Branding Russia: What Works and What Doesn't

As relations with the West grow tenser, the task of branding Russia becomes harder. Does Moscow agree with this? What are the challenges that Russia faces when talking about Nation Branding? What are Russia's success stories and failures?

Olga Ivanova from Russia Direct as she discussed what leaders in Moscow are striving for with "Branding Russia." This conversation was moderated by Robert Banks, former Foreign Service Officer at USIA and the U.S. Department of State who served as the Center on Public Diplomacy's Public Diplomat in Residence from 2009 to 2011. He is currently an associate professor USC’s Master of Public Diplomacy Program.

About Olga Ivanova

Olga Ivanova is the Deputy Publisher, International Expansion of Russia Beyond the Headlines and Publisher of Russia Direct. Ms. Ivanova has more than 10 years of experience with media management & communications in the United States and Russia. For the last three years her specialties have been launching and managing start-up ventures within media companies, initiating partnerships, expanding content distribution, negotiating contracts and affiliate management.

Prior to joining the Russia Direct and RBTH, Olga spent three years at The World Bank with External Communications department. She also worked for various media outlets and digital agencies, serving as a consultant to a number of Russian media companies, including UMH Group, TASS news agency. As a journalist and editor, she wrote for The Washington Post, Slon Magazine, Slon.ru, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia Beyond The Headlines, Journalist Magazine, etc. 

At RBTH and Russia Direct, she is responsible for business strategy, online audience development, paid content strategy and working closely with commercial team, delivering revenue generating ideas and developing innovative marketing and advertising solutions. Start-up ventures include Russia Direct, The Kompass, R Magazine, mobile products and special projects.

Olga also spoke at a number of professional conferences in Russia and is a winner of Advertising Hackathon 2014 by World Association of Newspapers for Ad Validator project, location-based technology that tracks user’s interaction with online ads and proves its effectiveness. Ms. Ivanova is a Muskie Scholar for Journalism and Mass Communications (2007). Ms. Ivanova holds a M.S. in Multimedia Management from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, as well as B.A. in Journalism and B.A. in Linguistics magna cum laude degrees from Baikal State University of Economics and Law and from Irkutsk State Linguistic University. She speaks Russian, English, French and basic Italian.