relaxed.”
Sergey Sheykhetov, Research Director, Ipsos Russia
According to the Public Opinion Foundation’s data, to-
day people have really forgotten a little bit how it was in
1998. It is curious that the answers to one and the same
question “Were you or your family negatively affected Earlier people were looking for the truth in newspa-
by the crisis of 1998?” varied from year to year: in 1999 pers and on TV. Now they are looking for it in Inter-
the number of those who believed they were was 78%, net where they find a whole variety of different and
in 2003 – 41%, in 2004 – 37%, and in 2008 – 34%. controversial “thruths
Along with that, according to the results of the re-
search conducted in 2006, 44% of Russians recalled
Internet primarily as a powerful resource for getting
quick and reliable information.
Source: Russian Public Opinion Research Center

39. — 39 —
In 1998 those people who had shares, for ex-
BESIDES:
E L I Z A B E T H L AV I N S K AYA ’ S C O M M E N T ample, of Gazprom (they were very few but I know
(SENIOR MANAGER a couple of them), had a huge win at the end. In
O F Q UA L I T E L DATA S E R V I C E S ) :
the situation of 2008, people who had shares (and
The crisis of 1998 was very obvious and evident for the number of such people is bigger) are now the
the consumer: goods that used to cost 6 roubles only people who are ready to commit suicide, i.e.,
started to cost 30 roubles at once, in just one they are the ones who are indeed affected by the
night. The current crisis is like hepatitis – like a crisis. Of course, it is possible to apply the word
tender invisible killer. Look, oil that cost 120 dol- “consumers” to them (“consumers of shares”), but
lars per a damned barrel just one night falls to 50 they are not “consumers” in the habitual meaning
dollars. Literally, it is a nightmare. But the final of this word.
consumer yet fails to notice any changes. The price
for gas remains the same: 25 roubles. SERGEY SHEYKHETOV’S COMMENT
While the crisis remains intangible for the (RESEARCH DIRECTOR OF QUALITY
R E S E A R C H D E PA R T M E N T , I P S O S R U S S I A ) :
consumer, different media and Internet in the first
turn get flooded by articles saying that “There is
Actually, the comparison of “us” of 1998 with cur-
no crisis, we are being cheated, they want to de-
rent “us” is not totally correct. A new, quite ac-
moralize us and turn the situation to their own
tive generation which is familiar with the crisis
advantage to earn more money”. People do not see
of 1998 by hearsay rather than from its own expe-
the crisis. People do not feel it. The crisis is not
rience came into the historical arena during the
tangible. The less evident the crisis is for people –
after-crisis decade. The coming of this generation
the more scary and frightening it seems.
of the 2000s changed the society as a whole.

40. — 40 —
“People of 1998”, let’s call them so, be over to rush to get involved into something
worked a lot. Actually, all their life was sub- much more exciting and creative. The loss of a
ject to a strict schedule: work, carrier and job or deliberate indolence is not perceived as
status – all efforts and time were put into abnormal anymore. Freelance relaxed lifestyle,
earning money. The crisis came as a shock to for instance photography, painting or something
them but not as a catastrophe. After having creative, which brings little money but gives a
lost their savings and jobs, they immediately lot of free time to plunge into philosophical
started looking for new opportunities to par- meditation, is getting not only widely-spread but
ticipate in the run for big money. Timely re- really fashionable as well.
flections, considerations, self-criticism and The generation of the 2000s proves to be
lamentations were not at all typical for them. much less prepared for the crisis (especially to
Such behaviour was associated with the hated such abrupt and drastic drop in the life level
“Soviet mentality”, and people of 1998 did not that occurred in 1998). They are so used to a re-
like the “Soviet mentality at all. laxed, comfortable lifestyle, that they are just
Ten years have passed, a lot has changed, not capable to drop it instantly. So, if the crisis
and the new generation of young people is not as eventually does cause a dramatic decrease in
obsessed with career and status as the previous living standards, they will have to face the pain
one. Yes, everybody works and wants to achieve of changing their life and starting to work as
more in life, but the strain of passions is differ- hard as their elder brothers did ten years ago.
ent, and there is less excitement in it. The ma- Until then, “the generation of the 2000s” will
jority of “office plankton” does not like their keep to the same lifestyle and to the same con-
jobs; it is hard for them to sit in the office for sumption pattern.
8 hours. They can’t wait for the working day to

41. — 41 —
T R E N D S T H AT E M E R G E D FAST FOOD LIFE
AFTER 1998
After the crisis it became important for people to
have time to do many things: to obtain quick promo-
tion, to earn money, or to achieve other purposes. A
fear of the waste of time and chances to get out of a
difficult situation additionally stimulated people’s
wish to keep the frenzied rhythm of life.
What does “fast food life” mean? It means
fear that you will have no time to do something,
because you already know: anything might happen
and you should reduce your chances for full failure
Our first trend report was written at the end of 2006; as soon as possible.
it was devoted to the trends typical for the society This lifestyle causes the appearance of various
and related mainly to the family. Since then we have trainings, where people can get new skills within a
issued several “Books of Change” and “Bulletins of couple of hours, and a huge number of books for self-
Change”, where we revealed both the new trends and education in a couple of months, weeks and days.
the transformations of existing trends. Let us speak This lifestyle entails a wish to prepare your
about basic trends, by describing changes in Russian child to a competitive struggle from the cradle and
people’s life after 2000. stimulates the offer of different developmental ser-
vices. In recent years, the “forwardness” term and
a large number of shops with different synonyms of
the “clever child” phrase used in their names have

