“Back to the future, or we have reached the pre-crisis level…. What is most important to you in your profession

Julia Sigunova is a master of successful, enchanting and memorable events. She and her agency DEPARTÁMENT Creative Event Marketing know how to surprise the client and captivate the guests. As one of the most successful companies looking for ideas? What is the secret of a good event atmosphere? How to establish an ideal relationship with a customer? And what shapes the personality of a successful event person? You will learn about this from an interview with the executive director of DEPARTÁMENT Creative Event Marketing - Yulia Sigunova.

Once you worked as a marketing director at mail.ru, and then you and your partners decided to open your own event agency. What preceded this? At what point did you realize that you wanted to have your own business?

It always seemed to me that I was a classic employee. I never dreamed about own business except for childhood fantasies about their flower shop. Apparently, in the life of every person there comes a moment of rethinking what has already been done and what remains to be done. It must have been the same moment and the same company. I mean my friends with whom we decided to create a business.

It turns out that friends largely influenced the decision to create their own joint business?

Yes, there were friends with whom we began to fantasize, invent, dream. And very boldly, without limiting yourself in anything. Then these bold dreams turned into decisive actions. We left our prestigious jobs and created a company.

Was it scary to leave a prestigious position in a prestigious company?

Absolutely not scary. In fact, it’s even great to do such things and turn your life perpendicular. It was interesting to me. My boss supported me and even became our investor.

Did you immediately realize that you want to engage in large-scale events?

No, not right away. We gradually moved towards this. Gradually, the very idea of ​​business crystallized, since it was a long time ago and the event industry did not exist then. At first there was a desire to be creative and do some nice, unusual things. Surprise your friends and loved ones. Then it grew into a big business.

Presentation of the new Porsche 911 Carrera GTS at the opening of the Rublevsky Sports Car Center

Is it hard to bear the title of one of the best event- agencies and always keep the bar?

This is an internal censor that does not allow you to do worse. This is completely organic and self-evident. And so not only in work, but also in life. I have high standards in front of everyone: friends, family, children, colleagues.

You are often innovators of certain ideas. Do you set such a task for yourself or does it happen by itself?

Yes, we set such a task. I have very progressive partners who also set high standards for themselves, always making a completely new, unique product. They don't want to do standard things, they don't want to be like everyone else.

#imagineQ7 - the world's first car presentation in virtual reality

What allows you to always be the first? Maybe there are personal methods for finding ideas?

There are personal methods. They are successfully owned by my partner - Peter Ivanov. I think that success depends a lot on the business partners that I have always had. Both in the former company, and in this one. Petr Ivanov, Pavel Nedostoev and Sonya Gershtein - it is very important for me to have such a team and reliable people. At the moment of personal weakness, when strength, energy or faith in the future ends, they support and show new horizons. I do exactly the same. It's always a great support. And for me there has always been a question of how companies live, where there is one person - a leader who leads his ship in splendid isolation. Such a captain who stands alone on deck and always knows the course exactly. These people amaze me. I am a team person.

Organization of the opening of the new building of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

Surely you have spoiled clients who have already seen everything and want something original. How do you know that a certain idea is perfect for a particular company?

We all have such clients. I can't call them spoiled. These are those clients who have non-standard tasks, and they need to be solved in non-standard ways. We choose them ourselves, so we never complain. First of all, experience allows you to determine what a particular client needs - this is the first, and the second is the lack of experience. Actually, the secret creative idea- this is a lack of experience, so young companies and employees are good. They don't have bad experiences. They are not afraid to come up with bold ideas. Each new generation rethinks the experience of mankind, again reshoots Anna Karenina, stage their own Hamlet, walk through their Shakespeare labyrinths. And it is talented, relevant, interesting. If you connect these two things - experience and lack of experience, you will get a very good result.

Petr Ivanov and Pavel Nedostoev

It turns out that you are constantly attracting new people with no experience?

Of course, one of the advantages of our agency is invaluable experience. The management team is formed from successful professionals whom we trust. Therefore, for the right synergy of this experience and breakthrough creativity, we attract young and talented people who are not afraid to offer bold solutions to the team.

Can you give an example of how you usually develop non-standard and unique solutions for companies?

Generally speaking, DEPARTÁMENT has a creative department that employs capable and talented people. We're going to brainstorms as a big team, often bringing in outside people. But there are specific methods and technologies for how this is done, but this is already a secret.

How long do brainstorms last?

They shouldn't take long. We always have strict time limits. Not more than an hour. good ideas issued in 20-25 minutes, then the brain gets tired of thinking. It is better to gather in several sessions.

How many sessions does it take you to develop one idea?

In one of your interviews, you said that the event should be prepared in good mood and with full understanding of the agency and the customer. Do you always manage to keep this harmony? What is needed for this?

Fortunately, it almost always works. This requires a philosophical understanding that we are not opponents. We are comrades-in-arms and players of the same team, we are sailing in the same boat and rowing in the same direction. As soon as you tell yourself this, you begin to understand that you came to make the client happy. This is your first priority. As the saying goes: "to forgive - you need to understand, to understand - you need to know." Same here. Learn more about the client, about his business. What is he doing? What does he do? What are his values, weaknesses, problems? You will understand him, love him and be in the same boat with him.

