Russian ad industry to learn from SA's best practices

Drobyshevsky was speaking at a round table discussion held on Thursday, 2 November 2006, which was hosted by the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) and centred on the structure of the association, the SA ad industry, self regulation, media research and statistics on ad spend.

"The Russian industry is government-controlled and we are keen to learn from South Africa's self-regulated model. There is no formal organised voice of the advertising industry in our country and agencies view themselves more as rivals than counterparts," Drobyshevsky said.

He said lessons learnt from SA's 35 year old ACA would form part of a report to inform their industry going forward. "The size of the advertising industry in Russia is US$6.5 to US$7 billion, which is only 1% of GDP. There is much room for growth and we believe that by observing how the industry is structured in other emerging markets, can inform our own development," he added.

"We had lively discussions and shared many interesting experiences and differences. We hope that the insight into our industry was helpful and invaluable. We undertake to continue to share information with our Russian counterparts that will be able to assist with the growth of their sector and subsequently that would benefit our economy also," said ACA chief executive Zandile Nzalo. The advertising industry contributes over R22 billion towards South Africa's GDP.

The Russian team also heard how South African advertising agencies operate from FCB's group MD, Godfrey Morley.

The week-long visit is designed to provide the Academy with insights on the SA advertising landscape, the role of media and the sector's contribution towards the economy. The Russians also met the Advertising Standards Authority.