Morgenstern’s income (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on May 6, 2022) from advertising integrations at the end of 2022 decreased by 80% to 24.9 million rubles. This follows from the results of a study by the Association of Bloggers and Agencies – ABA (available from Vedomosti). In 2021, the income of the rap artist was 126 million rubles, indicated there.
The study, as the ABA representative clarified, was based on a count of visible advertising placements on Youtube, Instagram (owned by Meta, which was recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) and Telegram from popular bloggers recognized as foreign agents. Hidden types of advertising, such as product placement and sponsorship, were not included. The top ten popular bloggers included in the study were those whose advertising rates and earnings were available for ABA analysis, the association said.
On his Youtube channel (11.8 million subscribers), according to the ABA, Morgenstern posted 39 videos in 2022, which is five more than in 2021. But the number of ad integrations on the channel decreased six times over the same period: from 12 to 2. In Instagram (7.4 million subscribers), by the end of 2022, the number of posts by the rap artist decreased from 96 to 77, and the number of advertising integrations from 3 to 1. Telegram channel (547,840 subscribers) artist only appeared in March 2022, in total in 2022 it had 395 posts and three ad integrations.
A drop in revenue from advertising integrations was recorded for three more bloggers-foreign agents. For TV presenter Tatyana Lazareva (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on July 22, 2022), they decreased by 58% to 500,000 rubles, for publicist Yevgeny Ponasenkov (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on April 1, 2022) – by 58% to 1, 7 million rubles, from political scientist Ekaterina Shulman (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on April 15, 2022) – by 28.5% to 9 million rubles.
But six of the top 10 foreign agent bloggers increased their ad integration revenue in 2022. The largest increase was recorded by journalist Ekaterina Gordeeva (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on September 2, 2022) – 2.7 times to 25.5 million rubles.
Advertising revenues also increased for film critic Anton Dolin (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on October 14, 2022) – by 91% to RUB 13 million, journalist Yuri Dudya (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on April 15, 2022) – by 75% to 139.2 million rubles, TV presenter Mikhail Shats (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on September 2, 2022) – by 44% to 8.2 million rubles, political strategist Maxim Kats (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on July 22, 2022) – by 24% to 72.7 million rubles, journalist Alexei Pivovarov (recognized by the Ministry of Justice as a foreign agent in Russia on June 3, 2022) – by 12.7% to 267.3 million rubles.
A significant factor that influenced the dynamics of advertising income of bloggers-foreign agents was the loss of one of the key platforms – Instagram. On March 14, 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked this social network in Russia. And on March 21, Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, was declared an extremist organization and banned in Russia. According to Mediascope, the average daily Instagram coverage among Russians over 12 years old in February 2023 fell by 5 times compared to the same month in 2022 to 6%. The total income of the top 10 bloggers-foreign agents on Instagram decreased by 66% to 16.2 million rubles, follows from the ABA data.
Influence marketing market in 2022 fell by 2.5-3 times: from 13-15 billion rubles. (2021) to 4–6 billion rubles, was previously estimated at OMD OM Group. According to the founder of the Digital Church advertising agency Mark Khludnev, in 2021 the market overcame the bar of 20 billion rubles, but in 2022 it decreased by 20-30%.
The drop in Morgenstern’s income is due not so much to obtaining the status of a foreign agent, but to the fact that his content, in principle, has never been safe for the reputation of brands, says Tim Zhdanov, head of the department for working with bloggers at Media Direction Group. In 2022, the rap artist was at the center of scandals related, for example, to his alcohol addiction, which repelled many advertisers, says Mark Khludnev, founder of the Digital Church advertising agency.
According to Anna Kozyreva, head of the marketing and social media department at OMD OM Group, the status of a foreign agent carries reputational risks. First of all, as she notes, these risks are carefully calculated by the largest advertisers, so they are not ready to cooperate with foreign agent bloggers. “But smaller brands, as well as SMEs, are actively buying integrations from them,” she says.
There are currently no legal bans on advertising from foreign agent bloggers, Khludnev adds. In some cases, he believes, obtaining the status of a foreign agent can increase the blogger’s recognition.
Advertisers are ready to work with foreign agents if it is profitable for them, Timur Akhmedov, head of the Blacklight agency project team (ABA member), is sure. In addition, as he notes, international companies often go to foreign agents, for which the financing of foreign agents does not promise problems with the law in Russia.
Recently amended Russian criminal law prohibits cooperation with foreign and international organizations whose activities have been deemed undesirable in Russia, says Fyodor Kravchenko, managing partner of the Collegium of Media Lawyers. Even more stringent prohibitions, according to him, are imposed on the financing of terrorist and extremist organizations, therefore, in particular, it became dangerous to pay Meta Inc. for advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
“Unlike all these forms of cooperation, paid advertising on the blogs of foreign agents is legally the least risky,” the expert concluded.