Daria Zhukova at the opening of the Garage Museum

Let's talk about the atmosphere of the events. After all, this is a very delicate moment. The event can be organized at the highest level, but the atmosphere is tense or boring. How do you manage to create the right atmosphere? Are there personal methods?

Yes there is. Indeed, this is one of the most important factors, because people will not ask why there was no video projection, ice cream and so on. But they will say that it was boring. There are certain rules here. First, you yourself need to be in a great mood. You energize those around you. Those people who know how to do this are successful event-persons. Secondly, you need to properly meet the guests: make sure that everyone feels that he is an important, expected guest, who is respected and loved. Thirdly, the lighting at the event is crucial. Look at the festival Outline: the light is everything there. We also know how to control the light and monitor the mood of people. We see how it changes depending on the light. Fourth, you need to create an interesting complex space, people should not be in the same room all the time, because it's boring. Fifth, high-quality sound and music is important. Maybe everything is fine, but the host's voice, a slurred sound, or even one stupid track can ruin everything. And many more secrets.

Synchronization of 100 virtual reality glasses at once for the presentation of the Audi Q7

I understand that your experience and observations allow you to competently create the right atmosphere?

One of our clients, Anton Belov, director of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, said: modern Art". The same is true for events. You need to look and understand what is important for people. We go and visit a lot of places. Visibility is what we have.

You have become a super-professional. Have you ever felt a "ceiling" in the professional field?

Rather, the opposite is true. Sometimes you think that you can do everything, but a new figure appears in your market who turns everything upside down, and you realize that all your knowledge is worthless against this bully. And again you go to comprehend new horizons. I think that you should never stop, especially in the professional field. Now all professions are experiencing rapid growth. If yesterday you studied to be a doctor, then today you need to be a little bit of a programmer, a prosthetist or a psychologist. So is our profession. She mutates a lot. If earlier it was a crowd entertainer, now it looks like psychological training or digital marketing.

What else do you need to study to be in the trend of modernevent industry?

Our scope is very broad. We have different tasks all the time. We need to be extremely curious people who do not get tired of learning throughout their lives. But you should never think that I have reached the ceiling and that I can do everything here.

Do you have professional dreams?

The dream is to always create something new. I want the event business to never get bored. It is indeed one of the most interesting professions.

They say that career women do not make friends and, moreover, do not understand women housewives. This is true?

I think it's true. But I also think that career women can be great housewives, wives, girlfriends. A person who can be good at something can be good at everything. These are very energetic people. I know the same men.

Have there been periods of spiritual crisis, reassessment of values ​​in your life? How did you cope?

There were different situations. I just love to live and our wonderful world that I can always imagine that I live the last day and enjoy the fact that my arms and legs move, that I see the sun. This is enough for me to be happy. You can always find the meaning of life.

I definitely like the process more than the result. After all, the result of yesterday is of no interest to anyone. Only your actual significance matters. Nobody cares who you were ten years ago. It doesn't matter what a beautiful girl you were, if you are now a wrinkled old woman. Therefore, the eternal desire for a result, as a measure of your abilities, is the quality of people who are forced to prove their worth to themselves. If you do not need this and you are a self-sufficient person, then you can enjoy every moment.

Can you name the most important life lesson?

If everything has been taken away from you, then you need to thank the universe, because this is your chance to build something new. No need to lament that you were the king of the world, and now nobody. And in general, as long as you are alive, walking, breathing, you can build any empire. Perhaps this is a lesson.

Such active and successful people how do you know anything about laziness?

I know that laziness is the engine of progress. That's all.

Have you always been a leader or is it an acquired trait?

I think it's an acquired trait. We are shaped by the environment in which we find ourselves and by the people who surround us. Most influential are older friends, girlfriends, boyfriends for whom you can learn English language or swim 50 pools without rest - this is my last achievement. This is what people push us to do. I've always been surrounded cool people very smart and strong. These were outstanding businessmen, athletes, people of art. I have learned this from them.

If you were told about today's future as a child? Would you believe? How did you imagine it? What did you dream about?

Honestly, I would be very surprised, because as a child I was a modest, curly girl who did not have time to eat breakfast during the break, because I did everything very slowly. I sobbed because of the triple received once a year. I was very afraid of lonely old age. I did not expect that I would have a big family, three children, so many jobs, friends, travels. I didn't picture my future. I really live for today and enjoy it to the maximum. I know that roads can be very different. Each step determines the next steps. It's hard to plan anything. I don't plan anything more than three months ahead. I concluded for myself that this is my horizon in my personal life. In business, you need to plan for long periods, but in life, as it turned out, every three months, one way or another, you adjust the strategy.

Many people do not reach the top and professional success, because they think that they will fail. Did you have such thoughts at the very beginning of the journey?

Well, why not try. No, I wasn't afraid. In general, I believe that in each specific moment you need to make maximum efforts. If you are a long jump, then you need to go and jump with maximum effort. If you want to jump the farthest in the world, then you need to do three workouts a day for a year. Every day you take and make this particular breakthrough at the maximum possible speed. Maybe this is not inherent in men strategic planning, but I'm a woman, to have my own rules. My credo is to do every task as well as possible.

Short quiz:

What is most important to you in your profession?

Be proud of what you've done.

Name an event you are proud of?

The presentation of the Audi Q7 was a real challenge that we ourselves came up with. The world's first car presentation entirely in virtual reality is an absolute innovation in the event industry.

