to school children free. range from three is free. to free. and free broadcast quality video for your media projects free video gone to our t.v. dot com. you're watching our tea time for the main international headlines now greece's new finance minister takes office with a hard task of convincing people to accept further austerity cuts it's a second wave of bailouts cost a shadow over the future of europe nations like turkey earlier desperate to join up but now having a rethink. president we have criticizes the states' role in the russian economy and slams corruption for threatening the country's development me from the

international economic forum in a sense it is but he reinstated his commitment to modernization and edge to drastic measures to create a better investment climate. and the e.u. plans of the center for tougher sanctions against syria as a crackdown on protesters continues reportedly claiming at least sixteen lives on friday but some experts warn the sanctions could be paving the way for in libya style intervention. russia's business prospects with the bell in the money. hello and welcome to on the money with the business of rush it is business as usual about today we're broadcasting from the st petersburg international economic forum and we're talking about branding. to discuss friending i'm joined by robert fatton he is senior managing director at u.s.g.

private equity also we have you know quote he is chairman of the board of the retail chain technics ila and robert me he is managing partner at robert a consulting group ok gentlemen we're in st petersburg and i'd like to ask you robert the first question you know we think of the term branding the country japan technology china. the factory of the world germany precision united states may be too much financial market you think of russia what brand comes to mind. if today's what if one does come to describe me what i can say about that i lived here in russia for a long time and i've watched a lot of changes and improvements happen over the past ten to fifteen years i had to describe russia in short i would say it continues to be a country in transition with considerable long term potential is that a brand that's the brand in my opinion it is because i'm not sure how last you could describe it because we won from one system and we went from one brick and

another brand and so we're in turn this into i mean creating their own model here in russia i would say it's not going to match the model you'll see in other countries but what i can say is it has considerable long term potential not short term but long term i think the division is there the policy vision is there on behalf of the president in the space and in the government it's just the biggest step is taking this syrian policy and putting it into practice and i mean changing the institutions changing the the infrastructure team to the mentality of a lot of the people that meet me going there a long time robert. i know you private equity what when you look at investors what kind of brand do they see in russia what do you see is a plus a deficit or a void or sadly what we've seen recently is a lot of successes in the in the id space and technology i mean take a brand which maybe is not fully associated with russia but i think is has very strong russian roots which is to go. to great companies to do very well and i will

program exactly more recently has been an i.p.o. and executed great success. and we're right if it were actually an investor like in india because i felt that there are a lot of very very bright russians a lot of people who have very good computer skills software development skills and i think about is becoming a brand with russia you know you are you actually growing a chain electronics. softwoods chain how hard is it in russia today two thousand and eleven to create a lasting viable valuable brand. i think. you can create a brand in a day you know because the solution changes so quickly even in our segment before the chinese ask the almost lame you will of them of all the just in chains no we just saw. a big change seen in the street because it was impossible because of all

the changes a customer gave us of people and people will want to find something tells them they want to buy and for five years or ten years ago. the look of all the russias this really unique solution especially in the new deal if you go where was just in new york and going to be. one of the company ms exist they need a strong national brands you know you seem local brands your local roads in full signal for national repeal all in. the national brands he's used or in some communities and their colleagues you know. the me is your true hero you're striving to be the biggest in the best in your field have you learned certain branding kc meeks from western media western competitors or western peers i mean how do you when you look at your consumer how do you match brand and your consumer you look at certain specific local issues that you can play upon or do you look outside and say hey well you know in britain they did this or in argentina they did that i mean is it

a combination how do you do it for instance always it's always trust it means a. really custom the state of the be additional blue no. was it just in your words was it just in your stories. will it excite also his own views or try. to complete but it is easier comes then to go where would be for them to start electronics. you know where to go where. you can where. for electronics people really have to put a premium because if it was a lot of international competition it's of course it difficult to understand the quality of either but if you buy some. some stuff like that you know where you can . judge the quality and people look at you. is the reason why is that are almost more strong brands in produce or simply new me or go back you over here i

