Looking East for Recovery

Packaged-goods, drug ads boost Russia, China

Multinational marketers, looking outside the lagging U.S. economy for recovery, are not seeing it yet in much of Europe. But it is a different story in the developing economies of Russia and China, which are fueling global growth estimates this year.

Russia will lead industry expansion, with ad spending leaping a dramatic 24.2 percent this year to $2.05 billion, according to Initiative Media. One in 10 Russians now qualifies as “middle class,” and about 85 percent of the average Russian salary is disposable income.