Maximov's Companions Издания Максимова

The company Maximov Publications (MP), which has been working on the Russian market of business reference information for 15 years, offers a unique complex of information products and marketing services: reference books, the birthdays calendars and data bases on the client’s criteria (with an option of direct mailing). Maximov’s integrated information system contains 200 thousand names and contacts of officials and business people from 23 thousand state agencies and organizations, who are responsible for about 90% of all key decisions, and from over 42 thousand companies which constitute about 80% of Russian economy. The high level of reliability makes marketing campaigns conducted on the bases of Maximov’s information very effective and allows for achieving other goals while promoting business in Russia.

Maximov’s registered a sharp rise in sales for the first quarter of 2009, especially in the segment of data bases and the customized reference books ordered by companies. In first three months of 2009, the volume of orders rose year to year 2,05 times — from 14,65 mln rubles to 29,97 mln rubles, of which orders for printed reference books rose 1,3 times (from 2,72 mln rubles to 3,55 mln rubles), for electronic data bases - 2,08 times (from 1,36 to 2,84 mln rubles), for customized corporate editions and advertising in the reference books - 2,23 times (from 10,57 mln rubles to 23,58 mln rubles).
The results of the first quarter support a trend which had become apparent in the autumn of 2008 – a sharp rise of demand for contact information during the economic crisis. For the last four months in 2008, the sales in printed reference books had risen 45% in comparison with the eight previous months, the sales of the electronic data bases – 50%.
The crisis corrected the structure of demand for contact information – a pattern which can be observed in the federal centre, as well as in regional centres and large cities. In the segment of printed reference books, the demand for those specialized on a particular industry, very popular during the economic boom, went down, while the demand for the authorities’ contacts went up. Obviously, during the crisis when the state influence is rising, nobody can economize on the contacts with the authorities.
Besides, the crisis broke many established business partnerships, making producers to look for new buyers, and suppliers – for new producers. The more reliable is the contact information, the more effective is the investment in it. That is why the demand for the most technologically advanced product of MP – the electronic data bases – also grew sharply. During the crisis MP acquired new clients – developers, real estate agencies, large publishing houses, MBA schools.
Today, the information technologies developed in the company allowed for any data base, client lists or reference books to be formed online on the client’s criteria. These products are formed from information blocks as a constructor: for instance, a block with the contacts of all financial directors can be supplemented by a block of contacts of all corporate lawyers etc. As these data bases are needed for marketing campaigns, clients prefer to buy the “full cycle products” – with the services of making personalized letters and mailing. The client can choose to rent or to buy a data base. Renting means that the information is used only once, the price varies from 9 to 19 rubles depending on the order volume. A bought data base can be integrated in the client’s own data bases and used repeatedly for mailing, the price in this case varies from 20 to 39 rubles.
A high demand exists for customized corporate reference books when a part of the whole print run of a particular reference book is released in a client’s corporate design, with their logo and a photo and an address by a company’s head on the first page. Such a book also contains special printed materials about the company and its advertising modules. Such edition turns the customized reference books into original corporate business gifts. The books can also be used as an effective marketing instrument helping to promote the company’s business. Under the crisis, the demand for advertising in the reference book fell, but the ads in the customized editions sell well.
The integrated information data base is the biggest and the most expensive asset of MP. The cost of maintaining it is about 35 mln rubles a year. On the orders of MP, a special soft was developed which contains all the information and allows for its updating online. From the very beginning, MP has made an emphasis not on the scope, but on the detail and reliability of its information. In 2007, while working on the reference book “Who Manages Business in Russia”, Maximov’s group of experts analyzed a great body of information to classify Russian medium-size and big businesses (small businesses are not included in Maximov’s information system) into 4 categories. The main criterion was not the size of a business, but its significance for a market segment or a region. The categories are the following: supercompanies (businesses of key significance for the Russian economy, mainly diversified industry holdings), 1st category (large companies with a leading position in their respective industry), 2nd category (medium-size businesses important for their regions). Maximov’s reference books and databases provide details not only of heads of the companies and organizations, but of all top managers and key managers covering up to 5 levels of responsibilities and up to 30 professional categories.
The accuracy and reliability of provided contact information is guaranteed up to 96% which is reflected in the contract with a client. Such certainty is based on the elaborated system of data collecting. 15 editors update the information online, once every 4-12 months, depending on the category of a company and the publishing plan. The larger is a company, the more often is the information on it updated. The main method of data collection is by questionnaires, as they are signed by an employee responsible for it within a company which guarantees the reliability of data. Two weeks before the reference book is released, the updated data base goes to set-up.

In the near future MP plans to allow its clients an access to its data bases, so they could form their own unique reference books, deciding themselves on the volume and the format they want – a printed book, a CD, or a direct mailing list. The price for such a service will depend on the level of demand at the time of launching. In the pre-crisis period, the contact information market in Russia grew rapidly. In 2007, the Swedish Kontakt East Holding (KEN) estimated the whole market to reach $ 77 mln with a prospect to reach $ 87 mln in 2008. The crisis would certainly correct this estimate, but it is already obvious, that the detailed and reliable business information in a technologically advanced format will remain in high demand.

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