mean before the program where we were both were discussing i mean if we look at an international audience international customers there is i can only think of one international russian brand and i'm sorry it's twenty years out of the end of the soviet union and that's kalashnikov ok i can think maybe gentlemen can help me out here but i can't think of another brand here that it's a real deficit here but is it also an opportunity i think it's a considerable opportunity because. as michael was saying here probably are some very good brands that are known here in russia and i know there are some russian consumers that would really love to buy the russian brand instead of the foreign ground so they. just waiting for someone to please do something with them or improve them. russia has considerable potential because they can take the best practices from around the world they can apply them here and great brands and really export them out i mean they have really. limited what they can do it's wide open and i'm sure in the world i mean sure there are some bugs in some other brands that are being exported now but there's a whole broad range of that's really going to get robert it also is

a i won't name the brand but i like pull teeth wristwatches ok and i came across the russian brain only immature and it's absolutely explicit maybe a little galbi a little bit too much this is right i did say ok well this is and i should have worn my russian one but my point is that technologically speaking it's state of the art if you can go up against any swiss brand but it's a third the price you can afford the price now what it does at manufacture how to do i'd like to point out their presentation that with the box where they fold it was awful ok it wasn't attractive ok but the product itself was how do they get around that if it's just investing the enormous amount of money or just to be people everyone else's stuff but i think it's a process that i mean it's going to take time in any case it's only been you know twenty odd years old. and what russian policy was with the something that was was really considered to be good political regime or you can see adventurous in what

you think of changing i mean with the with the russian russian brands which are now being. pushed towards in the west and the association of russia with even western brass. is very potent takes help people i mean russia has done a lot for an individual to leave them alone the russians and the british before and that's fantastic you know there are certain things where you can definitely see there's been a lot of progress in pushing the russian the d.h. and me on things that you may do russian brain. hands have to be better than the best to be equal i just gave the example of a wristwatch manufacturer i mean what do you have to do to get the eye of a consumer because they're selfish so many brands out there that people identify with i mean i'm holding a painting here again i won't name it here maybe i mean this is one of the nicer ones but most of them are just pure plastic and still cost a lot of money ok you're buying the brand how hard it is is it for you in russian

companies you really need that child. group to bring serious challenge especially if you are just busy being goes away. eventually union in the us money into the us those are people the feel of them is money and. you will not believe that but its own put in some areas which if you want and to bret's it means that people scenes of the really big brands people. needed but he did look we've been up and he pretty much was a sensible people. it's it's like it was before in or one little bit in order for you was to pay pretty lousy since those of little it's a business they still have a hammer and sickle i'd like to point out it's their logo which is a game you know that plays to a local consumer here because that is a brand that is considered of value though it may be ambiguous to a foreign. consumer and i can tell you what is so i think it's an interesting story

that they can't back that mark the hammer and sickle and they kept it in after the soviet union because it's so well known among russian citizens you know but i think that's the only example around there to really change them you know we're very sad because before when you thought of your life you always thought of it to blow one could be for iraq's borders or something like that and now you have removed the international flights on our flight are great for air services very good very international standard and they have a lot of direct flights of places there either. no you know. already there are all brands that we can actually be made international i think the first company that ever listed local on a local stock exchange was bolshevik biscuits melt ok i mean well known in russia but that's how hard it's a hard sell well it's tried of course as you have received several i.p.o.'s of companies which have you know associations very close associations with russian names. and it is a you know off to there's

a very hard sell but i think when people actually get into these companies and look at the quality of management look at the fundamentals driving those companies forwards and the market they have in russia and now continue to expand outside of russia you know we've seen quite a few successes going to it's really interesting across the aisle to be at the confectionary again if you translated it into english red october it still does not have an appeal to outside this because the borders of this country which i can attach the of their product is excellent ok it is competitive but you know i mean they are there you know can you think of any brands outside of kalashnikov which is a real negative why must we be any other brand that can be sold outside of russia's borders using its name now. here we name we named our aeroflot that's probably been home with a whole spread belief probably of what. you see in a key it be maybe you successful but if you're.

local store i think girl must dump a sample full program state of the. minerals i'm part of one problem company seems too good to keep some people. so you could use a mini or i know my mother would jump in here we're going to go to a short break and after that short break before we turn discuss russia's granting state regards. to the. i am from. the.

