‘The market is growing due to the capacity of digital formats’: outdoor advertising brings 383 m rub to the budget of Kazan
A third of the stops in the city are served by advertising companies, but the future of the project is in doubt due to vandals
Kazan is the leader in the outdoor advertising market among millionaires
The volume of the outdoor advertising market in Kazan in 2024 amounted to a record 2.2 billion rubles. This is by 56% more than a year earlier, Askar Bagautdinov, the head of the Department of Outdoor Advertising and Information of the Executive Committee, said on Business Monday at the city hall.
“In terms of million-plus cities, not counting the two capitals, Kazan topped the 2024 rating in terms of the outdoor advertising market, overtaking major cities such as Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod," he stressed.
In 10 years, the volume of the outdoor advertising market in the capital of Tatarstan has grown 3.5 times. Currently, 1,304 permits for the installation and operation of advertising structures are in force in Kazan, last year there were 1,260 of them. The main share is accounted for by euroboards and bus shelters, Askar Bagautdinov added.
“The geography of advertising structures with digital surfaces has been significantly expanded. Today, along with 28 media facades, 159 euroboards, as well as 13 large-format structures, operate in digital format in Kazan," the speaker said.
According to him, 19 digital screens are already functioning on the bus shelters. Seven more will appear soon.
Average annual income from outdoor advertising is more than 408 million rubles
“According to the results of 2024, the revenue to the budget of Kazan under the contract for the right to install and operate advertising structures amounted to 383 million rubles. At the same time, the average annual income over the past four years is 408.2 million rubles. According to this indicator, Kazan leads by a wide margin in the ranking of cities with a population of one million," the speaker emphasised.
For comparison, the budget of Krasnoyarsk, which took the second place in the rating, received 193.6 million rubles, and Chelyabinsk — 188.6 million. It is planned that in 2025, thanks to outdoor advertising, Kazan will receive 346 million rubles, follows from the presentation demonstrated by Bagautdinov.
At the same time, due to the active construction in Kazan, it was necessary to temporarily dismantle advertising structures in the area of road repair and reconstruction. In this regard, the city's budget lost 10.7 million rubles, the speaker complained. As of the end of 2024, 22 structures remained temporarily dismantled, mainly located in the construction area of the first section of the second metro line.
One third of Kazan's stops are served by advertising companies
In 2024, 34 stops were transferred to advertising firms for maintenance. The budget revenue under these contracts will amount to 46.3 million rubles over 10 years, Askar Bagautdinov said. Income from one place for 10 years is 1.3 million rubles. “The main advantage of the project is to ensure high-quality maintenance of municipal bus stops," the speaker assured. A total of 424 bus shelters are currently in service with advertising companies, almost a third of their total number.
“The department has already prepared a project for the transfer of 36 more municipal bus shelters installed last year on Yamasheva, Amirkhana, Chistopolskaya, Aydarova, Glushko, Rodina, Sadovaya streets in the village of Otary, Sibirsky Tract,” said the head of the Department of Outdoor Advertising and Information.
In addition, a project is ready to replace 13 outdated municipal bus stops. The auction is scheduled to be held in the second quarter of this year. However, the future of the project may be in doubt due to local vandals. Last year, they smashed or graffiti-painted 132 windows at bus stops. Advertising companies are obliged to restore them. This year, the problem has only worsened — 59 more windows have already been broken in the first quarter.
“The state of affairs in the advertising business suggests that it is not more important, but better”
In 2024, the department, together with advertising companies, carried out work on the relocation of stops — according to GOST, they must be located at a distance of more than 3 m from the roadway. However, due to the historical development of the streets in the central part of the city, it is impossible to install most of the bus shelters according to these requirements, therefore, in cramped conditions, the distance was reduced to 1.5 m.
“These changes have already entered into force on January 1, 2025, which will allow the city to maintain a significant number of bus shelters in their usual places," stated Askar Bagautdinov.
He also stressed that in Kazan “the practice of installing illegal advertising structures has been almost completely suppressed.” During the year, the department identified five such facilities, of which four were dismantled and one is in operation.
“The 56% growth of the outdoor advertising market is impressive, it is one of the litmus tests of the investment attractiveness of the city. The current state of affairs in the advertising business in the Kazan market suggests that it is not more important, but better," Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin assessed the results. “The market is growing due to the capacity of digital advertising formats, rather than an increase in placements.”
As part of the two-month sanitation campaign, he called for advertisers to be “politely reminded” that the stops need to be put in proper condition by May 9.
“From September to today, you can see how the market has shrunk”
Last year, Kazan took the third place among Russian cities in terms of the volume of the advertising market, overtaking Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar and Novosibirsk. The total volume of advertising budgets in the city amounted to 7.4 billion rubles, which is significantly higher than in the previous year. The growth of the Kazan advertising market was 33% compared to 2023, when its volume was estimated at 4.7 billion rubles.
Internet services have traditionally taken the leading positions in the structure of the advertising market in Kazan. This segment accounted for 3.9 billion rubles. The second place went to outdoor advertising with a volume of 2.2 billion rubles (against 1.4 billion last year). Video advertising brought in 975 million rubles (735 million last year), and radio — 235 million rubles (210 million last year).
But such an increase was observed only until July. In the middle of summer, the Central Bank raised the key rate from 16% to 18%, and the number of advertisers dropped sharply.
“Now, starting from September to the present day, it is very clearly visible how the market has shrunk,” Olga Glukhova emphasised, adding that this is not a local phenomenon, but an all-Russian trend.
She noted that the industry is now wondering how the market will adapt to the new conditions in 2025. “It feels like everyone is just trying to get through this time, waiting for better times. Everyone is trying to save money," the expert stated.
