Besides the development of personal brand did not contribute to the criminal situation of the 1990s. Already was born of the unspoken concept of “money likes silence”. People prefer to earn without fanfare, to avert the danger and not to attract the attention of bandits in crimson jackets and “werewolves in epaulets”.
From yeliseyevsky grocery store until the 1990s
In Russian history there were several periods that greatly influenced such economic phenomenon as entrepreneurship. Before the revolution Russian business people, too, like Western counterparts, proudly placed their names on signs. In addition to the yeliseyevsky store was Factory Butenkov, Nebuladevice plant, commercial and industrial company Sapozhnikovykh, Weaving factory ziminikh, Bookstore Piotrowski, tobacco factory “Brothers Chapel” and many other family businesses.
After the revolution in Russia, came the period of the ban to private property and Commerce in the USSR for over 70 years people have built socialism, and the enterprise was firmly associated with criminal activity. And only in the early 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly appeared businessmen. Some of them, overcoming all the difficulties of the rise of capitalism in the country, became known, accomplished and wealthy. Someone even greatly helped personal brand. But only those who had the courage to assert themselves.
Special sense to develop in Russia in the 1990s, the brand under his own name was not a consumer, yesterday lived in a closed country was interested in mostly imported goods. Therefore, Russian entrepreneurs cleverly mimic the Western manufacturers, coming up with fake Italian, German and American names.
Gradually the situation changed, however, the fear remained. How can lift the mood of the business community-profile criminal cases? Suffice it to recall what ended the success story of one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in contemporary Russia, the founder of “Euroset” Evgeny Chichvarkin and the collapse of the Empire of perfumery “Arbat Prestige” in the late 2000s.
The double-edged sword
In addition, historically, due to risks that do not add to the popularity of personal brand in Russia as a marketing move, there are still social. The part of society is still not dispelled in the minds of the negativity towards entrepreneurs associated with the installation, that “in Russia a lot of money honest man can not earn”. In such circumstances, the person decided to link the development of the company with his own name, first, needs to be confident in the stability of their business, and secondly, be optimistic for the future, thirdly, to have the Western type of thinking: when you’re sure you have some kind of Empire, which should be associated with your name.
These entrepreneurs are not afraid to take risks and even fail convert to PR. For Russia, where every failure becomes a reason for condemnation, it is a unique competence. On the contrary, personal brand in the West consists of a series of errors that over time turn into expertise and valuable experience.
Beginners in business often have to roll out own brand of despair. For example, when I was starting out, nobody knew me, trust was not. To get investments to develop IT solutions, current assets in the gadgets, the adaptation of the product in Russia, and more, needed the money, and who will give them to inexperienced startups? The solution was published in LiveJournal and social networks, I gradually became visible to the media, investors and even government officials. Fame helped to solve recruitment problems is to attract employees with the desired competencies. Benefit from the personal brand was tangible, he began to pay dividends.
When I ran another project, offering the successful people live on a desert island in the format of “Last hero”, it was already known. As before, this helped in the promotion of business, but only up to a point – while the project does not have any difficulty. Then personal brand has become a threat: “beat” me, as it was perceived as the face of the project, not the source of problems (Bank and investor).
To give a name means to take the risk
It would seem that the 1990s was in the past, and the statistics show that in 2013 the number of criminal cases “economic focus” in Russia is only growing. In 2017, as stated in their report, the business Ombudsman Boris Titov, were registered more than 260,000 such offences. But 80% of criminal cases never even reach court. The activities of the companies during the period of investigation is constantly violated by searches, interrogations, seizure of documents and equipment. That is a “nightmare” business continue. And according to VTSIOM, the barriers to opening a business in Russia, people still believe the bureaucracy and administrative burden.
The desire to develop a personal brand in such conditions there arises the question, what do those entrepreneurs who are not afraid to take risks, are accustomed to constantly adapt to unusual business circumstances. And there are such people. Vadim Dymov Oleg Tinkov, Eugene Kaspersky, Arkady Novikov, Boris Alexandrov deliberately called their names to personalize the business, to make it closer to the customer and thus guarantee the quality of the product.
Other businesses – Fedor Ovchinnikov from “Dodo Pizza”, Mikhail Goncharov from “Teremok”, Evgeny Demin of SPLAT – use your face as an effective marketing tool trying to establish contact with consumers via blog, Facebook posts and letters from the package. A personal brand these businessmen, Andrey Trubnikov (Natura Siberica, “Grandmother Agafya”), Vladimir Melnikov (Gloria jeans), Ilya Sachkov (Group-IB), Arkady Volozh (“Yandex”), and all forms the product itself.
The prerequisites for that in Russia personal brand, as in the West, has become a popular tool, is still there. Though, because changing social factors: today, small and medium businesses, according to VTSIOM, a positive attitude 90% of Russians, and to large – 67%. Although this alone is not sufficient – it is important to change the state’s attitude toward business as a special economic category. If entrepreneurs cease to perceive only as an object to dispossession and source of replenishment, “out of the shadows” and become the official face of the Russian business will want many traders who still prefer not to create noise around its name.
