How Russia uses marketing to distance the Balkans from Europe and bring it closer to itself: Invisible strategies of the Kremlin
According to a recently published report by the Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) and the Center for Research on Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), advertising revenue from leading North American and European brands funds and legitimizes media outlets that spread disinformation about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in Kosovo and elsewhere. places in the Balkans.
The report titled "Exploding disinformation in the Balkans: How international brands support the Russian agenda" reveals that major brands from Germany, the US, the UK, France and other countries channel millions of euros into advertising to media houses in Serbia and Bulgaria that spread pro-Kremlin disinformation. . This disinformation includes denying the massacre in Buca, portraying NATO as an 'apocalyptic group of anti-Russian crusaders' and attacks on the European Union.
Amid growing concerns about the impact of disinformation on security and democracy in the region, the report issues a stark warning: global brands and advertising companies are inadvertently strengthening Russian influence and exacerbating the fragile political situation in the region through their current advertising practices. This poses a growing risk to the reputation of brands.
Media advertising brands mentioned in the report include Lidl, Delhaize Group, Procter&Gamble, Coca-Cola, Bosch and Amazon. Advertising technology providers Google and Criteo connect brands with online news portals that spread misinformation in the Balkans.
Advertising by major international brands plays a significant role in sustaining the media in Southeast Europe and the Balkans. Unfortunately, some of these media regularly promote misinformation. Our focus today is to highlight how current funding policies inadvertently support the spread of Russian propaganda in the Balkans; a fact that is largely unknown to these brands," said Peter Horrocks, BFMI board member.
The study also highlights the problem of programmatic advertising, where automated technology is used to buy media. This approach often results in global brands inadvertently funding media outlets that spread misinformation due to a lack of control and transparency in the advertising supply chain.
"The anti-Western, pro-Russian and pro-government propaganda machinery in Serbia is largely financed and therefore legitimized by Western companies. North American and European countries, as well as the EU, must take action now to stop this – otherwise they will continue to support the Russian agenda in Serbia that is pushing our society away from democracy and European values towards authoritarian rule,” Rasa Nedeljkov, program director at CRTA.
The report highlights that such advertising practices often favor government-friendly media, thereby spreading misinformation and exacerbating existing problems. This is particularly worrying in the Balkans, where government control over the media is growing, and independent media are struggling for financial survival.
"The rise of disinformation in the Balkans is fueling ethnic conflict, undermining democracy and distancing the region from the EU and handing it over to Putin. Global brands and intermediaries involved in the advertising process have an important responsibility to ensure that their investments do not contribute to the further erosion of media freedom and stability in the Balkans," said Antoinette Nikolova, director of BFMI.
The report calls on policy makers, civil society and the private sector to take concrete steps to ensure that corporate advertising strategies strengthen independent media and democracy in the region.
The report also calls for a comprehensive plan to combat this phenomenon. A key component of this plan is the reform of advertising practices, aimed at ending financial support for media outlets that spread misinformation.
The central strategy of this approach is the adoption of ethical and transparent advertising practices. The goal is to create a system where brands and advertising agencies can clearly identify and avoid media outlets that promote misinformation, thereby reducing the risk of inadvertently endorsing such platforms.
The report highlights that such advertising practices often favor government-friendly media, thereby spreading misinformation and exacerbating existing problems. This is particularly worrying in the Balkans, where government control over the media is growing, and independent media are struggling for financial survival.
"The rise of disinformation in the Balkans is fueling ethnic conflict, undermining democracy and distancing the region from the EU and handing it over to Putin. Global brands and intermediaries involved in the advertising process have an important responsibility to ensure that their investments do not contribute to the further erosion of media freedom and stability in the Balkans," said Antoinette Nikolova, director of BFMI.
The report calls on policy makers, civil society and the private sector to take concrete steps to ensure that corporate advertising strategies strengthen independent media and democracy in the region.
The report also calls for a comprehensive plan to combat this phenomenon. A key component of this plan is the reform of advertising practices, aimed at ending financial support for media outlets that spread misinformation.
The central strategy of this approach is the adoption of ethical and transparent advertising practices. The goal is to create a system where brands and advertising agencies can clearly identify and avoid media outlets that promote misinformation, thereby reducing the risk of inadvertently endorsing such platforms.
In parallel with this, the report highlights the importance of providing direct financial support to credible and independent media houses. This support can be crucial in ensuring the sustainability of media outlets that adhere to high standards of investigative journalism and objectivity, thereby strengthening the media landscape and encouraging a diversity of voices in public discourse.
Furthermore, the need to update and enforce adequate publishing policies among advertising agencies and media houses is emphasized. This includes developing clear guidelines and standards that would prevent the funding of media outlets that systematically spread misinformation, thereby raising the ethical standard in the advertising industry.
One of the innovative proposals in the report is to encourage greater involvement of the private sector in the fight against disinformation. This entails the development of trust rating tools, which would help brands identify and support media that adhere to ethical standards. Such an approach would help build a more transparent and responsible advertising ecosystem.
Among the last measures the report suggests is the development of stronger analytics for independent media. This would enable better monitoring and evaluation of the impact of media content, thus providing important data to help independent media improve their business and expand their reach.
These measures, as the report emphasizes, are not only the responsibility of individual actors in the media industry; they require a joint effort of policy makers, civil society and the private sector. Through such an integrated approach, there is hope for strengthening independent media and democracy in a region that is currently under attack from misinformation.
The BFMI and CRTA report calls for joint efforts by decision makers, civil society and the private sector to mitigate the impact of disinformation in the Balkans. It calls on global brands to be more aware of where their advertising revenue is going and to support independent media that support democratic values. This comprehensive approach is crucial to strengthening media freedom and democracy in a region that is vulnerable to misinformation and external influences.