GMR Marketing Launches Moscow Office

Global sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency, GMR Marketing has  launched a new office in Moscow. The expansion into Russia and CEEMEA comes as a response to the market’s continued emergence as a global stage and, correspondingly, interest among the agency’s top brand clients to strategise around it. The effort, a move that is further widening GMR’s international footprint, will be led by Russian marketer, Julia Scherbakova.

With both the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and 2018 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, a growing demand for sports sponsorship strategy is of particular interest to a number of GMR’s global brand clients. Having recently managed programs for several top-tier London 2012 Olympic Games sponsors, the agency is equipped to deliver.

“Strategic Marketing Consultancy, particularly in the world of sports and sponsorship, has been one of GMR’s core competencies for decades,” says Cameron Parsons, GMR’s International Managing Director. “Russia is fast becoming a crucial market in this space. First and foremost, we’re entering the market as the trusted partner of our global clients who see a rich opportunity in a key growth market.  We expect local relationships to grow from the experience and counsel we bring to Russia.”

GMR is no stranger to strategic expansion itself. The Russian base is among several other global offices that the Omnicom agency, a member of Diversified Agency Services, has launched in recent years. Openings include Singapore in 2010 and both Brazil and Australia in 2011. The agency now operates 17 offices in ten countries on five continents worldwide, executing client programs in 70 countries over the last 18 months.

“GMR has experienced significant international growth over the past several years,” says Gary Reynolds, GMR’s CEO and Chairman. “There’s no question that Russia is the next big global marketing stage. We couldn’t be more excited to place our clients front and center and extend our services even deeper into the region in years to come.”

Not unlike Russia, GMR’s entry into Brazil was launched with much the same focus on increased client needs surrounding the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. Since entering into the region last year, the office has been met with an increasing demand for marketing expertise among other brands in the region.

Newly-appointed office head Scherbakova joins GMR with over ten years of brand marketing experience in Russia and CEEMEA, most recently as the Marketing Communications Director for Sochi 2014 partner, MegaFon. Among Scherbakova’s responsibilities were leading the development and implementation of MegaFon’s sponsorship communication strategy for Sochi 2014 and for their properties across football and ice hockey. Prior to working at MegaFon, Julia worked at leading advertising agency D’Arcy.

“GMR Marketing is a leading global agency already operating in some of the most important markets around the world,” said Scherbakova. “I look forward to extending GMR’s roster of blue chip global brands into Russia and the CEEMEA region and building a strong local client base.”