General Information

The non-commercial organization Russian Marketing Association (RAM) was established in February 1995 by the leading Russian corporations, banks, universities research and consulting companies.

Owing to the national scale of RAM's activities the Russian Federation Government conceded permission for utilization of term "Russia" and Russian national symbols.

Amongst members of RAM there are leading manufacturers ("Lukoil", "AvtoVAZ", "Mobile TeleSystems", etc.), banking and financial institutions (VneshEconomBank, "Alfa Bank", AFK "Sistema", etc, scientific and research agencies (FOM – Public opinion foundation, Scientific institute of system analysis, etc.), auditing and consulting companies ("Nikkolo M", etc.), colleges (universities and institutes with specialized marketing or management departments. To date RAM unites 126 organizations from 35 Russian regions.

Our mission is the promotion of marketing through realization of marketing projects in Russia.

The main tasks of the Association are:

1. Work on coordinating marketing and investment projects, aimed to increase profitability and company's capitalization;
2. Marketing popularization on the basis of practical results;
3. Developing marketing strategies for capitalization growth of Russian companies;
4. Developing marketing tool-kit for small and medium enterprises;
5. Creating favorable conditions for growing skilled marketing professionals, developing professional and educational standards in marketing;
6. Cooperation with international professional organizations in the main fields of Association's activities.

Information and analytical basis of RAM's work is the Russian Marketing Information System (RMIS) created in 1996 in order to ensure proper level of marketing projects coordination, practical assistance to Russian manufacturers in organization and expansion of goods and services production and distribution.

In October 2004 Russian Marketing Information System (RMIS) was transformed into an information and analytical portal destined for small and middle-scale business. For the first time in Russian business-practice was realized the principle of "single window to marketing" which includes the widest range of marketing services from providing information on ready market studies to coordinating marketing and investment projects. The main purpose of the project is to render assistance to members of business community — top managers, private entrepreneurs, marketers in increasing competitive capacity of Russian companies through implementing the whole range of possibilities and instruments provided by marketing. The portal contains information on the main aspects: marketing, investments, human resources, international projects.

The Association works in cooperation with public administration bodies, along with other associations and unions comprising Russian business community. In 2001 RAM became the member of Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Since 1996 RAM is member of the European Marketing Confederation (EMC). At present RAM is carrying out a number of joint business and education projects.

The Association has signed several agreements on cooperation with foreign associations and organizations (American marketing association, Japan marketing association, Finnish Marketing Federation, etc). RAM also works with NIMA (Netherlands Marketing Institute), Belgian Marketing Foundation, CIMA (Czech Institute of Marketing). A significant part of our external relations is aimed at CIS countries: amongst our partners are the Ukrainian Marketing Association, Kazakhstan Marketing Association, Armenian Marketing Association, and Belarus Guild of Experts in Marketing.

The main purposes of cooperation with foreign organizations are: providing investment and export projects from members of RAM and RMIS to foreign associations; information exchange in order to enlighten foreign partners on RAM's and our partners' activities; mutual collaboration in organizing conferences and seminars; developing direct collaboration between members of RAM and foreign business and associations; assistance to Russian enterprises in establishing international relations, propaganda of RAM's and its members activities on international level and extension of RAM's acknowledgement as an organization representing Russia throughout international marketing society. The same statements are taken into consideration in RAM's cooperation with the World Association of Research Professionals (ESOMAR).

Increasing Russian companies' competitive power through marketing instruments implies supplying them with qualified marketing professional, while now there's obviously a deficit of such specialists. In September 2004, RAM concluded an agreement with 2 organizations highly estimated by European business community — the Netherlands Marketing Institute (NIMA) and Education & training centre of the Netherlands (ETCN) about postgraduate training of marketers under western standards and methodic. The first team of Russian trainers containing 14 people from different Russian regions event to the Netherlands in order to go through a course in teaching marketing under NIMA's standards (the project was financed with a grant from Dutch government).

From 1997 RAM annually holds international conferences under a common name "Marketing in Russia". Traditionally such a conference is held at the end of the year, this allows summing up the results of Russian business year, to define the main trends for its development in the future. The conference receives officials from the largest Russian and foreign manufacturers, investment, consulting and research companies, globally famous marketing professionals, consultants from top national and transnational companies. Usually key speakers at the conference are government officials responsible for forming state economic policies in Russian Federation President's Executive Office, Government, Parliament.

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