Having proclaimed the New & Wow philosophy as their religion, day after day they change the market and, above all, their consciousness. Brave and uncompromising. Fashionable and unexpected. Extracting ideas from the depths of the subconscious, our heroes implement projects created on the verge of fantasy and imagination. In a special interview, Yulia Sigunova, Pavel Nedostoev and Petr Ivanov told the chief editor of LCM about the unique DNA and the profession that makes you feel like God.
In the event industry, DEPARTÁMENT is known as a company with bright cases, a close-knit team and a breakthrough approach. What is it: marketing or is it philosophy?
PAUL: One follows from the other. Our love for the profession, passion and interest form the challenges that we boldly pose for ourselves. They come into contact with the market and the customers' objectives. DEPARTÁMENT is synergy: we solve the most difficult marketing tasks in a fit of love.
New & Wow is our philosophy that we broadcast in external world and we cultivate within the company. Our main guideline is compliance with the objectives of the stated philosophy, and not detachment from competitors. The corporate style of our work has long been transformed into a recognizable DNA. This code matches the DNA of our customers, so they trust us.
This year DEPARTÁMENT is crossing the 10th year mark. Yulia, what events in the life of the company have become significant, in your opinion?
JULIA: We measure our whole life with projects. There were important events in our biography that set the course for our ship or changed it. One of these projects was the Brainwash Party for the MINI brand. We took a bold step into the unknown and won by offering an international car brand the concept of a laundry party. Peter's creative techniques allowed us to go beyond templates and patterns, and we entered a new era of development and ceased to be afraid of bold ideas.
Another significant event was the opening of the GARAGE museum, after which we began to cooperate with almost all cultural institutions in Moscow. Together with the London agency and the staff of the GARAGE Museum, we organized a world-class event, the guests of which were Woody Aden, George Lucas, Stella McCartney, Miucha Prada, Natalia Vodianova and many others. Since then, we have not lowered the bar.
And the turning point, of course, was the presentation of the Audi Q7 at Garage 7 days after its opening. The creation of the world's first virtual reality cinema has become a breakthrough event and the most awarded of our projects. And we are the most titled agency among Russian companies, therefore, we can say that this event became famous all over the world. We recently returned from Helsinki, where we met with network event-agencies who know us precisely from this event. After that, we set a course for new technologies and quite consciously keep it.
Together with a London agency and museum staff, we organized a world-class event, whose guests were Woody Allen, George Lucas, Stella McCartney, Miucha Prada, Natalia Vodianova and many others. Since then, we have not lowered the bar.
Positioning New & Wow secures a certain status for a company. How do you manage to match it without copying others and without repeating yourself?
PETER: Thanks to the strict discipline of the agency. It is built on two fronts. The first is constant surfing of the new event in the world. Every morning, employees start work only after they find interesting news in their field. Status obliges us to stay in the information field of everything that happens on the planet.
Second, our company provides for tough sanctions for those who want to duplicate ideas without investing in a unique project. But the most important thing is that we create an atmosphere in the office that motivates employees to say a new word in the industry, and not repeat what someone has already said.
Why do you think clients choose to work with you? What is the USP DEPARTÁMENT?
PAUL: Creativity, innovation and efficiency.
JULIA: We focus on exciting ideas. It's just that “new” is no longer a trend! In every project, we literally reinvent technology and test out-of-the-box solutions. We do it emotionally and excitingly, putting energy into every process. The most common word in our internal chats is “it's a bomb!”. Working in the field of marketing, you cannot get bogged down in a routine.
Opening of DEPARTÁMENT EVENT MBA and Rooftop University. What caused the course in education that you took?
PAUL: We came to the market to move the industry forward and are going to stay here for a long time. One of the main components of the market is professionals, and the need for qualified personnel remains one of the main trends in our field. DEPARTÁMENT's mission today is to move educational process in the industry off the ground. We believe that it is worth "swinging" this pendulum, and it will continue to move by inertia.
PETER: If you cannot pass on your knowledge further, then you do not own it yourself. Teaching makes you an expert in the field, structures chaotic ideas into tools.
JULIA: There is a time when you want to get maximum knowledge, there is a time when you want to share. To transfer knowledge is our personal need, an inner impulse. Literally before our very eyes, the event sphere is turning into a powerful industry that cannot do without the synergy of professionals. Therefore, we created the Rooftop University platform for the creative exchange of energy and ideas, as well as the training course DEPARTÁMENT | EVENT MBA to give impetus to the development of new professionals.
The main source of inspiration is our subconscious. Inside each of us there are millions of neurons that send out electronic discharges, allowing us to form the craziest ideas.
How high is the demand for training in event?
PAUL: Based on the results of our work, I can say for sure: high. First, the educational process entered new era: monoforming no longer meets the requirements of the times. If earlier a person received a diploma once and for a lifetime, today it is necessary to be permanently in the process of development: technologies, tools, approaches, communication formats are changing.