keep. it safe. option. one stream cascading from mountain slopes the view is miss mirage. but this really brings death at a speed of more than two hundred kilometers or and. it's that the i'm a launch. today children play war in the old case me. much enjoy nine hundred forty one these walls were the first barrier from another troops on the way to moscow. came in from years of breast cancers were dying one by

one under seize the sun come up from the water in the uk i am. cool. in the last shelter and on main soldier left a few simple words farewell motherland i'm dying but i'm not surrendering. welcome back to on the money i'm peter lavelle in this episode we're discussing branding ok robert i want to go to you we've heard a lot of good things about brining in the first part of the program but i always like to pour a little bit of cold water on things is really branding all that important when so many people in this country because there's

a huge income difference here is raining so important only just for a small small percentage of the population is it just for aspirational people and i think many russians are really quite pleased with russian products if i mean depends what we're talking about and the aspirations i mean they want something of good quality that's a portable and there's a lot of historical in traditional aspects to some of the brands that have been around for a long time you like to reminisce about remember the all the is this wine this coffee whatever so i think. you know some of the people are never going to reach a point where they can expire for the most expensive around with for them it's not for the you know as robert is writing is very interesting is way ahead in moscow they have this store astronauts and ten years ago even five years ago i would say they know what no one of whom would never have jared and i should point out to our viewers is a huge huge department store dared to put a soviet almost replica in no you go there it's

a very very popular rubber for the same reasons that you mention brands that you can work with and reminds me of something very much when i lived in poland before i came to russia was there was a me. movement among things to do sers to say look you had all of the wonderful western goods the serials the soaps the pens whipping the clothes but we had some good stuff here you see that trend there really picking up some steam here because past a drink that almost disappeared here the kind of an equivalent of coca-cola or some kind of coal in the west came back light. it's history and i know what i'm seeing is more sophisticated russian guys are actually are actually beginning to understand the value of some of the the older and better russian brand from sixty c.d.'s and in food products and drinks in types of beer and imported it's a definite that's very regular the question is whether these brands can man be marketed outside of russia and the success of not only not only the home market you

know if i go to you i mean this could be a tough one in your russian soul and ask you the tough question here russia's reputation is problematic in many parts of the world because of the soviet past in some cases even before that i mean how does russia in russian companies get over that i mean its history i mean this is a market economy people are very very savvy here are they certainly have the abilities and knowledge in now even money here i mean is is that kind of all the brand of russia is how could it be is that still a major barrier for companies that want to go beyond the borders to sell to consumers because it is a globalized economy and to be a global winner you have to go global. you can create brands only if you'll bristols a strong. side in each legion of. missional share of those if you look at the world russia. great lead you know everybody in all of russia in the asian. was supposed program well if you see all the

national brands that exist. the brands you hate the people because you go. so high quality even the broad. western companies look in the bowl. like good idea to also nationalities stupidity and it's a stupid law but you always need to be at least four of those don't you michel felicia if you're just going to michigan ok with big. again you know i'm going to pour a little bit of cold water on this here i love to name the companies i don't want to promote them and i don't want them to get angry with me at the same time in this room energy companies in russia that when there is a dispute with a neighboring country. i don't see that they put a whole lot of effort into p.r. in creating a brand you know what authoritative responsible for pursuit of things i mean. when you get too big and too powerful if it is

a risk of being lazy and saying it doesn't matter because we're here and people have to deal with this i mean does that do you think that that is the case and just how dangerous is it because it is a i think so you're speaking more on russia is russia as a brand at the present consumer products because i consumer products i think it will take extra me a long time to have something very competitive in the world mention the large energy companies they have directly associated with the russian state meaning they're owed by russia but in that respect. it's true and it's very important because unless it's a little bit different where you see the fine line between business and politics it's much finer in russia than it is in many other countries and you still have a lot of these companies that are state owned or there's a high level of state participation so again in this transition i was talking about once we get to the point where there's more probably a day soon when there's more institutions that are set up that are really better rule of law and the conditions that are good for foreign investors then i think

