The day before the Global Advertising Summit in Moscow that took place October 9-10 under the support of the Government of Moscow and the oldest advertising trade organization IAA, we talked to the two global managers of IAA — Faris Abouhamad, the World President, and Michael Lee, Managing director. Konstantin Mayor, the owner of the leading Russia’s media company MAER GROUP, that is one of the Summit’s media supporters, also joined our conversation.

We discussed the newest mission of advertising and popular industry misconceptions, talked about IAA’s expectations in Russia and global media trends, as well as the importance of professional marketing and advertising qualifications.

Yota Devices, a private international smartphone manufacturer, and the Russian media company Look At Media have launched a series of state-of-the-art experiments that center around multi-user testing of the company’s latest innovative product— a dual-screen YotaPhone. The idea behind the project is to let potential customers try the key features of YotaPhone without leaving home and going to the brick-and-mortar retail store—a computer connected to the Internet is all they need for the test.

Last month, March 1-2, Sam Stone, Creative Director at London-based Identica, taught a masterclass on visual identity and branding for the Russian designers and managers in Moscow. Popsop sat down with Sam to discuss how local Russian brands can fulfill their potential to become globally known and iconic, and why Russian FMCG brands choose to imitate Western style rather than developing their own.