On Wednesday, November 21, he celebrates his birthday Julia Sigunova, director of marketing at Mail.ru.

@daily: How do you celebrate your birthday?

Yu.S.: It usually happens very noisily: I try to get all my friends together. This year, however, I decided to be original - I will not celebrate my birthday.

What has this year brought you?

- Absolutely nothing new. A year is like a year. Although no, I bought myself rollers! And she put all her friends on rollers. Right there, by the way, it turned out that all Internet users ride on Poklonnaya Gora and rollerblading, it turns out, can solve half of the problems of business.

- So, videos have become your hobby?

- Yes, I love sports in general and do it in my spare time. I enjoy skiing, and I also often cross paths with people from the Internet for this activity. For some reason, there is an opinion that those who sit at the computer are lethargic and not athletic. In fact, this is not at all the case. They move a lot. These are active people, and, probably, that is why I often meet them wherever I go myself.

- And did you find your job in the process of playing sports?

- No, before joining Mail.ru, I worked as a marketing director in the press department of the Independent Media publishing house. Then I was assigned to deal with the site, and this was the reason for my acquaintance with the Internet. And in November 1999, I moved to Mail.ru. The company then employed only four people, and everything that happened there was very interesting to me. Since then, I have experienced all three of her birthdays with the company.

- And remained a marketer?

- I am a philologist by education, I graduated from the philological faculty of Moscow State University, but I work, of course, not in my specialty. When I entered the institute, such a profession as a marketer did not exist at all. This word came into the Russian language a little later - I say this as a philologist. But almost all of our course, one way or another, got into marketing, because philologists are now not in the price, and marketers are just the opposite.

- And what did a philologist who became a marketer dream about as a child?

- When I was little, I was engaged in drawing and dreamed of becoming a house painter and painting on sections of houses, on blank walls. I was attracted by the fact that when you paint - you do not strain, and when you finish - it turns out wonderful. And most importantly, you don't have to be talented. The result of your work is always great. Besides, it decorates the city.

Discussion and comments

	Stepan- st12453hotmail.com Nov 22, 2001 4:47 PM
Wow, what a handsome philologist! How old is she, does anyone know?
	anonymous Nov 23, 2001 4:10 PM
and husband...
	anonymous Nov 23, 2001 4:10 PM
available

marketing communications agency managing partner

DEPARTMENT.NEW&WOW Marketing

We, as entrepreneurs, are responsible both for the success of the project and for our team,
and in front of the client. We have to balance on the verge of all factors.
Sometimes these are difficult and unpopular decisions.

Professional goals change and this is very important to do right choice, be consistent. My hands still itch to make parties and launches, go to night editing, come up with shows. But my challenge is to be a businessman, build a company, develop new expertise in the agency.

Make friends with business partners- this is normal. When I look for partners, I first of all want them to be honest selfless people, charged with creation and not losing faith that everything is possible. Before, I advocated the American pragmatic model - "nothing personal." I was categorically against working in the same company with my husband, hiring the talented son of a friend or a neighbor who had returned from Oxford. I needed only cool professionals with whom nothing connects me. But one day I ended up at Milano Design Week, where famiglia means a lot. Fashion houses Prada, Fendi, "dream factory" Alessi, Ferrero confectioners - all build their success not only on competent management, but also on family traditions. Enthusiastic and inspired, the CEOs of these companies speak with passion about the product that has become the pride of the family and the family that has become the mainstay of the company. This shook up my seemingly win-win model of “nothing personal.”

Now I do business with friends and would like to create a company where my children would be honored to work.

Frankly speaking, events are Sparta, and exceptional people work here. Although we are all part of marketing, we absolutely do not want to be called "advertisers". The associations and clichés that haunt this profession are not about us. Agencies specializing in event marketing are distinguished by superpowers, clarity, and responsibility. And even the creative department, which occupies a special sacred place in our agency, is also a stable system, each time delivering an unpredictable cool product.

After several years of work, any event operator can masterfully lie, but I learned not to deceive anyone, not even myself. True, for this it was necessary to go some way. I would love to cover this in detail in the journal Psychologies. Openness and a positive attitude towards life is a shortcut to self-improvement and success.

The event marketing industry does not right to be wrong. When preparing and holding an event, there is only one chance to impress - on the appointed day and hour. Everything that the team has been working on for several weeks or months appears before the viewer in one moment. All efforts are concentrated in a few minutes of a show that can be a triumph, or it can be a defeat. And this is not even a theater where there is a rehearsal process. It's more like a sport, like the final of the football championship. Nerves to the limit. The audience is waiting for a miracle. Everything is important: the human factor, your field, the weather. Or like surgery. You are a surgeon; Both the show and the whole event are always a combination of many factors, the combination of which is very difficult, but must be foreseen in advance.

We, as entrepreneurs, are responsible for the success of the project, and to our team, and to the client. We have to balance on the verge of all factors. Sometimes these are difficult and unpopular decisions.

Many mistakenly believe that coming up with a creative idea is uncontrolled and abstract process. Actually, brainstorm is technological process, and each technology has an algorithm by which it works. Creative development is also an algorithm, in fact, a real tool for creating ideas and wow-concepts within the time frame and according to the brief given by the client.