you'll start to see a bit of a change in the mentality and ambition to how russia presents itself overseas. when you think about how do you think you know i love a lot of small and medium companies how to go out of their way to make a good impression but let's go beyond the to my of my since i actually sit on the board of one of the large. shipping companies in russia a lot of activity and a director and i was brought down along with several other. independent directors to try and help help with. with dealing with corporate governance issues and always the image of a company in on the market and we're trying very hard to prove that it isn't the issue of what's the biggest barrier what's the biggest challenge you face from doing what i think the biggest challenge is is helping my mentality he's to change but again it's a question i think you're generational but i think it will take us through that i mean i could get you know i think it's going to be a couple of years but generally i think over the past you know ten fifteen years

you see the love not of progress and i think that's going to continue to be how it will always go back to this year and i in western media russian companies often get get a bad rap certainly the russian state. how can the russian business in your opinion being a businessman yourself help improve the image of russia as a brand on the international stage because you know when a lot of critics said the west will look at bakes a look at oil companies you know it's these evil institutions and things like that but as we've already pointed out on this program here there's not that much of people make that kind of differentiation what does business have to do to disassociate itself with government institutions and politicians you. usually when people think of all the gullible young company made sure it's a brand these shades these little the experience if you go along you know year in france look it was the french people or. the experience on some

of you and something person from this mrs or if you buy all the little babies just so. i thought like japan this technique or. you. like it. was a coolidge or just i don't suppose a missional jerk but. i think that only with our shop it is very strong it's possible to be more than. really to build. it's not a letter was a gulp it's a letter as a business as well as weekly that is strong visuals oriented for. the people who come in the shop to come spend here. these weeks spend money will be quotable some people just deal with inflation and the schools. will do you but only consumables maybe it will be in order to build business maybe it will be i think.

it will be. know what steve says you will like to see. what go on national football schools you could call this program beyond kalashnikov here let's talk about this forum that we're out here how valuable is this forum in st petersburg because it's really a mess and so a lot of people come here in columbus a lot of what i read in western media about media about what interest there is in russia i mean there's this community and there are so many civilians in this complex here and it's hard to keep track of who's here and you can't meet everyone obviously i mean we are foreigners life is worth while and why do you guys come to . i think you should speak on this program for me ok i think this form in particular has improved dramatically i would say six seven years ago it was a completely different form and i think twice there the government of president said look this is going to be our forum and they showed a real commitment it's a great opportunity for networking it's it's quite incredible incredible you won't

find a better forum might be than this to meet anyone who's either a senior in government or senior in business so for with respect to the dialogue the ability to meet people face to face exchange ideas i think it's really quite a good thing this year transparency really doesn't offer open access i mean you don't have. pretty much you walking by you can be there is the president the minister the head of severson all whoever it might be and it's the access is really quite impressive we think over about i am sure i do use quite a few of them but this is seems to me when i discovered this is that i mean i should live in peace by. seventeen years i mean here it is i was right nice anyway but i i found it a lot better than the past years and suddenly he did believe the organizers of trying very hard to make an international film not only focusing on russia but on the smash would suit me very badly of them and trying to write high quality people from business obviously people coming into this into what the president's going to say. and that sophie very important as well but would you say this for me is more

business driven than politics than policy that yes i definitely would have probably explains the attraction to me how why did you come to this what you could do this for. want to do this for me it was safer to. actually contribute. and he'll say complaints. i don't like to spend too much painful sizzles from people who. use the you know. useless usually useless you just spend playing suitable to get buy in to see everybody loves this one especially the last years is suddenly. with everybody. else to meet louise day so was foremost difficult to me to work you've got you've got people who can beat him and while the rooms in the city these people see people with whom you can swim appeal to get sick and you can also hear something really

interesting you so well for all those dots. are on leave you the last word here what would you like to see change in russia over the next five years when it comes to brand. for the country yeah. i'd like to see a really driven by business where it's less given by politics less driven by government but actually business setting before setting the pace and then you'll get a feel for that this country really has made the transition and it operates functions like any other you know driving age different than any other place in the world i've tried to move on out of time and. all my guests here in the studio want to thank our viewers for watching us here on the money see you next time and state charges.

but the. wealthy british style. is not tied to. the. markets why not campbell.