Discussions have been going on for years about what the Far East brand should be, whether it is needed and what benefits are expected from its creation. Today, there is no unambiguous position of experts on this issue, someone believes that it is impossible to form a single brand perception due to the uniqueness of culture and history of each region, someone, on the contrary, suggests using branding of territories to identify strengths and to form on their basis a sustainable growth of human and investment potential necessary for survival in a highly competitive environment.

Both positions are clear; they are based on a traditional dispute about what is primary in brand formation - meaning or specific figures and development tools. There is no hurry to answer it, in the current conditions branding, like any other field of activity, is subject to rapid development and fundamental changes of concepts previously considered correct and most effective.

It is wrong to view branding from a single point of view. Changing the culture of consumption and production requires new ideas and approaches that take into account not only the peculiarities of modern society, but also the necessary flexibility of the concept that does not limit business, but helps it to develop both domestic and foreign markets.

The creation of national brand-aggregators, such as "Made in Russia", is designed to harmonize all points of view, properly distributing the practical (national brand-aggregator "Made in Russia") and semantic (national, territorial, export, tourism, cultural and other brands) parts, as well as through a single national communication strategy to ensure the right vector in the spending of state resources on marketing.

This approach is seen as particularly important in the light of changes in the geopolitical vector, as well as frequent periods of turbulence in the world economy, which have resulted in a multiple increase in competition both between countries and regions within them. Today, the competition of state support measures and protectionism of individual states go hand in hand with "soft power", which is a set of meanings promoted in the process of intercultural communication.

The sanctions introduced against Russia have only increased the visibility and inevitability of the processes of economic transformation, which will take place in the shortest possible time and with the least favorable financial conditions. In this regard, regional politics will face a reality in which it will be necessary to develop absolutely all instruments that are traditional on the competitive foreign market, as well as to build a system and instruments for internal competition.

In this sense, for the Far East, the development of communication and regional brands can be compared to the creation of transport infrastructure to promote its own production, export, cultural, tourism potential and human capital.

Taking into account the fact that among the working population of Russia, as well as the majority of the working population of Asia-Pacific countries, according to the rating of EF EPI* for 2016, the level of universal English skills is in the yellow, low zone, and it is communication issues that may become one of the obstacles to the realization of the existing potential of the region.

Internet access, as well as modern IT solutions are able to solve such complex tasks, but they also require adaptation and creation of individual infrastructure for each region, where brands and companies become not just a link in the formation of image and semantic component, but also a full-fledged marketing tool within a single platform.

The implementation of a project of such a scale by a separate region is impossible, the creation of a brand of the Far East will not solve the state tasks on the development of the economy of the whole country, and as a separate tool can cause even greater stratification at the level of regions, where resource-rich territories will be in a knowingly advantageous position.

Building the right structure of national brands and sub-brands within a single concept of brand aggregator "Made in Russia" seems to be the only right solution at this stage.

Being in the role of a catch-up party, in the context of the development of the culture of communication, branding and design, Russia needs non-standard approaches that can overcome the earlier lost time in the shortest possible time.

It is impossible to implement such things without participation of every region, ministry, state companies and other stakeholders. We are already far beyond the borders, where uncontrolled injection of state money into media advertising, exhibition activities, business missions and marketing can solve the problems facing the state.

It is important to move from the pursuit of KPI** at any cost to a policy of collective interaction and creating an environment to grow a new generation of interesting companies. Yes, it is longer, more difficult, but there is much more to gain for the region and the country from such an approach, in the long term. The Far East is lucky in this sense, the export potential to Asia-Pacific countries and the wide range of available government support measures are already a great contribution to the foundation of a strong national brand, as well as a huge potential for its development under the "Made in Russia" brand aggregator concept.

* The Company English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) is an assessment of English language skills among the global workforce.

** KPI is a key performance indicator.

Author: M.D. Sadchenkov, National Project Manager.Fond "Roskongress"