We all copy someone... Ideas are in the air. I believe that this is not an aphorism, but pure truth. At the same time, creative teams sit in different parts of the world or even Moscow and work on the same idea. But the implementation will always be different. There is a positive trend - large international companies are willing to pay for creative ideas. But we do not seek to sell creativity, but we want to bring to life what we have come up with. We will do it in such a way that these ideas are talked about.

You have to love what you are selling. We at the agency choose those companies, brands and products that really change a person's life for the better: cars, gadgets, modern housing; inspire - museums, galleries, media; develop a person - sports, education; moving civilization forward - companies that conduct scientific research, promote responsible business and sustainable development.

Despite the rapidly developing world of digital advertising and other marketing tools, I still believe that the most high-quality and well-developed brand contact is a live contact. All modern 360 advertising tools are designed to “get” a person at different moments of his personal time, but if he independently decided to come to the presentation and, moreover, got a new experience there, then this is a direct hit on the target. To build an emotional connection between what you sell and those to whom you sell it, to inspire and surprise, to show something new and completely captivating mind and attention - this is our main task.

Deadlines are... OK. Each task must have a due date. Otherwise, this is not a task, but a fantasy. We all live in a world of constant deadlines. And they allow us to do more beyond the initially seemingly endless timeline of our lives. Deadlines are the inner drive of each of us. So you develop faster, achieve your goals faster, manage to do more, not only work more efficiently, but also relax more, spend quality time with your children, parents and friends.

I'm not very attached to a computer, phone and other gadgets. In general, in life you do not want to be attached to any things and have ingrained habits. I want to be easy and adaptive - speak different languages, feel at home in any country, fit things in a small bag, do not need status markers and confirmation of my worth. What am I doing for this? I free myself from things, from bad habits, exclude activities that devour time (for example, TV, cleaning, trips to all sorts of institutions and shops), train physical endurance and learn meditation.

One on one with brands:

My breakfast consists of brands: No name oatmeal is the simplest and healthiest.

My sports brand: Adidas by Stella McCartney- the most futuristic.

City as a brand: Berlin- city of contrasts: Kreuzberg vs Grunevalde.

My app for work: DPRTMNT ONLINE- internal management system in the company. Self-learning corporate bot.

My car: Audi- innovative and elegant.

My clothing brand: acne- ascetic and architectural.

My gadget: Samsung Gear VR- new opportunities.

My Icon Brand: Tesla- proof that anything is possible.

There are many event agencies on the market, but few are able to come up with events year after year without slowing down the pace and degree of creativity. Agency Departament succeeded in 10 years from a small office that did private birthdays and New Year's corporate parties for friends, to become one of the largest agencies on the market (revenue for 2017 - more than 500 million rubles). Their parties, which the great Gatsby would envy, are remembered by all secular Moscow, among their customers are Jaguar and BMW, and among the guests is Vladimir Putin. Departament founders Petr Ivanov, Pavel Nedostoev and Yulia Sigunova told Inc. how they conquered BMW with an offer to hold a party in the laundry and almost lost tens of millions of rubles due to untimely Samsung firmware updates - and how they managed to grow the business without losing the spirit of freedom and creativity .

In 2009, Samsung managers in St. Petersburg turned into super agents for one day. All the management and top employees of the company split into several teams, got into 12 Mercedes SUVs specially fitted to their office and set off to save the world. When the column of Mercedes was driving along Nevsky Prospekt, the traffic cops saluted them. Then a planned quest began with elements of an immersive performance: the participants shot at targets with sniper rifles, rushed through the canals of St. beautiful girls, Cristal champagne.

All this unbridled creativity was invented by two people - friends from student times at the Russian State Humanitarian University, Peter Ivanov and Pavel Nedostoev. Both enjoyed organizing parties; they sketched the first ideas in notebooks while they were bored at lectures, and then they ran them around at Peter's birthdays - every time he came up with something original for the holiday. Once I gathered guests for a "wild" open-air in the Grotto in Neskuchny garden, another time he held a party called The Nothing ("Nothing") - he rented a completely empty loft, where there was no light, no music, no food, no alcohol, and the guests just got to know each other for 4 hours, talked - and received the pleasure of uncomplicated communication.

After the institute, the paths of friends diverged for several years: Petr Ivanov got a job at the Event Factory event agency, Pavel created the Studio design studio, but in 2006 they began to think about opening their own business.

Agency Departament in numbers

source: company data

>50

the person works in the company.

12

million rubles - the average budget of the event.

60%

from the loading agency takes part in tenders.

>500

million rubles - revenue for 2017.

59

projects for 2017.

From left to right: Yulia Sigunova, Pyotr Ivanov and Pavel Nedostoev. Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.

Party Specials

At first, they found orders through friends - at that time, Peter already knew many in the industry. Partners took on any work - events, exhibitions, children's parties, New Year's corporate parties (for dental clinic staged an incendiary party with dancers dressed as nurses). Peter jokingly estimates the amount of investment in the project as "three years of life and 150 sleepless nights."

We rented a micro-office - a room for 15,000 rubles - and paid ourselves a salary of 50,000 rubles. Worked only on prepaid working capital to hold events at his own expense, - recalls Peter.

Pavel Nedostoev. Photo: Daria Malysheva/Inc.