Secondly, education is global trend... Moreover, in the realm of events there is no professional education and demand is growing. Therefore, sold-out is a typical story for our educational projects.
What are the goals for the course you set for yourself?
PAUL: The first goal is to show "kung fu": each of the teachers demonstrates his art, his own style, outlook on business and success. The second is to give impulse, inertia, motivation to students. Show that event is not a transcendental process, events are created by people. Want a result? Explore the technology! And the third goal is networking. 70 of our students, who on the first day did not even know each other, subsequently found friends and like-minded people to implement their projects and ideas.
Do you open all the "cards" during training?
PAUL: We reveal all the cards that can be revealed in 72 academic hours. We reveal all the secrets: algorithms, how to solve internal professional issues, study competitors, win tenders and make creative processes streamlined.
Julia and Peter, you are also teaching EVENT MBA. Share your impressions: how was it?
PETER: The day before I went to London for a seminar dear business coach of the world. He returned inspired, so he immediately introduced the received techniques into one of the EVENT MBA seminars. The participants danced and hugged, overcome their fears and became the best version of themselves in just 1 hour. You know, I was inspired by the idea that in a couple of hours you can make other people's lives brighter. At this moment, you feel a little like God.
JULIA: The first association with the word teach for me is gratitude. You feel the impact of the audience during the performance and leave a mark after yourself. Humanity has always developed according to this law: some generations passed on knowledge to others. Just recently I wrote down my dreams and suddenly realized that one of my cherished goals is to teach at the university.
Our company provides for tough sanctions for those who wants to duplicate ideas without investing a unique one in the project.
What is the main message you tried to convey to the audience?
PAUL: All humans are made of the same cells. What one has done may be done by the other. You just need to understand the technology, not be afraid of anything and do, do, do! When in doubt, remember: there is no magic, there is technology.
JULIA:... we just threw energy at the students!
There is more than one person at the helm of DEPARTÁMENT. How to successfully manage a company with only leaders at the helm?
PAUL: First, areas of responsibility must be delineated that do not overlap. Secondly, leaders must look in one direction, otherwise dissonance and rupture cannot be avoided.
JULIA: If Peter comes up with creative concepts, then Pavel is the holder of the DEPARTÁMENT brand itself. I deal with clients and the team. We are all leaders, and we lead our teams in one direction.
Business partner. Is it perfect?
JULIA: A partner must fill those qualities that you do not have. If you are woven from creativity, then the partner should be a systemic person, performing the opposite function. The foundation of a partnership is trust. If a person begins to gnaw a worm of doubt, then there can be no question of partnership.
New players appear on the market of the event marketing industry every year. Question from the category "advice": how to build an effective and long-term relationship with the client?
JULIA: The market does not allow for long-term relationships. Tenders, change of directors of marketing departments, transfer from one company to another. Constant movement is a trend. This means that you need to love and understand the client here and now. We sail with the client in the same boat and in the same direction. And if someone starts to change or wants to get out, the boat will begin to sway. The result comes only if you move smoothly from start to finish.
How important are burning eyes in a potential or current employee? And how, in principle, to pass the face control in DEPARTÁMENT?
JULIA: Not always burning eyes are a sign of enthusiasm. I often face the fact that such people are quickly blown away. We pay attention to those who are energetic and energize those around them. Remember how Korolev launched rockets into space: this project would not have gone down in history without his great enthusiasm!
An important criterion for us is also whether a person can complete the matter. Only those who, under no circumstances give up, do not raise their paws up and do not complain about fate, can engage in project work.
Companies whose keynote sounds like New & Wow cannot help but ask a question about inspiration. Does the muse come to you on schedule or is her arrival always a surprise?
PAUL: We are not waiting for the muse sitting by the window - this, it seems to me, is our difference from many market players. Our team is the muse. We just take it and do it with experience and our own creative methods.
Inspiration: where do you keep the keys to it?
PETER: The main source of inspiration is our subconscious. Inside each of us, there are millions of neurons that send electronic discharges, allowing us to form the most crazy, inadequate, unexpected ideas. To understand how this mechanism works, I took a 2-year course in psychoanalysis. Our company has a full-time psychologist who advises employees of the creative department: they undergo express therapy in order to know the technologies of working with the subconscious, to be able to work out all the impulses and images that the subconscious gives out. If you close your eyes and sit for 10 seconds, you too can see many pictures.
One of the last cases that amazed me: during the presentation of the car, the organizers made a mapping projection onto the clouds.
PETER: Over the years, we have really collected an arsenal of copyright techniques, which we generously share in our courses. For example, the Depeche mode method: with your eyes closed, you must say everything that comes to your mind for 1 minute without pauses, you cannot be silent for a second!
