The creative economy has already become an active mechanism of social change

One of the key themes of the first day was the change in the approach to the development of territories. The experts noted: Today, a regional brand cannot be considered only as a visual concept or a promotion tool. It is about creating a deep identity of the territory that connects the economy, culture, the internal code of the inhabitants and the strategic objectives of development.

Speaking at the profile session of the Russian Creative Week 2026, Marina Mongush, President of ANO Creative Economy and director of the Russian Creative Week Forum, stressed that regions often make the mistake of focusing only on the outer packaging.

"We used to think that a local brand is solely our historical heritage, crafts, a conditional Tula gingerbread or samovar, which has been driving tourism for centuries. But what is the new business identity of the region and how to invent it when the dominant raw material goes away? A metabrend is an in—depth methodological work with scientists, psychologists, sociologists, and economists. Packaging, beauty and design are the very last moment when the product has already been invented. A metabrend works for the economy and social effects only when it penetrates at least three layers: it must be interesting for local businesses to earn money, touch the internal code and DNA of a person in this territory and solve the tasks of the governor's team," said Marina Mongush.

According to the participants of the discussion, the metabrend is becoming not a marketing superstructure, but an instrument of economic development. This is confirmed by the experience of the Tyumen Region, where the new identity of the territory has become part of the region's diversification strategy.

Andrey Panteleev, Deputy Governor of the Tyumen Region, told how the region, which for a long time was perceived primarily as an oil and gas center, has formed a new image around tourism.

"Tyumen's new brand as the capital of thermal springs is an accurate, digitized economy. We started in 2017 with 1.7 million tourists and 400 million rubles in taxes, and last year we closed with 4.5 million guests and 4.9 billion rubles in tax revenue. In order not to get into a dead end, we abandoned banal patterns and launched the brand "To Siberia on our own." The harsh winter forces us to innovate. We are currently simultaneously developing strategies for agglomeration, investment, and socio-economic development with a horizon up to 2050. At this distance, it is obvious that the current industrial structure cannot be maintained if you do not go into science and creative industries," said Andrey Panteleev.

The experience of the regions shows that a new identity becomes sustainable only when it is connected to the real economy and creates opportunities for people and businesses. However, to scale such opportunities, an infrastructure is needed that allows ideas, products, and meanings to expand beyond individual territories. That is why one of the central issues of the first day of the Russian Creative Week was the role of the platform economy. The participants discussed how Russian digital ecosystems are becoming not only channels of interaction, but also growth tools for manufacturers, entrepreneurs and creators of creative products.

At the session "Platform colonization and digital Independence. The time of expansion of domestic solutions" experts noted that Russian platforms are already becoming significant economic players. According to Data Insight, the total turnover of the ten largest platforms in 2024 exceeded 8 trillion rubles, while only Wildberries and Ozon generated more than 5.8 trillion rubles of turnover.

Ekaterina Ulanova, Director of the RWB digitalization department, spoke about the "Growth Platform", a program to support Russian brands, which already involves more than one and a half thousand manufacturers. According to her, a modern platform is not only a sales channel, but also a full—fledged ecosystem that combines logistics, customer feedback and product development tools.

"The platform is not only a sales channel, but also an ecosystem: logistics, customer feedback, feedback that helps the manufacturer improve the product," Ekaterina Ulanova emphasized.

At the same time, the panelists emphasized that the development of the platform infrastructure is only the first step. To enter global markets, we need conditions in which product creators can protect intellectual contributions, scale solutions, and compete for audience attention.

Creative producer of the United Center for Creative Economy Nikolay Gorely noted:

"We need to ensure that producers have protection for their intellectual contributions, so that they have certain guarantees. And if Russia starts looking in this direction — to focus specifically on the person, on the production class — then there are chances that we can be attractive to the world."

Continuing the discussion on global markets, the session participants moved from infrastructural and legal issues to modern economic realities and barriers. The speakers agreed that the promotion of a national product requires deep pragmatism, rigorous regulatory work and adequate financial support.

Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Director of the Information and Press Department, responding to a question about what promotes value narratives most today — the quality of meanings, delivery technology or consistency of position, noted the importance of all three components.

"The phrase stay yourself is more relevant now than ever. What does it mean? It doesn't mean going against the flow, realizing that it's risky. I'm talking about not giving up the essence in the name of a lightning-fast, momentary, seemingly profitable idea or proposal. Do not lose yourself, do not lose your foundations, and do not betray your profession. This is becoming very important today. Because when such turbulent changes in the world begin, you can only hold on to something worth paying attention to in terms of values," Maria Zakharova emphasized.

The conversation about competitiveness gradually shifted to the main resource of the creative economy — the human being. The participants of the Russian Creative Week emphasized that the development of the industry is connected not only with the creation of new markets and products, but also with the formation of an environment in which a person can realize himself, participate in the transformation of territories and create the future.

At the session "Ideology of care: new scenarios of life in the regions after the end of the SVO," experts discussed how creative industries can become a tool for social adaptation and the search for new roles for people returning to peaceful life.

Vyacheslav Makarov, Executive Director of the Unity of Historical Destinies program, noted:

"We are obliged to offer veterans fundamentally new, significant roles in production, business, media and creative structures. For example, who better than them understands how safe, convenient and comfortable the restored cities of Donbass and Novorossiya should become?"

The demographic agenda has also become one of the important social themes. At the session "Creativity and fertility. How does the environment affect demographics?" The participants discussed how culture, the urban environment, cinema and visual images influence people's ideas about family and the future.

Sergey Novikov, Head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Public Projects, stressed that financial incentives alone are not enough.

"Previously, we focused on financial incentives. But we have seen that in other countries that have focused on returning to their traditional values, demographic growth has occurred. This is due to the creation of a culture conducive to childbearing," said Sergey Novikov.

Another important topic of discussion was the topic of new generations and the digital environment. At the session "People of the future. What will be the creative economy of the Alpha generation?" experts said that children born in the digital age require new approaches to communication, education and value formation.

The first day of the Russian Creative Week 2026 demonstrated that the creative economy is already creating social effects — changing the perception of territories, opening up new models of economic growth, shaping cultural scenarios and affecting people's quality of life. Its main resource remains man, the creator of meanings, products, and changes.