October 23 — Advertising Workers' Day in Russia: history, traditions, congratulations

In Russia, October 23 is Advertising Worker's Day, also known as Advertiser's Day. This is a professional holiday for professionals who create and promote advertising products: marketers, copywriters, designers, PR and SMM managers. In 2025, the celebration falls on a Thursday. Izvestia tells about the traditions of Advertiser's Day and how to congratulate on a professional celebration.

The story of the Advertising Worker's Day

The Advertiser's Day acquired its unofficial but recognized status by the professional community in 1994. It is believed that it was initiated by Alan Ardasenov, the founder of one of the first advertising and publishing companies in Russia.

As a student, he worked as an advertising agent for the newspaper Delovoy Express. He placed his first advertising contract on October 23, 1994. A few years later, having achieved success and founded his own advertising business, Ardasenov decided to celebrate the anniversary of a landmark deal for himself.

In 2001, the entrepreneur rented a nightclub and invited his colleagues to the party. This event got into the media and attracted wide attention of employees of advertising agencies. In subsequent years, advertisers from different cities of Russia and some CIS countries joined the tradition of celebrating a professional holiday on October 23.

The origin and development of advertising in Russia

Despite the fact that Advertiser's Day is a young holiday in Russia, the advertising industry in our country has a long history. Back in the X-XI centuries, merchants used elements of advertising, hiring peddlers who lured customers with bright shouts, jokes and poetic jokes. The centers of such oral advertising were lively fairs.

In the 17th century, with the development of printing, the first written and graphic advertising appeared. Its bearers were splints — folk pictures with explanatory texts that talked about goods and services in an accessible form.

In the 19th century, with the growth of cities, industry, and publishing, advertising experienced a real boom. Advertisements were massively placed in periodicals, the first advertising agencies appeared, and entrepreneurs such as Abrikosov and Einem laid the foundations of branding by creating recognizable packaging and conducting large-scale product promotion campaigns.

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In the Soviet era, advertising was at the junction of planned economy and ideological agitation. The iconic figures of this period were poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and artist Alexander Rodchenko, who created a series of posters in the 1920s for a number of government organizations such as Rezinotrest and Mosselprom. Their works, combining catchy graphics and laconic, biting slogans ("Nowhere but in Mosselprom!"), went down in history as examples of constructivist art.

In a later period, advertising began to appear on television. However, the videos were often not so much commercial as propagandistic in nature, demonstrating the successes of the national economy. A striking example of this is a commercial dedicated to corn, which appeared on screens in 1964.

The active development of commercial advertising in its modern sense began in the era of Perestroika and continued after the collapse of the USSR. The first advertising agencies, specialized TV channels and production centers appeared. Important milestones in the development of the advertising industry were the inclusion of the specialty "Advertising" in the register of professions and the adoption in 1995 of the Federal Law "On Advertising", which laid the legal foundations for regulating the industry.

The modern advertising industry

Today, advertising is a complex, multifaceted industry, employing specialists of various profiles. With the development of digital technologies, tools such as targeted advertising have come to the fore, allowing you to fine-tune advertising messages to suit the interests of a specific audience. New professions have also entered advertising:

• SMM managers are engaged in brand promotion on social networks;
• targetologists — set up the exact hit of ads to the target audience;
• SEO specialists - ensure the visibility of websites in search engines;
• content managers are responsible for the content of digital platforms;
• copywriters — create selling informational texts;
• PR managers — create a favorable image of the company;
• event managers — organize promotional events.

The work of these specialists is in demand not only by commercial structures for the promotion of goods and services, but also in other areas. Thus, social advertising draws attention to charitable and other socially significant initiatives, and political advertising, including election advertising, is an important tool for obtaining the largest number of votes.

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Who goes into the profession

Young people mostly go into advertising, often graduates of the departments of Advertising and Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism or Design. They are attracted by the dynamic environment, the opportunity to work with major brands, the creative component and the potential for rapid career growth. Many start as interns or juniors in large agencies, where they can rise to senior positions in a few years.

What qualities should you have?

