Major Soviet Newspaper Is Seeking U.S. Advertisers

One of the Soviet Union’s largest newspapers is about to get a taste of good old American advertising.

Izvestia, the government-run Soviet newspaper with a circulation of 11 million, has placed ads in recent issues of Forbes and Business Week magazines inviting American companies to advertise in several upcoming special sections that will be tied into the June summit between Mikhail S. Gorbachev and George Bush.

“Calling all American businessmen,” says the headline to the full-page ads, “Mikhail Gorbachev is coming to see you! So when will you be coming to see us?” The ads further attempt to lure large advertisers with come-ons such as this: “Come and conquer the largest market still left to be conquered, the Soviet Union.”

This marks the first major effort by any Soviet newspaper to attract big American advertisers. And while Izvestia is initially seeking ads only for two special sections that will appear in the May 30 and June 2 editions, publishing industry executives say the newspaper hopes to eventually get a number of big American firms to be regular advertisers.

“It’s a whole new step in the right direction,” said Tony Wight, president of Publicitas Inc., a New York-based company that specializes in placing ads for American companies in publications outside the United States. “You have a generation with no experience in capitalism. They have a lot of learning to do. And this is how you start,” said Wight, whose firm is helping to solicit American advertisers.

Besides the ads it placed in several American business publications, Publicitas also mailed pamphlets on Izvestia’s advertising opportunities to more than 3,000 American corporations and advertising agency chiefs. Because the ads didn’t appear until after Easter, there has been little response so far. But executives suggest that the two special advertising sections could actually dwarf the newspaper itself--which is usually just four pages in size.

The special sections--which will feature articles on American business, fashion, sports and entertainment--will each post a circulation of about 2 million. They will be distributed primarily in Moscow and Leningrad. Full-page black-and-white ads in each will cost about $42,500. A similar ad placed in the Los Angeles Times, which has daily circulation of about 1.1 million, costs between $30,200 and $44,118, depending upon the type of advertiser.

Each special section will be about 16 pages with about half ads and half editorial content, said Guenther Krumminga, New York-based editorial coordinator for Burda Verlog, the giant West German publisher that is helping to produce the special sections.

More than 100 major American celebrities--ranging from actor Sylvester Stallone to ABC newsman Sam Donaldson--have been asked to write short articles for the publication. Donaldson, for example, has been asked to write about the difference between covering the White House and covering the Kremlin.

At least one potential advertiser has expressed early interest. Pepsi-Cola was the first major American advertiser to buy paid TV time on Soviet television in May, 1988. It seems interested in this project too. “We are always open to new advertising possibilities in the Soviet Union,” said Ken Ross, a spokesman for Pepsi-Cola International, which has also placed ads on buses, billboards and kiosks in the Soviet Union. “When the opportunity presents itself, we’ll continue to be there.”