Literally six months after the start of work as independent organizers of events, acquaintances suggested that Ivanov and Nedostoev take control night club Justo in Teatralny Proyezd - the most fashionable and pretentious place in Moscow. With the light hand of entrepreneurs, Justo soon became one of the most popular creative places in Moscow, where all the bohemia hung out - fashionistas, artists, celebrities, politicians, transvestites. The only problem was that Peter and Pavel had to work for a percentage of the profits - but the club did not show any profit for 9 months of work. The club helped to make connections with artists, "get to know everyone in the city"; it was there that Ivanov and Nedostoev came up with the Departament brand - but after spending 1 million rubles set aside "for a rainy day", they left the club.

The crisis of 2008 broke out, it became much more difficult to look for orders. Ivanov and Nedostoev did not work directly with companies, but through intermediaries - larger event agencies, which had to give up to 70% of their profits for the opportunity to host an event. This was the only way to stay on the market for a young agency without a reputation and, most importantly, a turnover sufficient to finance events (payment from the client came only after the fact).

We walked with burning eyes and asked everyone for a job. We got some pennies from the profits, but we worked with cool brands - Jaguar, Land Rover, Samsung, - recalls Peter.

Then quests began to gain popularity in Moscow - and Departament came up with the idea to bring this format to a premium level. The 2000s were in the yard, the market had not yet been structured, and large companies did not have procurement services and tenders for organizing events - at the same time, they wanted fresh ideas and unbanal marketing moves. Therefore, quests have become the main business line of the agency: thanks to the creativity of Departament, top managers and businessmen climbed the unfinished hospital in Khovrino, completed tasks on an abandoned warship at the River Station, Jaguar employees searched for a Rembrandt painting in the Triumph Gallery, and Samsung employees completed a quest in the Hermitage. Departament searched for all these locations manually: the event manager was a communicator who knew how to do everything - even break through a closed location for a party, even rent a tiger from the circus, says Nedostoev.

Petya and I bought identical suits, shirts and ties at the Central Department Store and came to clients as characters from The X-Files or Twin Peaks. Then there was the peak of glamor, there was a lot of money on the market, everyone wanted to live widely and beautifully, and the event manager was almost a special agent who knows how to organize it, - says Pavel.

Harness creativity

To overcome the distrust of large customers at the start, Petr and Pavel played the roles of a “good and bad cop” at meetings: Petr poured out crazy ideas, and Pavel sat next to serious look and portrayed a solid, reliable partner.

It was a real life hack: next to a rabid enthusiast was a very calm, serious man in expensive watches, with an unbroken phone and said with a confident face that it is very cost-effective, will create a wow effect for your guests, increase customer loyalty and give coverage in social networks. Clients nodded and agreed, - says Ivanov.

In January 2013, the need to portray seriousness disappeared - Yulia Sigunova joined the company. It was in her agency Event Factory that Petr Ivanov started.

What the guys did was infinitely bold, there were simply no barriers to this creativity, - Yulia recalls. “Because we had worked together before, I knew what they were capable of, and I saw this as an opportunity for business growth.

Sigunova, a calm, organized person with extensive managerial experience, began to structure and improve the company's business processes. She took over customer service and management, Petr became responsible for creativity and strategy, and Pavel Nedostoev - for PR, video, finance and side projects, such as educational ones (in addition, the agency has a commercial and financial director).

Before that, Pavel and I created, but did not know how to manage and monetize at all. That's why Yulia rocked us very strongly forward precisely as a manager, a strong leader, - recalls Pyotr Ivanov.

The partners once again felt the importance of cold calculation in their own skin when in June 2015 there was a force majeure at the presentation of the new Audi Q7 model at the Garage Museum. Peter came up with the idea: guests put on VR glasses, enter a dark room and at the same time watch a three-dimensional short film in a virtual cinema, in which they fly straight into the space world in an Audi, and at the end a real car appears in front of them. The preparation was complex and super-efficient: in just a month, we managed to persuade Samsung to provide 100 pairs of VR glasses, which were not sold in Moscow at that time, as part of the promotion, synchronize gadgets and write an application so that all viewers see the same picture at the same time, but each its angle. The day before the event, a virtual cinema was installed in the Garage and several tests were carried out. Everything went according to plan, until two hours before the show, the glasses stopped turning on and showing nothing.

Maria Kosareva

Head of marketing communications Cadillac

It is very comfortable to work with the Department agency in the field of influencer marketing - they are well aware of the lifestyle and moods of the modern luxury segment audience. Of course, in any job there are disputes - we argue about which people best express the philosophy of the brand. But, as you know, “happiness is when they understand”, and this is just about our cooperation with the Department. The agency helped integrate our brand as naturally as possible into a charity festival organized by the Friends Foundation - top managers of the largest Russian companies acted as rock musicians, and the audience voted for the best performances.

The event begins, the tables are set, the guests begin to appear, I enter the cinema - and there is Petya, pale, with square eyes. "What happened?" - "Nothing works. It worked on the test, and then it stopped. We take the engineer by the breasts, and he says: "It's just that Samsung is updating the firmware all over the world." Right at this moment, before our show. And this is like rebooting the phone - the case when nothing depends on us, - Yulia recalls.

The update miraculously ended a few minutes before the start of the presentation. The guests were delighted (the agency later also received an award for this event), but the founders had more gray hair.

It was the greatest stress. The budget of the event was more than the working capital of our company, and we fully financed it on a 100% post-payment basis. If something went wrong, we would not only have dropped our reputation, but also ended up with several tens of millions of rubles, - says Yulia Sigunova.

