TV advertising in Russian FMCG sector: The analysis of expenditure and brand strategies under Russia–Ukraine conflict

The paper is devoted to econometric analysis of the impact of Russia–Ukraine conflict­, which started in February 2022, on TV advertising strategies of fast-moving consumer­ goods (FMCG) companies. With the help of quantitative methods, the study analyzes­ changes in TV advertising expenditures of domestic and foreign brands, using Mediascope TV Index daily data from 2021 and 2022 to test the hypothesis of whether this geopolitical shock made advertising costs dwindle or rise. Cross-country-of-origin and cross-product dif­ferences are also investigated. It is confirmed that, on average, the shock resulted in a reduction of ad expenditures of FMCG companies with a pronounced effect on domestic brands and brands from “friendly” countries. Thus, the cost-saving arguments seem to outweigh the expected benefits from promotion in the majority of the considered FMCG product markets. The increase in ad spending on isolated product groups (clothing, electronics, personal hygiene items and tobacco and alcoholic beverages) indirectly evidences that the brands faced sharp intensification of competition because of structural changes in the markets under which extra ad spending was found reasonable.