IM Business Breakfast – How Content, Creativity and Technology are Changing the Media

Independent Media (IM) brought business partners together for its annual business breakfast, held this year at the Omega Rooftop restaurant on April 24. The guests included more than 400 representatives of the largest Russian and foreign companies and advertising agencies.

IM presented its overall achievements as well as the accomplishments of each brand. The event, that adopted the slogan of “We don’t feed them breakfast," began with welcoming remarks by IM CEO Natalia Vesnina. She spoke about the growing audience of digital products (up by 45% this year) and the company’s immediate plans, and then presented the speakers and the creative teams of the various brands.

IM Strategic Development Director Tatiana Abramova spoke next. “Today IM is one of the largest players on the digital market," she said. “We are not just publishers: we are also producers of multimedia content, a high-tech company that uses all of the latest technologies—from AI to data platforms."

Remarks by IM Chief Marketing Officer Olga Bobrova generated considerable interest. Using the company’s data, she explained and showed how rapidly developing technologies have changed people’s day-to-day reality, thinking and demands in recent years. She then clearly demonstrated how IM content has changed as a result, and how it will continue to develop in the future.

Next, the IM brand teams described their most recent developments—multiplatform products, opportunities created by special advertising projects and unique services. Cosmopolitan and its partners Izmeni soznaniye (Change Your Way of Thinking) and the Otkrytiye (Discovery) management company presented a case study of the of Get Rich multimedia project. The brand also announced the upcoming premiere of its own web series, Internship, which will air on the Cosmo.ru site.

Bazaar.ru site Creative Director Dina Silina revealed the details of work with branded content: original ideas and non-standard presentation, as well as how securing the participation of celebrities and young influencers in projects can increase audience involvement. Ms. Silina offered the example of the Black & White Gala Dinner project on Instagram that garnered 1 million views.

The Grazia team spoke about their successful work with micro-bloggers and Domashny Ochag (Good Housekeeping) Editor-in-Chief Natalia Rodikova emphasized the brand’s social role and the question of how modern women formulate their values. Esquire.ru site Editor-in-Chief Anastasia Poletaeva presented the New Rap Headliners and Esquire Apostles projects and explained how the brand speaks to the new generation and finds new compelling personages in a wide variety of fields.

Robb Report shared how it manages to interest a particularly demanding audience. Popular Mechanics focuses on how to explain complex things to readers using accessible language: editors regularly shoot videos of “feedback meetings." The brand also presented a comprehensive project on World War II that has become one of the most highly read on the Popmech.ru site.

The most anticipated speakers were Esquire Editor-in-Chief Sergey Minaev and Harper’s Bazaar Editor-in-Chief Daria Valedeeva. Whereas the brand teams told guests about the practical side of media projects, Mr. Minaev and Ms. Valedeeva spoke about new meanings, the new sincerity and new values.

The business breakfast included a discussion panel with the participation of guest experts from such leading Russian digital companies as Yandex, Rutube, OK and VKontakte. Breakfast guests learned how modern methods for distributing content—social networks and recommendation services—help publishers work more effectively with audiences.

Independent Media CEO Natalia Vesnina:
“We managed to convey to our clients that the shortest route to consumers’ hearts is branded content that is complementary to the values of our advertisers’ brands. Today’s media has long required a comprehensive approach led by knowledge of one’s audience, technology, creativity and, of course, quality content. The great deal of positive feedback we receive from clients proves that we are moving in the right direction. I am certain that we will surprise everyone even more next year."

The Human Element communications agency and the Visionar bureau provided support for the event.