In order to reduce such force majeure events, Departament tries to gather creative and practical people at the same table so that the events are thought out from all sides.

During the brainstorm, criticism is prohibited, but at some point, creatives must hand over leadership to managers who begin to cut all fantasies: “We won’t make it on time, we won’t squeeze it into the budget, we don’t know how to do this at all.” And the salespeople still say: “The client won't buy it, the client doesn't like it”, - the result is a balanced offer, - explains Ivanov.

3 mistakes of the founders of the Department:

Did not separate roles at the start

Before the arrival of Yulia Sigunova in 2013, we were just artists - and we didn’t know how to sell or manage. And the agency needs 3 main people: an artist, a manager and a salesperson. If we had started sales and management earlier, we would have been able to grow faster.

Did not promote the business in the early stages

At the beginning of the journey, we took a passive position - we did not meet the market, did not make cold calls to the company, but simply worked on orders from friends. But if you want to build a business, you cannot do without active promotion.

Scaling in breadth rather than depth too fast

They began to produce extraneous projects and expertise without creating a powerful team. But we could not implement new tasks at the same level as the events. Clients saw that we did not meet the declared level, and they took orders. As a result, we decided to focus on the main thing - holding events, otherwise there was a risk of losing competitive advantage and regular customers.

Rodeo on a washing machine

By the early 2010s, the Departament employed about 10 people. There were orders, but the business did not grow: Ivanov and Nedostoev led the agency as two freelance artists - they went headlong into the creative part and almost did not do business at all. Them annual revenue amounted to no more than 50 million rubles, there was almost no profit.

It was difficult to call it a business - it was a huge crazy hobby. Romance was in the first place, and money - in the second or third, - Pavel Nedostoev recalls.

With the arrival of Yulia Sigunova, Departament set a goal to work with major brands without intermediaries. If earlier the founders believed that the outcome of tenders in large companies was a foregone conclusion, and they were looking for orders through friends, now they have overcome this prejudice and started making cold calls. So they managed to enter their first major tender - the search for ideas for the presentation of a new MINI car model from BMW in the spring of 2014. The founders of Departament came up with an idea that even they themselves at first seemed crazy - to hold a party in the laundry.

It was impossible to imagine that one could enter such a reputable company as the BMW Group with such an offer. I blushed, turned pale, said: “Guys, we won’t succeed. What laundromat, what are you talking about? What's the laundry party? This is BMW - driving pleasure, speed, that's all, ”recalls Julia.

But we decided to take a chance - Departament had previously agreed with the site (the Art House complex on the Yauza) and offered to turn two empty floors into a huge laundry room, put up giant installations there and arrange a rodeo on a wild washing machine. To impress the client, the founders spent several days manually gluing the foam board mock-up of the party and even added Lego men to it. BMW representatives were shocked and gave the green light. The party went off with a bang.

The project for BMW was a breakthrough for the agency - the agency entered a major brand “in the cold”, without connections, and received an order thanks to an unusual creative offer. After that, Departament began to win tenders one after another, the number of orders increased, and revenue began to double every year. If in 2013 the agency's turnover amounted to 100 million rubles, then in 2014 - already 200 million rubles, and in 2015 - 400 million rubles. Among the clients were mainly luxury brands - Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche; projects - top social events like the opening of the Garage Museum in June 2015. At the end of 2015, the number of agency employees exceeded 60 people, and Departament moved to a spacious office on Krasny Oktyabr overlooking the Moscow River.

Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.

growth crisis

In order to advance in the market and get new customers, Departament actively engaged in PR - they began to maintain pages in social networks, participate in professional conferences, give comments and interviews for niche publications. Some people don't like such activity: in Garage they believe that Departament has attributed too much merit to itself in organizing the opening, - said Inc. source in the museum team. According to the official commentary, the concept of the opening was developed by the Garage team, while Departament was more likely to carry out technical tasks:

Educational projects Department

Rooftop University

In 2015, Departament launched a series of educational parties. On Friday evening, celebrities and experts from various fields came to the company's office to talk about their work. The meetings were held in a relaxed atmosphere, over a glass of wine, and were free for both the participants and the speaker. Lectures within the framework of Rooftop University were given by former Afisha editor-in-chief Yuri Saprykin, ex-editor-in-chief of Vogue and Interview Russia Alena Doletskaya, Yandex marketing director Dmitry Stepanov and others - about 80 lectures were given in total. The project was non-profit and closed in 2017 along with the agency's other side projects as part of cost cuts.

Event MBA

In 2017, Departament launched Event MBA event management courses for those who want to immerse themselves in this profession or improve their skills. Now there are two products in the Event MBA - a 5-week Executive Education course (75 thousand rubles) and a 3-day intensive Event Killer (35 thousand rubles). The courses are taught by the founders of the agency, as well as guest lecturers (including showman Andrey Fomin, producer Mikhail Druyan, impresario Fyodor Elyutin, etc.). More than 70% of students have experience in the event business and come to improve their skills, and the total turnover of the companies in which they work exceeds 400 million rubles. This year the Department plans to graduate about 500 students.

Departament was selected as the contractor to provide event coordination services. Among the tasks assigned to the agency are the organization of the transfer of guests, the selection of personnel (cleaning, waiters, etc.), concierge services, etc., the press service of the museum said in a comment to Inc.