Another method is Russian Roulette. We spin an employee of the creative department on the chair, and he says everything that he sees around. If ideas do not come, then a chair is simply knocked out from under him.
Another technique is "Refreshing Mint": within a minute, you must describe the concept of "uncensored." This practice engages the centers of brain activity: obscene language allows you to express the most vivid emotions and impressions. However, as in life!
Does something or someone impress you on overseas market? Who do you look up to?
PETER: We monitor the whole world and each one individually. A lot of explosive events are happening in Asia today. One of the last cases that amazed me: during the presentation of the car, the organizers made a mapping projection onto the clouds. While the spectators were watching the "races" in the sky, parachutists suddenly flew through the clouds, and the projection continued to be broadcast on the parachutes. The audience was delighted.
Interesting agencies that were local, worked in France, the United States, the Emirates, and then suddenly became international, went beyond the national market. I think this is our path too. Clients often tell us that even today our agency's products would be quoted internationally.
At the end of the conversation, I will ask you to describe each other in a few words.
PAUL: Julia is wisdom, Peter is energy.
PETER: Julia is a zebra, Pavel is a "death star", as in "Star Wars", remember?
JULIA: Why Zebra?
PETER: Do not know. This is what I have to figure out.
JULIA: I have clear associations. Peter and Paul are apostles, preachers, they have their own flock and they bring values to this world.
Your main principle, your whale, on which your life is built?
PAUL: We ask ourselves the question: why did I come into this world? And we try to answer it not with words, but with actions.
JULIA: And our life with Petya is built on 2 whales: Misha and Vanya. Everything revolves around them.
INTERVIEW: ANASTASIA MASKAYEVA
PHOTOGRAPHER: KATYA TURKINA
Profession:
Educator
Locality:
Nizhny Novgorod
Floor: female
Place of work:
MBDOU "Kindergarten number 44"
Education: higher
My achievements:
Counseling for parents:
- Parents' questionnaires
"The use of ICT technologies in MBDOU No. 44".
1)To the question"Your attitude to the use of information computer technologies in kindergarten? " Parents' opinions were divided: only 11% believe that ICT should not be used in kindergarten, the rest is divided approximately equally by 45% and consider it possible to use ICT in preschool educational institutions, 44% believe that their use should be limited. This proves that most parents understand that the computer can provide some benefit in the learning process of the child. And it is really necessary to adhere to the established norms for the use of information computer technologies in kindergarten.
2)Question"For what of the following does a child in your family usually use a computer at home?" was asked to determine how parents see and use a computer at home. A positive moment has been revealed: children at home listen to audio stories, are engaged in special developmental programs. The answer "plays" implies that the game does not have educational and developmental properties, therefore it makes you think about the quality of these games, since everyone understands that there are many low-quality games, the plots of which leave much to be desired (shooters, chases, murders). The fact that parents do not allow them to study on the computer at home can also be considered in different positions: restriction in order to protect from negative information and harmful radiation, on the other hand, limits the child's modern outlook, since already in the first grade of school textbooks contain certain tasks, the implementation which is impossible without a computer
3)The answer to the question "What aspects of the use of ICT do you agree with?" shows that, in general, parents correctly perceive the positive aspects of information computer technologies. Naturally, the use of ICT should be strictly dosed and used only in accordance with age. However, 5% of the parents surveyed do not see any positive aspects in using a computer.
There are many event agencies on the market, but few are able to come up with events year after year without slowing down the pace and degree of creativity. Over the course of 10 years, the Departament agency managed from a small office that made private birthdays and New Year's corporate parties for friends to become one of the largest agencies on the market (revenue for 2017 - more than 500 million rubles). Their parties, which the great Gatsby would have envied, are remembered by all secular Moscow, among their customers are Jaguar and BMW, and among the guests is Vladimir Putin. The founders of Departament Peter Ivanov, Pavel Nedostoyev and Yulia Sigunova told Inc. how they conquered BMW with an offer to host a party in the laundry and nearly lost tens of millions of rubles due to an untimely update of Samsung's firmware - and how they managed to grow their business without losing the spirit of freedom and creativity ...
In 2009, Samsung managers in St. Petersburg turned into super agents for one day. All the management and top employees of the company split into several teams, got into 12 Mercedes SUVs specially fitted to their office and set off to save the world. When the convoy of Mercedes drove along Nevsky Prospekt, the traffic cops saluted them. Then a planned quest with elements of an immersive performance began: the participants fired at targets with sniper rifles, rushed through the canals of St. Petersburg on sports boats, piloted a helicopter - and all this in an entourage that James Bond would have envied - sports cars, pretty girls, champagne Cristal.
