The winners of the 27th season were named at the Silver Mercury Awards ceremony.

On May 29, the 27th Silver Mercury Awards ceremony, one of the main awards in the field of creative and marketing communications, took place at the Sickle and Hammer Recreation Center in Moscow. The presenters were Ksenia Sobchak, Artemy Lebedev and Oksana Samoilova. Dzhigan performed at the closing ceremony as a secret guest.

The event brought together 2,327 guests, 181 nominations and 12 thematic blocks. The ceremony was attended by 1,386 representatives of 652 advertising companies, including 199 CMOS, directors and marketing managers, as well as 1,187 specialists from brand, digital, PR and communication teams. Of these, there are about 76 top companies, including T-Bank, Yandex, VK, X5 Group, Sber, Avito, MTS and Magnit. The agency market was represented by 885 guests from 315 companies, including 248 top executives — CEOs, founders, partners and CEOs of advertising, creative, PR, media, digital and event agencies, as well as 637 employees of agency teams.

This year, 1,553 applications from leading agencies and brands were submitted for the award. Only 2.9% of the participants who applied for the competition received gold awards — such results are an indicator of high competition and quality of work. The Grand Prix was awarded to T-Bank for the Fraud Roulette case.The Russian Federation is a popular telephone resistance against fraudsters." The full list of winners is available on the Silver Mercury website.

"It is important for us that Silver Mercury remains a growth point for the industry. We want to show that talent in marketing and communications has real value: it helps brands grow, moves the market forward and should be converted into recognition, career opportunities and a decent income" — Mikhail Simonov, President of Silver Mercury/

The award ceremony was organized by the BALAGAN agency. The team took over the event concept, the direction and design of the space, the partnership integration and the creation of a seamless experience within the venue. One of the key decisions was to rethink the award format.: BALAGAN put together the event in one eventful evening, maintaining the scale and dynamics. The style of the ceremony was based around simple images of banknotes, safe deposit boxes and kitsch, hyperforms and eye-catching details were also used.

"For BALAGAN, this project was an opportunity to contribute to the development of the industry and show how an agency approach can change the usual format of an event. It is especially valuable that the Silver Mercury team trusted this experiment and was ready for updates. We have proven that when an agency comes to a project with its own vision, it can enhance the event. Many thanks to the Silver Mercury team for their trust," said Konstantin Abramov, co—founder of BALAGAN agency.

The organizers called the thesis "Talents should earn well" the main idea of the ceremony. Through him, Silver Mercury and BALAGAN emphasized that talent and its confirmation today directly affect the career growth of a specialist, the cost of expertise, the development of a brand and the creative economy as a whole. Professional awards help to verify this talent, marking the best with awards and media coverage.

The highlight of the evening was the opening of the main hall of the vault, where gold awards and the Grand Prix were presented. After opening the safe door, a bright performance from the VIA MEN team took place in the hall, who performed a medley of the most famous tracks on the subject of money. After that, Ksenia Sobchak took the stage for the ceremony and, together with Mikhail Simonov, President of Silver Mercury, launched the evening. The event was directed by Tamara Lipartia.

A separate part of the program was the media support in the format of live news from the Zen partner. "Zen News" appeared on the screens — a running line with the winners, the events of the evening, industry insights, interviews, memes and self-mocking comments about the creative field. Producer and director Fyodor Yelyutin, known for his Impresario project, became the news anchor.

BALAGAN attracted the most talented team and partners to implement the concept. OOPS TEAM specialists were responsible for the stage design and lighting design, DECORBURO company was engaged in the decoration.

"Today, the advertising industry is developing not only through competition, but also through strong partnerships. Silver Mercury unites agencies, brands, media holdings, technology companies and market leaders on one platform, creating an environment for dialogue, new acquaintances and joint projects. It is such associations that shape the future of the creative economy and become a growth point for the entire industry," commented Alina Dorokhina, Director of Development at Silver Mercury.

A separate challenge for the advertising industry was the dress code of the ceremony - luxury grunge (total black, leather, mesh, silk, velvet, massive jewelry and a bit of messy aesthetics in makeup and hairstyles). This visual code supported the general idea of updating the award. The dress code came from a simple idea: not to overload the guests with complex rules, but to set a visual bar for the evening. It was based on black— a premium color. And in order for the images not to look too strict, they added a grunge intonation: textures, carelessness, provocation and bright accessories.

According to the organizers, the updated Silver Mercury format should become not only the final point of the festival season, but also a new growth point for the entire advertising market.