Nevertheless, competent promotion was another factor that allowed the agency to reach a new level and start actively scaling the business. In addition to events, Departament was engaged in video production, PR support for clients, writing communication strategies for companies and celebrity marketing - the agency brought socialite Paris Hilton, rapper Snoop Dogg and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to Moscow. The agency even launched own brand Pizzaboy street-style clothes, merchandise was released for him together with the 2 × 2 TV channel. Customers were dominated by big car brands: they are reliable, they have big budgets, and they need the wow effect all the time, so bright presentations for such clients it is an ideal tool for sales, image building and loyalty, says Petr Ivanov. In 2016, growth assumed alarming proportions - there were already about 100 employees, and the profitability of the business began to decline.

Most of the new projects required investment, but did not bring profit. Even managing employees began to take much more time and effort (the agency hired 30 people in one month). The founders realized that they could not cope with the economics of business at such a pace.

After six months of active growth, we realized that we would go bankrupt at such a pace. It was a pity to freeze or close projects, but it was necessary to focus on what we are the best in, and cover up everything superfluous, - says Ivanov.

As a result, Departament had to shut down side projects (including apparel and communications strategies for companies), cut costs (about 60 out of 100 employees) and redesign internal processes.

To simplify communications within the company, Departament created the DPRTMNT ONLINE management system - an intranet for employees, and transferred communication, voting on tenders and even approval of documents to Telegram (this greatly simplified the document flow).

I also have a whole department of trend analytics and a special secret chat in Telegram. Every creative doesn't start work until they throw off one cool news from IT and events to collect a base of ideas, - says Piotr.

Photo: Daria Malysheva / Inc.

Economics of the event business

Today Departament is one of the most famous event organizations on the market. Their revenue for 2017 amounted to more than half a billion rubles (profit, according to Inc.'s calculations, is more than 50 million rubles), and the average budget of the event is 12 million rubles. But in general, the margin of the event business is quite low - only about 10%, over 10 years it has halved, Pavel Nedostoev warns.

The companies want the 10% commissions that were negotiated back in the 90s to include design, direction, and creativity. It's as if we bought Tesla at the price of iron, plastic and upholstery - and 10% of the cost of these materials would be added to the concern as a reward, says Nedostoev.

Nikolay Andreev

founder of event agency BigJack:

Departament is a significant player in the market. We learned about them at the end of 2014, when they took several awards at the industry award "Event of the Year" - the whole industry immediately became interested in them. Despite the competition, I treat them with respect. They serve the product high level and could well enter the international market.

In the event market, we all face the same challenges. First, these are tenders. It is not very pleasant when people who are engaged in furniture purchases start ordering events and try to bring them to measurable indicators. You offer them a cool concept, and they say: “We found it cheaper on the Internet, how can you justify it?”

Secondly, the post-payment period is growing. It turns out that event agencies - small businesses that banks do not even give loans to - lend to corporations with billions of dollars in turnover. On the one hand, this is a plus - a certain entry barrier has appeared (before that, non-professionals often undermined the reputation of the industry). On the other hand, it severely limits growth. You can win at least 20 tenders - but to implement them all, there simply will not be enough working capital. This makes our business less profitable.

It is impossible to support a company on this amount, so event agencies receive additional income- commissions from partners. Thanks to long-term relationships with contractors, the agency receives a special discount of 5-20% on bulk orders, and the client receives the market value of services. The pool of contractors changes: Departament has about half of them permanent, the rest are found each time anew, depending on the needs of the event.

Departament receives payment from customers in two steps - advance payment and post-payment. But large international brands often ask for 100% credit for their event, and payment is guaranteed 30-90 working days after the signing of the acts (that is, approximately 1-6 months after the event), so it is more reliable for them to work with companies on an opaque Russian market. To avoid cash gaps when working with such customers, the agency often has to take out loans.

Have time to go to the gym in one day, drop in for a few business meetings and spend an evening at a social event without changing clothes? Easily! We understand how the concept of a dress code has been transformed in conditions of constant time pressure and what to do to look appropriate in a variety of situations.

In an age when the “Dress Code” column is present on almost every invitation to an event and in conditions when its non-compliance is equated with an insult to the organizer, the mantra of a modern metropolis resident “to do everything and everywhere” becomes a real test. Meanwhile, Yulia Sigunova, partner of the DEPARTÁMENT event agency, is much more optimistic, because she is sure that it is quite possible to spend the whole day in the office, and in the evening to shine at a social event, pleasing its owners, in the same outfit. What is needed for this, Julia tells (and shows!) exclusive interview for Marie Claire.

Marie Claire: Julia, tell us how important it is for event organizers to observe the declared dress code by guests?

Julia Sigunova: As a producer of events of completely different formats - from small parties and image projects in the field of art to large-scale marketing presentations - I am very sensitive to such an item as a dress code. I believe that to comply with it is respect for the host of the evening, because he quite rightly expects that by doing so the guests will create the necessary atmosphere and, in the end, will be interesting to each other. Imagine the Oscars without the amazing outfits of the actresses? And Halloween without devils and dead brides? Sometimes the concept of an event is generally limited only by the dress code of the guests.

I always thank the guests who support the concept of the event with their images - they automatically become your like-minded people. I especially like to invite friends who dress spectacularly, they are already a holiday, already a party! Next to them, even the most boring person is in a good mood.