All this unrestrained creativity was invented by two people - friends from their student days at the Russian State Humanitarian University, Peter Ivanov and Pavel Nedostoev. Both enjoyed organizing parties; they sketched the first ideas in notebooks while they were bored at lectures, and then rolled them around at Peter's birthdays - every time he came up with something original for the holiday. Once he gathered guests for a "wild" open-air in the Grotto in Neskuchny Garden, another time he held a party called The Nothing - rented an absolutely empty loft, where there was no light, no music, no food, no alcohol , and the guests just got to know each other for 4 hours, talked - and enjoyed the unclouded communication.
After graduation, the paths of friends diverged for several years: Pyotr Ivanov got a job at the event agency Event Factory, Pavel created the design studio Studio, but in 2006 they began to think about opening their own business.
Departament agency in numbers
source: company data
>50
person works in a company.
12
million rubles - the average budget of the event.
60%
from loading the agency takes participation in tenders.
>500
million rubles - revenue for 2017.
59
projects for 2017.
From left to right: Yulia Sigunova, Peter Ivanov and Pavel Nedostoev. Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.
Special Agents for Awesome Parties
At first, they found orders through friends - Peter at that time already knew many in the industry. Partners took on any work - events, exhibitions, children's parties, New Year's corporate parties (for dental clinic threw an incendiary party with dancers dressed as nurses). Peter jokingly estimates the amount of investment in the project as “three years of life and 150 sleepless nights”.
We rented a micro-office - a room for 15 thousand rubles - and paid ourselves a salary of 50 thousand rubles. They worked only on a prepayment basis, there was no working capital to hold events at their own expense, - recalls Peter.
Pavel Nedostoev. Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.
Literally six months after starting work as independent event organizers, friends suggested Ivanov and Nedostoev to take over the management of the Justo nightclub in Teatralny Proezd, the most fashionable and pretentious place in Moscow. WITH light hand entrepreneurs Justo soon became one of the popular creative places in Moscow, where all bohemians hung out - fashionistas, artists, celebrities, politicians, transvestites. The only problem was that Peter and Pavel had to work for a percentage of the profit - but the club did not show any profit in 9 months of work. The club helped establish contacts with the artists, “get to know everyone in the city”; it was there that Ivanov and Nedostoyev came up with the Departament brand - but after spending 1 million rubles set aside for a rainy day, they left the club.
The crisis of 2008 burst out, and it became much more difficult to look for orders. Ivanov and Nedostoev did not work directly with companies, but through intermediaries - larger event agencies, which had to give up to 70% of the profits for the opportunity to host the event. This was the only way for a young agency to stay on the market without a reputation and, most importantly, a turnover sufficient to credit events (payments from the client came only after the fact).
We walked with glowing eyes and asked everyone for work. We got some pennies from the profit, but we worked with cool brands - Jaguar, Land Rover, Samsung, - Peter recalls.
Then quests began to gain popularity in Moscow - and Departament came up with the idea of bringing this format to a premium level. It was the 2000s, the market had not yet been structured, and large companies did not have procurement services and tenders for organizing events, while they wanted fresh ideas and non-trivial marketing moves... Therefore, quests became the main business direction of the agency: thanks to the creative work of Departament, top managers and businessmen climbed the unfinished hospital in Khovrino, performed tasks on an abandoned warship at the River Station, Jaguar employees were looking for a painting by Rembrandt in the Triumph gallery, and Samsung employees went through a quest in the Hermitage. Departament looked for all these locations manually: the event manager was a communicator who knew how to do everything - even to break through a closed location for a party, at least to rent a tiger from the circus, says Nedostoev.
Petya and I bought the same suits, shirts and ties at TSUM and came to clients like the heroes of The X-Files or Twin Peaks. Then there was the peak of glamor, there was a lot of money on the market, everyone wanted to live widely and beautifully, and the event manager was almost a special agent who knew how to organize this, ”says Pavel.
Curb creativity
To overcome the mistrust of large clients at the start, Peter and Pavel played the role of “good and bad cops” at the meetings: Peter showered with crazy ideas, and Pavel sat next to a serious look and pretended to be a solid, reliable partner.
It was a real life hack: a very calm, serious person in an expensive watch, with an unbroken phone sat next to a rabid enthusiast and spoke with a confident face that it was very cost-effective, would create a wow effect for your guests, increase customer loyalty and provide coverage in social networks. Clients nodded and agreed, - says Ivanov.
In January 2013, the need to portray seriousness disappeared - Yulia Sigunova joined the company. It was in her agency that the Event Factory was started by Petr Ivanov.
What the guys did was endlessly bold, it was just that this creativity had no obstacles, - Yulia recalls. “Since we had worked together before, I knew what they were capable of, and I saw this as an opportunity for business growth.
Sigunova, a calm, organized person with extensive management experience, began to structure and streamline the company's business processes. She took over customer service and management, Peter became responsible for creativity and strategy, and Pavel Nedostoev - for PR, video, finance and side projects, such as educational (in addition, the agency now has a commercial and financial director).