42. — 42 —
become so usual that nobody wonders at the appear- tant services, which could not be imagined during the
ance of “ABC-books from the cradle” of various types. nineties, is a so-called “husband-for-an-hour” service
Generally speaking, the childhood of many people, - a woman could call a man to make any necessary
who were children during that time, was not too repair work in her home.
lucky: their parents tried to spend their own vital It should be noted that, because of the develop-
resources with the maximum efficiency and devoted ment of such services, many women practically stopped
minimum time to their children (though not less to cook, and many men forgot how to use a hammer.
than was considered necessary, according to differ- In addition, the fact that many different gadgets
ent upbringing methods). The situation correlated which made life easier began to appear in the 90s,
with the active growth of a babysitter market and the also can be referred to the fast food life. Only well-off
increased number of different related devices, like people could have cell phones in the 90s, but now we
radio- and video-nurses, allowing parents to be out of can not imagine our life without these gadgets that
home/child’s room for a longer time. become multifunctional and allow their users to fa-
Besides babysitter services, the whole ser- cilitate their life and contacts with other people. This
vices market enlarged, providing different offers like lifestyle also includes different e-shops, which allow
housemaids, concierges, and new taxi services (for people to save time in the course of shopping.
example, car nurses). According to RBC data, the Therefore, by 2008, people have gotten used
number of home staff recruitment agencies in Mos- to delegating some of their everyday duties to other
cow exceeds 300. Many new inconceivable services people, while they were mastering the basics of other
have appeared, for example, a “fast manicure” service disciplines considered more important for their ca-
in supermarkets (so women could improve their looks reer (this is the key reason for such changes!).
practically while shopping). One of the most impor-

43. — 43 —
TA K I N G R O O T S However, it was not clear where they should seek
for these roots: it seemed that the life in the Soviet
Union was miserable (otherwise it would be impos-
sible to understand the reasons of the USSR collapse),
but the new Russia also has nothing inspiring. Thus,
people have found several solutions to this problem.
The first solution allowed people to advert to the
distant past, i.e., to the pre-revolutionary Russia and its
great history and traditions. The country estate life was
regenerated and different merchants’ clubs appeared.
Wooden toys and old good "matreshka" became actual
again (especially taking into account the domination of
The 90s were very hard time in regard to people’s Chinese goods in the toy market), and different Slavic
self-determination: recently we lived in the large So- clubs appeared, where children studied folk crafts.
viet state, and now we are Russians with a raw histo- Other people adverted to the Orthodoxy; today
ry and unstable economics. In fact, the collapse of the believing in God does not mean something strange and
Soviet Union entailed a series of economic reforms shameful. This resulted in the use of the calendar to
and recessions, and life, which just began to go well, choose the name for a child and the appearance of cor-
significantly suffered in 1998. People needed some- responding web forums and uncommon names (for ex-
thing that would help them realize their place in this ample, Tutta Larsen, a well-known television presenter,
new world and find any positive features in their life. named her son Luka, and was not alone who did so).
People wanted to find support and roots. Genealogy-mania also increased, and this was
not surprising, since, firstly, the genealogy is very

44. — 44 —
closely related to an individual’s roots and, secondly, vich i Tugarin Zmei” (Alesha Popovich and Tuga-
some people had extra money to order genealogical rin Dragon)) and pictures (“Kochevnik” (Nomad),
services (these services are very expensive) and oth- “Volkodav”(Wolfhound), etc.).
ers had corresponding resources (for example, web Books of Russian classical authors were re-
databases) to carry out such surveys. published in large numbers. According to the data
Some people felt nostalgia for the Soviet period, of the Russian Book Chamber, after the first half of
which was expressed in the burst of love for Soviet 2008, books written by Dostoevsky were within top
animated cartoons, the appearance of such web re- 20 of the most published editions (18th place for the
sources as 76-82.ru, and the appearance of a new edition and 11th place for the number of published
national symbol - well-known Cheburashka. books). Also, this year the books written by Korney
Another chance to seek for the roots was real- Chukovskiy were declared to be the most published
ized in various social networks. Perhaps, it is not books for children. These books are in the lead of this
necessary to discuss the “Odnoklassniki” and “Vkon- rating for the two last years. It should be noted that
takte” networks once more. Other ways of socializa- the well-known books illustrated by Suteev have also
tion, such as blogging and the appearance of various come to the market for several last years.
network communities, also belong to this group. The same trend was also presented in the fash-
Besides, some changes took place in the field of ion: Simachev’s collections, including caps with ear-
culture. The Russian film industry generated many flaps, are well-known in the whole world, and fancy
hits, including historical pictures, from serials (re- valenki also became very popular.
animated Bondarchuk’s “Tikhiy Don” (Quiet Don), Thus, by 2008 people had gotten supports for
“Doctor Zhivago”, “V kruge pervom” (In the first themselves (though of different levels); they had
circle), etc.) to animated cartoons (“Alesha Popo- been socialized and saved from solitude.