Are you one of those corporations who consider “Russia a dream that comes true only once in a lifetime”? Well, it’s none too soon to find out more about the estimated 150 millions consumers and to assess how they will behave as consumers.

After a period of chaos and adjustments the standard of living in Russia is rising on the average and a well-off middle class is rapidly expanding. More than half of the economy’s output is being produced by the private sector and a huge amount of foreign investors are establishing right now. Dárcy Masius Benton & Bowles, the twelfth largest advertising agency in the world, just released a report on the emerging segments in the Russian market and identified five distinct groups and their likely preferences. The groups are identified as the Business Executives, the Merchants, the Cossacks, the Russian Souls and the students.

Businessmen are ambitious, busy, concerned with status and of course Western-oriented. They are the yuppies of the market and have the money to buy any product they desire. However, they only buy Western brands that are functional with some elements of Western imagery. In the opposite we find the nationalistic and reliant Merchants who also are known to be practical and to seek value. They prefer Russian products in theory but disdain stamped-out, mass-produced goods. This segment, the largest among all five, also admires some Western products, particular well-engineered German and Northern European goods such as automobiles and consumer electronics. Besides being aggressively nationalistic the Cossacks are also known to be ambitious and concerned about status and independence. They still pursue Western products as status symbols from premium cigarettes such as Dunhill to expensive cognacs such as Rémy Martin. In the middle we find the students and the regurlar people in Russia called the Russian Souls.

Students are inclined toward a cosmopolitan view and are open to the West. According to Dárcy Masius Benton & Bowles they are passive, scraping by, idealistic and practical. Although they covet Western brands, they usually choses the cheaper version.
The passive, follows others, fears choices and hopeful Russian Souls are too undermined by uncertainty to do much about anything. Because they are passive and choice is frightening for them, classic marketing techniques are difficult to apply. The best route is to have them witness the successful experience of others in buying and using a brand.

“The key is getting beyond the complex bureaucracies, logistics, and legal issues and going back to the psychology of people,” said Nigel Clarke, regional planning director at DMB&B Europe in London. “If we know how people think, feel, and act in their daily lives in buying things, we shall have a model that transcends the vagaries fo current politics and economics.” He sees Russia as ideal terrain for classic marketing techniques, as long as they are used in the context of the Russian psychology. Talking about target marketing in present-day conditions may seem surreal, but if companies do not get in now, later may be more difficult.