Before that, Pavel and I worked, but we didn’t know how to manage and monetize at all. Therefore, Yulia pushed us forward very strongly, precisely as a manager, a strong leader, - recalls Pyotr Ivanov.
The partners felt the importance of cold calculation once again on their own skin, when in June 2015 force majeure happened at the presentation of the new Audi Q7 model at the Garage Museum. Peter came up with the idea: guests put on VR glasses, enter a dark room and at the same time watch a voluminous short film in a virtual cinema, in which they fly straight into the space world in an Audi, and at the end a real car appears in front of them. The preparation was difficult and super-operative: in just a month, we managed to persuade Samsung to provide 100 pairs of VR glasses that were not on sale in Moscow at that time, synchronize gadgets and write an application so that all viewers could see the same picture at the same time, but each with your perspective. The day before the event, a virtual cinema was mounted in the Garage and several tests were carried out. Everything went according to plan until two hours before the show the glasses stopped turning on and showing something.
Maria Kosareva
Head of marketing communications Cadillac
The Department is very comfortable to work with in the field of influencer marketing - they have a good understanding of the lifestyle and moods of the modern luxury segment audience. Of course, in any job, controversy arises - we argue about which people best express the brand's philosophy. But, as you know, “happiness is when people understand”, and this is just about our cooperation with the Department. The agency helped to integrate our brand into the charity festival organized by the Friends Foundation as naturally as possible - top managers of the largest Russian companies acted as rock musicians, and the audience voted for the best performances.
The event begins, the tables are laid, guests begin to appear, I enter the cinema - and there is Petya, pale, with square eyes. "What's happened?" - "Nothing works. It worked on the test, and then it stopped. " We take the engineer by the breast, and he says: "It's just that Samsung is updating the firmware all over the world." It was at this moment, before our show. And this is like rebooting the phone - the case when nothing depends on us, - Yulia recalls.
The update miraculously finished a few minutes before the start of the presentation. The guests were delighted (the agency later received an award for this event), but the founders added gray hair.
It was the greatest stress. The budget of the event was more than the working capital of our company, and we fully credited it on a 100% post-payment basis. If something went wrong, we would not only drop our reputation, but also end up with several tens of millions of rubles, - says Yulia Sigunova.
To reduce such force majeure, Departament is trying to gather creative and practical people at one table, so that events are thought out from all sides.
During brainstorming, criticism is forbidden, but at some point, creatives must hand over leadership to managers who begin to cut all fantasies: “We won't make it on time, we won't fit this into the budget, we don't know how to do it at all”. And the salespeople also say: “The client won't buy it, the client doesn't like it,” and the result is a balanced offer, ”Ivanov explains.
3 mistakes of the founders of Departament:
Didn't share the roles at the start
Before the arrival of Yulia Sigunova in 2013, we were just artists - and we didn’t know how to sell or manage. And the agency needs 3 main people: an artist, a manager and a salesman. If we started doing sales and management earlier, we could grow faster.
Didn't promote the business early on
At the beginning of our journey, we took a passive position - we did not go to meet the market, did not make cold calls to the company, but simply worked on orders from friends. But if you want to build a business, you cannot do without active promotion.
Scaled too quickly in breadth, not in depth
We started to produce outside projects and expertise without creating a powerful team. But we could not implement new tasks at the same level as events. Clients saw that we did not meet the declared level and took orders. As a result, we decided to focus on the main thing - holding events, otherwise there was a risk of losing competitive advantage and regular customers.
Rodeo on the washing machine
By the early 2010s, Departament employed about 10 people. There were orders, but the business did not grow: Ivanov and Nedostoev ran the agency as two free artists - they went headlong into the creative part and almost did not do business at all. Their annual revenue was no more than 50 million rubles, there was almost no profit.
It was hard to call it a business - it was a huge crazy hobby. Romance came first, and money came second or third, - recalls Pavel Nedostoev.
With the arrival of Yulia Sigunova, Departament set a goal to work with large brands without intermediaries. If earlier the founders believed that the outcome of tenders in large companies predetermined, and were looking for orders through friends, now they overcame this prejudice - and began to make "cold calls". So they managed to enter their first major tender - looking for ideas for the presentation of a new MINI car model from BMW in the spring of 2014. The founders of Departament came up with an idea that even seemed crazy to them at first - to have a party in the laundry.
It was impossible to imagine that one could go with such an offer to such a reputable company as the BMW Group. I blushed, turned pale, said: “Guys, we won't succeed. What is the laundromat, what are you talking about? What kind of laundry party? This is BMW - driving pleasure, speed, that's all, ”Yulia recalls.