However, one degree is not enough to be successful in advertising. A professional needs a unique set of personal and business qualities.:

• Creative thinking is the ability to generate non—standard ideas and create memorable images.;

• analytical mindset — the ability to work with large amounts of data, analyze audience behavior and track the effectiveness of advertising campaigns;

• curiosity and broad—minded - a successful advertiser should be aware of the latest cultural trends, technological innovations and social processes.;

• flexibility and willingness to constantly learn — in order to remain in demand, an advertiser needs to constantly master new tools, platforms and formats.;

• the ability to work in a team — since advertising is always a collective project, it is important to competently interact with other specialists: copywriters, designers, managers and marketers.

It is the combination of creativity, strategic thinking and business acumen that allows today's university graduates to repeat the success of the pioneers of Russian advertising and leave their mark on the industry.

Legends of Russian advertising

The Russian advertising market regularly generates bright and effective projects that will be remembered by the audience for a long time. However, their success would not have been possible without talented managers, creatives, and strategists. Among the most influential people whose contribution to the development of the industry is particularly significant are:

• Timofey Bokarev— CEO of the Next Media Group holding, who is considered one of the pioneers and authors of various types of banners in Russia, and it is quite possible to study the history of Russian online advertising in developing his business.;

• Sergey Yanovsky is the first Russian gold medal winner of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and a member of the jury of leading industry festivals. He came to the industry from concert promoters.;

• Ilya Stewart, the founder of one of the most famous and successful production companies from Moscow, Hype Production, which not only makes advertisements for leading brands, but also shoots music videos, the studio's commercials were also awarded at the Cannes Lions Festival;

• Evgeny Primachenko is one of the most successful copywriters who develops global advertising campaigns for the world's leading brands.

Advertiser's Day: professional traditions and events in 2025

Advertiser's Day is traditionally celebrated in the professional environment and serves as an occasion for both informal communication and business exchange of experience. In recent years, themed parties, corporate parties, and meetings with a close circle of colleagues have become especially popular.

Significant industry events also take place on this day: conferences and round tables where trends and the future of advertising are discussed, seminars and creative meetings with recognized industry experts.

The key event for all advertisers is the International Advertising Exhibition, which takes place annually at VDNH in Moscow. In 2025, it is scheduled from October 20 to October 24. The event is held with the support of the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (ACAR), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and serves as the main platform for demonstrating market innovations.

How to congratulate on October 23rd

Colleagues, friends and relatives congratulate advertising workers on their professional holiday. Gifts are often chosen as gifts based on professional and personal interests and hobbies. For example, you can give:

• an album with works by famous designers;
• a book on psychology or marketing;
• rare advertising posters;
• Useful gadgets: a wireless keyboard, a graphics tablet, a powerful power bank or a smart speaker for working with music and podcasts.;
• gift certificates.

Congratulations on Advertiser's Day

"Congratulations on the Advertising Worker's Day! This holiday is a great occasion to celebrate your contribution to the development of the industry. I wish that work tasks are solved easily and efficiently, and that negotiations take place in a constructive and friendly manner. Remain the main driver of growth and a generator of breakthrough ideas!"

"Congratulations on your professional holiday, Advertiser's Day! I wish that your portfolio is replenished only with successful and iconic cases that will inspire and fly into the "tops". May each of your clients become a partner, and may each project open up new horizons for creativity and professional growth!"

"Happy Advertiser's Day! May your creativity never run out, slogans become famous, and visual solutions set trends for the entire industry. Stay one step ahead, create and conquer new heights. Good luck and inspiration!"

"Please accept my warmest congratulations on Advertiser's Day! I wish that the conversion rate of your campaigns breaks records, and the audience is looking forward to your new work. And always be the one who knows how to generate ideas into masterpieces of advertising art and knows how to attract attention and win the hearts of millions!"

"Congratulations on Advertiser's Day and I wish your work to always be a joy and bring brilliant results. Let the media plan line up perfectly, and campaign budgets only grow. I wish you to find a common language with the most demanding audience and create ads that not only sell, but sincerely admire!"

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the traditions of PR Specialist Day in Russia.

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