And how has the attitude towards the dress code of the Moscow public changed over the past 10 years?

Fortunately, everyone, without exception, has already learned what the “Dress Code” column means in the invitation to the event. We can say that these two words are deeply embedded in the culture. Even when, for some reason, the dress code is not specified, the guests themselves are interested and ask what is appropriate to wear.

But people who totally ignore this important component of the event, on the contrary, look defiant, like outsiders. I saw how the early years ignored the Midsummer Night's dress code [an annual arts festival based on W. Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream - ed.]: men thought: "Well, I'll dress like clown...” But in the end, it was they who looked like clowns at this event!

What events in Moscow do you most often attend?

I go to all significant exhibitions in the Garage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, MoMA, Pushkinsky. At vernissages, I want to match the exhibition itself in my image. A recent example is the opening of the exhibition “There Will Be Gentle Rain” by Takashi Murakami. I really wanted to be in an atmosphere of joy and crazy colors: for this I chose a pink sweater with a skeleton and a gold tooth of Gosha Rubchinsky, and it cheerfully echoed the work of Murakami.

I am also a regular guest of all theatrical projects from Fedor Elyutin. For the premiere of the show "Candidate" I chose a defiant image, which I modestly call "star". This is an all red bow, instantly attracting the attention of guests and photographers alike.

I also love Sound Up concerts. These are always unexpected collaborations of musicians on unusual venues in Moscow. My passion is to discover new spaces. It is so romantic: to be in an amazingly beautiful place where you have never been (for example, in the reading room of the Lenin Library or a Catholic cathedral with an organ). For Sound Up, I chose a romantic look - golden silk trench coat and silk wide trousers with extraordinary colors.

Here it is important to clearly understand what to be true to. Personally, I have formulated my own style as a combination of art, sports and femininity. And to be true to yourself, but meet the requirements various events, I resort to my favorite life hack: I dress strictly according to the declared dress code, but I use one “as if” detail that is out of the given style. It is necessary to break the ideal picture, there must be something dissonant in the image, some kind of intentional inconsistency. For what? In order not to look too simple, predictable, readable. Not to be perfectly boring. It can be an accessory of a great color or an unusual shape, an interesting print, graphics, an inscription, or just a geometric haircut. But, of course, for such experiments you need to have good taste.

What makes me objectively happy is the penetration of sports into high fashion. Modern trends have blurred the concept of sports shoes, which allows you to justifiably and comfortably not follow the traditional dress code, especially in the “five meetings in the afternoon and a trip to the theater in the evening” mode. Now it’s completely optional to wear shoes for evening wear, you can choose comfortable and beautiful shoes. For example, buy art-wear or casual sneakers. If earlier sportswear 100% received a red card on face control, now everything is different. The main thing is not to overdo it: choose only one such thing from the wardrobe (either sneakers or a backpack) so that the image does not become completely “for training”.

Does your agency's team have their own dress code?

AT DEPARTMENT agency has its own visual guide designed by a New York stylist. This is a style presentation with universal tips that are easy to follow. Thus, each employee of the agency always feels like a part of the team, looks good and, what is important, corresponds to the tasks in different situations - be it a meeting with a client, an event or a corporate party.

Tell us how you manage to be appropriately dressed during an eventful day?

For several years now, I have been recording all daily activities, meetings and events in the calendar. And the night before, I always look at the plan for the next day - it can start with a trip to the fitness club in the morning, continue with meetings with different clients, and end with a trip to a social event.

The most important task before falling asleep is to come up with an image that matches all of the plans listed. And all without going home. As a rule, this is always an equation with three unknowns.

This year I gave up the car, which significantly complicated the already difficult task. If earlier I easily carried a wardrobe trunk with deferred things, now I live in smart mode and look for various life hacks. I take with me a universal designer backpack that can accommodate interchangeable shoes (change sneakers for shoes), a cosmetic bag to change make-up during the day, as well as additional accessories that decorate the look by the evening. For the basis of the image I take things from the basic collections.

I have a great attitude towards services for the rental of extravagant things that are necessary to create an unusual image - this is a kind of uberization of life. The need for such things is one-time, since this is definitely not the basis of your wardrobe. If you think about it, then in general, for daily use, we need a minimum of things: we don’t need our own car (in Moscow, from it, obviously, more problems than use), you don’t need ten evening dresses in the closet at once (you have to change them from event to event, and even if only one hangs, you will start to hate this dress at some point), it’s useless to have houses and mountain skis and boots (remember, everyone used to buy sports equipment indiscriminately, which took up a huge amount of space). My advice: anything that can be rented, rent it.

Unless you should pretend to be someone you are not - this applies to the rental services that have appeared with expensive branded bags and accessories. Be yourself and broadcast it to the world with your individual and unforgettable images.

Summary: 6 life hacks from Yulia Sigunova

#1 Dress according to the dress code, but add one original detail.

#2 Do not be afraid to use sneakers in your outfits (even in the evening).

#3 There can be only one sports item in the image.

#4 Think over your outfit for the day the night before.

#5 Limit your basic wardrobe to six colors: 4 neutrals and 2 brights. This will allow you to easily combine bows.

#6 When leaving the house, take a cosmetic bag, bright accessories and a change of shoes with you. They will not take up much space (a backpack will help you), but they will radically change the image for an evening event.

Text: Asya Ibragimova
Photographer: Dimitry Feinstein