But they decided to take a chance - Departament had previously agreed with the site (the Art House complex on the Yauza) and offered to turn two empty floors into a huge laundry room, put giant installations there and arrange a rodeo on a wild washing machine. To impress the client, the founders hand-glued a mock-up of a foam board party for several days and even added Lego men to it. BMW representatives were shocked and gave the green light. The party went off with a bang.
The project for BMW became a breakthrough - the agency entered a large brand “cold”, without connections, and received an order thanks to an unusual creative offer. After that, Departament began to win tenders one after another, the number of orders increased, and revenue began to double every year. If in 2013 the agency's turnover was 100 million rubles, then in 2014 it was already 200 million rubles, and in 2015 - 400 million rubles. Among the clients were mainly luxury brands - Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche; projects - top social events such as the opening of the Garage Museum in June 2015. At the end of 2015, the number of agency employees exceeded 60 people, and Departament moved to a spacious office on Krasny Oktyabr overlooking the Moskva River.
Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.
Growth crisis
In order to advance in the market and get new clients, Departament actively engaged in PR - they began to maintain pages on social networks, participate in professional conferences, give comments and interviews for niche publications. Some do not like this activity: in "Garage" they believe that Departament attributed too much credit to itself in organizing the opening, - said Inc. source in the museum team. According to the official commentary, the concept of the opening was developed by the Garage team, while Departament was more likely to carry out technical tasks:
Educational projects Departament
Rooftop University
In 2015, Departament launched a series of educational parties. On Friday evening, celebrities and experts from different spheres where they talked about their work. The meetings were held in a relaxed atmosphere, with a glass of wine, and were free for both the participants and the speaker. Lectures at Rooftop University were delivered by former chief editor of Afisha Yuri Saprykin, ex-editor in chief of Vogue and Interview Russia Alena Doletskaya, marketing director of Yandex Dmitry Stepanov and others - about 80 lectures were given in total. The project was a non-profit and closed in 2017 along with other side projects of the agency as part of cost cutting.
Event MBA
In 2017, Departament launched the Event MBA courses in event management for those who want to immerse themselves in this profession or improve their qualifications. Now there are two products in the Event MBA - a 5-week Executive Education course (75 thousand rubles) and a 3-day intensive Event Killer (35 thousand rubles). The courses are taught by the founders of the agency, as well as invited lecturers (including showman Andrey Fomin, producer Mikhail Druyan, impresario Fedor Elyutin, etc.). More than 70% of students have experience in the event business and come to improve their qualifications, and the total turnover of the companies in which they work exceeds 400 million rubles. Departament plans to graduate about 500 students this year.
Departament was selected as the contractor to provide event coordination services. Among the tasks assigned to the agency are organizing the transfer of guests, recruiting personnel (cleaning, waiters, etc.), concierge services, etc., the press service of the museum said in a comment for Inc.
Nevertheless, competent promotion was another factor that allowed the agency to reach a new level and begin to actively scale up the business. In addition to events, Departament was involved in video production, PR-customer support, writing communication strategies for companies and celebrity marketing - the agency brought socialite Paris Hilton, rapper Snoop Dogg and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to Moscow. The agency even launched its own street-style clothing brand, Pizzaboy, and released merchandise for it in collaboration with the 2 × 2 TV channel. Large car brands predominated among clients: they are reliable, they have large budgets, and they need a wow effect all the time, so bright presentations for such clients are an ideal tool for sales, building an image and loyalty, says Petr Ivanov. In 2016, growth took on an alarming scale - there were already about 100 employees, and business profitability began to decline.
Most of the new projects required investment, but did not bring profit. Even the management of employees began to take much more time and effort (the agency hired 30 people in one month). The founders realized they weren't keeping up with the business economics at this pace.
After six months of active growth, we realized that we would go bankrupt at such a rate. It was a pity to freeze or close projects, but it was necessary to focus on what we are the best at, and cover all unnecessary things, says Ivanov.
As a result, Departament had to close side projects (including clothing and communication strategies for companies), cut costs (out of 100 employees, about 60 remained) and rebuild internal processes.
To simplify communications within the company, Departament created the DPRTMNT ONLINE management system - an intranet for employees, and transferred communication, voting on tenders and even approving documents to Telegram (this greatly simplified the workflow).
I also have a whole trend analytics department and a special secret chat in Telegram. Every creative does not start work until he throws off one cool news from IT and events in order to collect a base of ideas, says Peter.
Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.
Event business economics
Today Departament is one of the most famous event organizations on the market. Their revenue for 2017 amounted to more than half a billion rubles (profit, according to Inc.'s calculations, is more than 50 million rubles), and the average budget of the event is 12 million rubles. But in general, the marginality of the event business is quite low - only about 10%, over 10 years it has decreased by half, warns Pavel Nedostoev.
