Storytelling as a branding tool: business programme of the Department Store of the National Centre RUSSIA at INNOPROM 2025
On July 8, as part of the business programme of the Department Store of the National Centre RUSSIA titled "From Emotion to Business Model" at INNOPROM 2025 in Yekaterinburg, regional experts continued their series of lectures on production know-how. The second day of the programme focused on the topic "Promoting Beauty! Modern Promotion Tools" and opened with a talk by Yekaterina Borisova, Director of the enterprise "Lace Region."
Yekaterina’s enterprise in Yelets, Lipetsk region, has been successfully operating for over 15 years. She shared with the audience how vivid storytelling can help build a strong brand identity.
"Unfortunately, Mtsensk lace has not survived to this day. When I was studying at university, I wanted to find out what happened to it, and my research led me to Yelets," she said, describing the beginning of her professional journey.
In Yelets, Yekaterina not only revived the local lace-making tradition but also developed an effective system of promoting the product through storytelling.
"When people come to Yelets, they know nothing about the local lace. It’s the story behind the craft that helps introduce them to it. They see how the lace is made, they learn that it takes a week and kilometres of thread to produce just one metre of fabric… These stories increase the perceived value of the brand," she emphasised.
According to the expert, understanding the uniqueness of the product directly influences its perceived value:
"When the perceived value is high, the price increases too," said Yekaterina Borisova.
The stand of the Department Store of the National Centre RUSSIA offers visitors unique goods from 90 Russian producers representing 46 regions, all available for purchase directly on-site. The exposition is divided into four thematic categories: "Groceries" featuring gourmet brands, "Accessories" with designer jewellery, "Folk Crafts and Trades" with traditionally painted items, and "Cosmetics" with natural products made from time-honoured recipes.
Recordings of all business programme lectures are available on the official website of the National Centre RUSSIA in the "Broadcasts" section.
Every Monday at the National Centre RUSSIA is traditionally devoted to maintenance work, and therefore the venue is closed to visitors on these days.
The National Centre RUSSIA summed up the results of the first themed week of the project "Days of the Regions" within the exposition "Region-2030. Platform of the Future".
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