Russia takes green approach to vodka advertising

Alcoholic drink brand names can be found on a wide range of other products as diverse as sweets and shampoos in Russia - many of which do not even exist and are simply created as an advertising vehicle for the brand name.

Not surprisingly, the advertising of alcohol in such a way is banned under Russian law and producers can face fines of more than RUR40,000.

Furthermore, the success of such marketing techniques is yet to be proven, with many companies feeling that the incremental sales growth that can be generated is not enough to offset the risk (or the cost) of being caught.

So drinks producers are increasingly looking for legal (and more cost-effective) ways to spread the awareness of their brands, with one popular choice at the moment being the creation of environmental or other 'socially aware' sponsorship programmes. "The aim is to promote the trademark in a way that does not bring it into conflict with the authorities,"​ said Mihail Dineev, director of the Creativ Analitica advertising agency. "The main way that this is currently being achieved is through the creation of social programmes which carry the names of vodka brands."​.

The first company to go down this route is the Samara Alcoholic Beverage Factory, maker of the Rodnik brand of vodka. Rodnik means 'spring' in Russian, and it was a logical choice for the company to set up a foundation with the aim of checking Russia's numerous natural springs.

The foundation was set up in September 2004, and for the next five years it will carry out a census of Russia's springs, which will all then be registered and protected by the Rodnik foundation.

But this is not a completely altruistic move on the part of the Samara Alcoholic Beverage Factory. The company plans to organise parties at the springs, at which participants will no doubt be served large quantities of Rodnik vodka - a novel and perfectly legal way of promoting the brand, according to the company.

"Alcohol advertising restrictions are there for a good reason, but sometimes they are not sufficiently thought through,"​ said Veacelsav Nadein, vice president of the Samara ABF. "We support the idea of a healthy nation, but I think that it is stupid to force alcohol manufacturers advertise their brands through the use of fictitious products such as sweets or mineral water. We have found a better, a more civilized solution.​

"With this spring protection programme, we want to show our position as a socially-responsible business. By helping to improve the ecological heritage of our country, we can play a much more important role in improving the health of the nation."​

According to ecologists, the cost of maintaining the springs will be around RUR12,000 per year - money that the Russian state simply does not have but which the foundation will generate through a donation of a percentage of Rodnik sales. The foundation intends to make each of the vodka brand's distributors responsible for maintaining the local spring, with the centrally-run promotional bandwagon moving from spring to spring around the country.

The decision to finance the programme through a donation system is a good one, according to Creativ Analitika. Every person who buys a bottle of Rodnik vodka will feel that they are somehow doing their bit for the environment - a major marketing coup and one which cannot be criticised by the authorities.

Samara ABF is one of the biggest alcohol producers in Russia, capable of producing 0.5 million decalitres a month, although current capacity is around 0.2 million. It is also the only vertically integrated vodka producer in the country, growing its own grain from which the vodka is eventually distilled.

In addition to Rodnik, the company makes Triumpfalinaya, Gubernatorskaya and Samarskaya vodka brands. Total production in 2004 was about 1.7 million decalitres, while turnover reached some RUR85 million.