Companies want the 10% commissions that were negotiated back in the 90s to include design, direction and creativity. It's as if we bought Tesla at the price of iron, plastic and upholstery - and 10% of the cost of these materials would be added to the concern as a reward, ”says Nedostoyev.
Nikolay Andreev
founder of the BigJack event agency:
Departament is a significant player in the market. We learned about them at the end of 2014, when they took several awards at the Industry Event of the Year award at once, and the entire industry immediately became interested in them. Despite the competition, I respect them. They serve the product at a high level and could very well enter the international market.
In the event market, we all face the same difficulties. Firstly, these are tenders. It's not very pleasant when people who buy furniture start ordering events and try to bring them under measurable indicators. You offer them a cool concept, and they say: "We found it cheaper on the Internet, how can you justify it?"
Secondly, the post-payment period is growing. It turns out that event agencies - small businesses to which banks do not even give loans - lend to corporations with billions of dollars in turnover. On the one hand, this is a plus - a certain entry barrier has appeared (before that, non-professionals often undermined the reputation of the industry). On the other hand, it severely limits growth. You can win at least 20 tenders - but to implement all of them, there is simply not enough working capital. This makes our business less profitable.
It is impossible to maintain a company for this amount, therefore event agencies receive additional income - commissions from partners. Thanks to long-term relationships with contractors, the agency receives a special discount of 5-20% on bulk orders, and the client receives the market value of services. The pool of contractors is changing: at Departament, about half of them are permanent, the rest are found anew each time, depending on the needs of the event.
Departament receives payment from customers in two steps - advance payment and post-payment. But large international brands often ask for 100% credit for their event, and payment is guaranteed 30-90 working days after the signing of the acts (that is, about 1-6 months after the event), so it is safer for them to work with companies on an opaque Russian market... To avoid cash gaps when working with such customers, the agency often has to take out loans.
managing partner of a marketing communications agency
DEPARTÁMENT.NEW & WOW Marketing
We, as entrepreneurs, are responsible both for the success of the project and in front of our team,
and in front of the client. You have to balance on the brink of all factors.
Sometimes these are difficult and unpopular decisions.
Professional goals change and here it is very important to make the right choice, to be consistent. My hands still itch to do parties and launches, go to night editing, come up with a show. But my challenge is to be a businessman, to build a company, to develop new expertise in the agency.
Make friends with business partners- this is normal. When I am looking for partners, I first of all want them to be honest, selfless people, charged with creation and not losing faith that everything is possible. Before, I advocated the American pragmatic model - “nothing personal”. I was categorically against working in the same company with my husband, hiring a talented son of a friend or a neighbor who had returned from Oxford. I only needed cool professionals, with whom nothing connects me. But one day I ended up at Milano Design Week, where famiglia means a lot. Fashion houses Prada, Fendi, “dream factory” Alessi, confectioners Ferrero - all build their success not only on competent management, but also on family traditions. Enthusiastic and inspired, the heads of these companies speak with passion about the product that has become the pride of the family and the family that has become the mainstay of the company. This shook my seemingly win-win "nothing personal" model a lot.
Now I do business with friends and would like to create a company in which my children would be considered an honor to work.
Frankly speaking, events are Sparta, and exceptional people work here. Although we are all part of marketing, we do not want to be called "advertisers" at all. The associations and clichés that pursue this profession are not about us. Agencies specializing in event marketing are distinguished by their superpowers, clarity, and responsibility. And even the creative department, which occupies a special sacred place in our agency, is also a stable system, each time delivering an unpredictable cool product.
After several years of work, any eventor can masterly lie, but I learned not to deceive anyone, not even myself. True, this had to go some way. I will gladly tell you more about this in Psychologies magazine. Being open and positive about life is a shortcut to self-improvement and success.
The event marketing industry does not provide margin for error. When preparing and holding an event, there is only one chance to make an impression - on the appointed day and hour. Everything that the team has been working on for several weeks or months appears before the viewer in one moment. All efforts are concentrated in a few minutes of the show, which can be a triumph or a defeat. And this is not even a theater where there is a rehearsal process. It is more like a sport, like a soccer championship final. Nerves to the limit. Spectators are waiting for a miracle. Everything is important: the human factor, your field, the weather. Or as a surgical operation. You are a surgeon, studied the anamnesis, looked at the pictures and analyzes, but when a patient is on the operating table, you make an incision, and there it is ... And you are ready for any turn of events. Both the show and the whole event are always a combination of many factors, the combination of which is very difficult, but must be foreseen in advance.
We, as entrepreneurs, are responsible for the success of the project, and to our team, and to the client. You have to balance on the brink of all factors. Sometimes these are difficult and unpopular decisions.
Many people mistakenly believe that coming up with a creative idea is uncontrolled and abstract process. In fact, a brainstorm is technological process, and each technology has an algorithm by which it works. Creative development is also an algorithm, in fact, a real tool in order to create ideas and wow-concepts in the time frame and according to the brief given by the client.
