"THE LOCOMOTIVE OF TRADE" NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED

"Advertising should infinitely remind us of everything, even wonderful things ..."

Vladimir Mayakovskiy

Such a popular expression as "advertising is the locomotive of trade", though born in the late 19th century, did not lose its relevance even during the reign of the Soviet planned economy. And in our days, when the fact that the successful sale of manufactured products is largely dependent on advertising has become almost a truism, every self-respecting company spends a significant portion of its budget on advertising. At the same time, the advertising business is globalized, and today it is normal to advertise not just specific products or specific brands, i.e. business entities, and even sectors of the economy, but even a whole country.

In Azerbaijan, advertising has seen clear progress in recent years - with the emergence of major new businesses and national brands, new advertising products appear on television, in the print media, on outdoor billboards and even on buses. Moreover, a significant amount of advertising is made and produced inside the country. It may not always be of high quality, but it still helps the local advertising industry to gain momentum and develop competitive relations, which will ultimately improve its level.

The same can be said about advertisements about Azerbaijan in general, which are necessary, above all, in order to enhance the tourism potential of the country and promote its cultural heritage, economic opportunities and political will. The first steps in this direction - commercials about the Land of Fire aired on the world's leading television channels - have been quite successful. Will they help solve problems in this area?

First steps

Recently, Baku hosted the first Baku international scientific-practical conference "Culture of Advertising - Reality & Prospects: A Modern View on Advertising and Marketing". It was at this conference where some very interesting facts, figures and opinions about the situation in this sphere in our country were announced.

For example, according to Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Qarayev, Azerbaijan occupies a significant place in advertising and promoting national values in the world. According to him, the formation of a modern image for the country is very important. "Today, all the major television channels of the world air advertisements for Azerbaijan, which affects the development of tourism in the country. Among these channels are CNN, Euronews, etc. After such a massive advertising attack, the number of tourists coming to our country has increased by 14 per cent on average, and over the past year alone, this figure has risen to 40 per cent. And this is happening amid the global economic crisis," the minister said.

As it turned out, Azerbaijan has taken part in about 25-30 travel and 7-10 book exhibitions in the recent period and organized tourism exhibitions within the country. "Thus, we promote the country abroad and the way our industry and other sectors of the economy are developing. The formation of a modern image for Azerbaijan is our top priority," Qarayev said.

At the same time, the minister acknowledged the presence of a considerable number of problems in the advertising field, while the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture, Nizami Cafarov, even said that advertising itself needs advertising.

According to the president of the Azerbaijani Union of Advertisers, Haciami Atakisiyev, despite the fact that the potential turnover of the Azerbaijani market is 1.5 billion dollars, the real figure is only 200-250 million dollars (!).

Frankly speaking, even monitoring of the market is not so easy, since advertising in our country is still fragmented, there is no sufficient legal framework to regulate the market, and there is no concrete structure or controlling processes.

That's why there are sometimes quite unpleasant mistakes, when a defective product gets a label with some historical name as an advertisement. "We need to control the process of assigning names such as The Seven Beauties or the name of a writer to a beverage. At the same time, we should not allow inscriptions in a foreign language to be made on a historical building," Minister Qarayev said.

Historical control

The minister's position is clear. For example, almost every tourist visiting Austria must purchase Mozart chocolate depicting the great composer as a sample or as a gift. And, of course, no one even doubts its quality - it is a product worthy of the name of the famous Austrian and already a global brand in itself. And these examples are enough. That is to say we are not talking about banning the use of historical names or names of famous Azerbaijanis as names for trademarks or brands. Moreover, this has to be done for wider advertising coverage of the country's cultural and historical heritage. After all, a foreigner who buys sweets or a drink called, say, Nizami will certainly inquire about the personality of the great poet, his works and can learn a great deal about the ancient history and culture of our people through this information. And if you consider that when he arrives in his own country, he will share this information with at least 5-10 of his family members and friends, they will also be interested and want to visit our country? That is to say in fact, the name of a good consumer brand can grow into a global advertisement for the country. It is therefore important not only to monitor the use of historical and cultural names on the products of local manufacturers, but also stimulate the creation of luxury consumer products with these names, which could become another tourist symbol of the Land of Fire. According to MP Nizami Cafarov, in today's world, culture, art and history are already becoming an advertising event, and it is very important to make good use of this lever of propaganda.

To summarize, we should note that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has already prepared a "list of names that are considered the historical and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan" and "rules of issuing permits for the use by private and legal persons of historical names, Azerbaijan's historical and cultural heritage and special symbols associated with it".

Objectives for the future

The above conference can contribute to the solution of problems in the field of advertising, not least because there is a specific document, which identifies goals and objectives for the future - a kind of action plan, and this is, as they say, half the work.

For example, the final declaration of the first Baku international scientific conference contains a number of innovative proposals for the local market. The declaration provides for the improvement of the existing legislation in the advertising business, the creation of a special structure (union, association, Chamber of Commerce), which will regulate the advertising market, consultations on the monitoring of promotional products by relevant entities, and the study and use of international experience in the field of advertising. The document also reflects issues related to the publication of special books and textbooks to teach advertising, the creation of an encyclopedia of advertising terms, state support for the development of advertising and holding of international conferences to discuss ways of solving problems in the field of advertising.

We also learned that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has initiated a state programme to improve the advertising business in Azerbaijan. According to the minister, the state programme bas been prepared since 2006. "Although the programme has not yet been approved by the head of state, we have begun work on its implementation at the ministry," Qarayev said. In addition, he believes, it is necessary to form a culture of advertising in Azerbaijan in general.

However, with regard to the latter thesis, there are really a lot of problems in this sphere. And it's not just awkward samples of advertising that slip into the air or street billboards and sometimes do not meet moral, ethical and cultural norms. Today, we have very few companies engaged in this business in a serious, professional way. According to the head of the Azerbaijani Union of Advertisers, Haciami Atakisiyev, officially there are about 20-25 of them. But there are also many primitive workshops, which operate secretly without registration in order to avoid taxation or customs duties and other payments. Accordingly, there is no point in talking about the level of their products.

And how can low-quality adverts interest the consumer? Often, there is even the opposite effect - bad advertising creates in the consumer a similar impression about the advertised product. Moreover, as a "visual" product, adverts play a role in shaping aesthetic tastes: it is no secret that it often interests children, and words and illustrations in advertisements get imprinted in their minds.

In short, monitoring of the advertising market in Azerbaijan is still needed. Of course, it should not be carried out in contrast to the norms of market relations, but there should be certain canons and boundaries for both advertisers and advertising agencies themselves. That's when we can talk not only about the quantitative growth of the advertising market, but also about its quality merits.

In conclusion, it would be desirable to recall once again the words of Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovskiy, who said 80 years ago: "Even the most reliable business will not move forward without advertising ... Advertising is a name for things. A thing makes a name for itself like a good artist makes a name for himself… Advertising must have diversity, inventiveness, freshness of perception, richness of imagination and unexpectedness of associations... Think of advertising."