We are all copying someone ... Ideas are in the air. I believe that this is not an aphorism, but pure truth. At the same time, creative teams are sitting in different parts of the planet or even in Moscow and working on the same idea. But the incarnation will always be different. There is a positive trend - large international companies willing to pay for creative ideas. But we do not strive to sell creative, but we want to bring to life what we have invented. We will do it in such a way that these ideas will be talked about.
You need to love what you sell. In the agency, we select those companies, brands and products that really change a person's life for the better: cars, gadgets, modern housing; inspire - museums, galleries, media; develop a person - sports, education; moving civilization forward - companies leading Scientific research promoting responsible business and sustainable development.
Despite the actively developing world of digital advertising and other marketing tools, I still believe that the highest quality and most detailed brand contact is a live contact. All modern advertising tools "360" are designed to "get" a person at different moments of his personal time, but if he independently made a decision to come to the presentation, and all the more got there new experience, then this is a direct hit on the target. To build an emotional connection between what you are selling and to those to whom you are selling it, to inspire and surprise, to show something new and completely exciting mind and attention - this is our main task.
Deadlines are ... well. Each task must have a due date. Otherwise, this is not a task, but a fantasy. We all live in a world of constant deadlines. And they allow us to do more in the seemingly endless timeline of our lives. Deadlines are the inner engine of each of us. So you develop faster, achieve your goals faster, manage to do more, not only work more efficiently, but also have more rest, spend quality time with your children, parents and friends.
I'm not very attached to your computer, phone and other gadgets. In general, in life you do not want to be attached to any things and have ingrained habits. I would like to be light and adaptive - to speak different languages, to feel at home in any country, to fit things in a small bag, not to need status markers and confirmation of their solvency. What am I doing for this? Free myself from things, from bad habits, I exclude activities that consume time (for example, TV, cleaning, trips to all authorities and shops), train physical endurance and learn meditation.
One-on-one with brands:
My breakfast consists of brands: No name oatmeal - the simplest and healthiest.
My sports brand: Adidas by Stella McCartney- the most futuristic.
City as a brand: Berlin- city of contrasts: Kreuzberg vs Grunevalde.
My app for work: DPRTMNT ONLINE- internal management system in the company. Self-learning corporate bot.
My car: Audi- innovative and elegant.
My clothing brand: Acne- ascetic and architectural.
My gadget: Samsung Gear VR- new opportunities.
My Icon Brand: Tesla- proof that anything is possible.
On Wednesday, November 21, it celebrates its birthday Yulia Sigunova, Marketing Director Mail.ru.@daily: How do you celebrate your birthday?
Yu. S.: This is usually very noisy: I try to get all my friends together. This year, however, I decided to be original - I will not celebrate my birthday.
- What new has this year brought you?
- Absolutely nothing new. A year is like a year. Although no, I bought myself rollers! And she put all her friends on videos. By the way, it immediately turned out that all Internet users ride on Poklonnaya Hill and on roller skates, it turns out that half of the business problems can be solved.
- So, videos have become your hobby?
- Yes, in principle I love sports and do it in my free time from work. I enjoy skiing, and I also often cross paths with people from the Internet for this activity. For some reason, there is an opinion that those who sit at the computer are sluggish and not athletic. In fact, this is not at all the case. They move a lot. These are active people, and this is probably why I often meet them wherever I go myself.
- Did you find your job while playing sports?
- No, before joining Mail.ru, I worked as a marketing director in the press department of the Independent Media publishing house. Then I was assigned to work on the site, and this became the reason for my acquaintance with the Internet. And in November 1999, I moved to Mail.ru. At that time there were only four people working in the company, and everything that happened there was very interesting to me. Since then, together with the company, I have experienced all three of its birthdays.
- And remained a marketer?
- I am a philologist by education, I graduated from the philological faculty of Moscow State University, but I work, of course, not in my specialty. When I entered college, there was no such profession as a marketer at all. This word came to the Russian language a little later - I say this as a philologist. But almost all of our course, one way or another, got into marketing, because philologists are not in value these days, and marketers are just the opposite.
- And what was the dream of a philologist who became a marketer as a child?
- When I was little, I was drawing and dreamed of becoming a painter and painting on sections of houses, on blank walls. I was attracted by this because when you paint, you do not strain, and when you finish, it turns out great. And most importantly, you don't have to be talented. The result of the work is always excellent. Moreover, it decorates the city.
Discussion and comments |
| Stepan- st12453hotmail.com 22 Nov 2001 4:47 PM |
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| Wow, what a handsome philologist! And how old she was - no one knows? |
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| anonymous 23 Nov 2001 4:10 PM |
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| and husband ... | |
| anonymous 23 Nov 2001 4:10 PM |
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| there is | |
