I traveled to Russia several times in the 1990s. I conducted surveys for government agencies and was featured on Russian media. This, of course, was during the years when Boris, “Did someone say vodka? Yeltsin was the nation’s President.

It was the last day of the last century, December 31, 1999, when Vladimir Putin became president of Russia. My travels to Moscow and conducting surveys there ended a bit earlier in the 1990s, but I had become somewhat familiar with the government structure there and so continued to follow the exploits of the world’s most famous ex KGB officer.

Putin was always a thug. But as the 21^st century moved on, he became more so: the widely reported death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB officer (FSB was / is the KGB’s replacement) and one of his political rivals, by radiation poisoning in London, and the murder of opposition journalist, Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow in 2006 are two of the more high-profile killings that made international press. But I have been shocked that despite these political assassinations and hundreds of other unusual instances of dead journalists and opponents, the “Vlad man’s” popularity has remained surprisingly strong throughout. There have been ups and down over the years, but in general, his approval rating has remained strong with the Russian public. Go figure.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the war with Ukraine, Putin’s current popularity is ranging between 85% and 90%. An American President   would “die” for these kind of numbers. At his highest, Ronald Reagan reached 68% approval and “The Donald” hasn’t come close to that.

Not surprisingly, this does not hold true on the world stage where he is generally viewed as a tyrant.

But this is politics. What about consumer products?

When I first went to Russia, most of the “supermarkets” were the size of 7/11s and primarily carried rice, beans and vodka. Today, while not having the retail numbers of the U.S. (actually, no country has the retail activity of the U.S.) they have a $300 billion dollar retail economy. Impressive.

But there are other active retail economies: Canada’s annual retail economy is $70 billion. Health and beauty products are top sellers there. Clothing and athletic wear is big.

We (On Target Research) have an office in Toronto. The place is a ripe destination for a wide range of products and services. We have clients booming there.

But, the biggest potential retail market in North America (outside of the U.S.) is Mexico. The country generates $400 billion in annual retail sales. Jeans, smart phones and beauty and personal care products are all top sellers and booming.

And the country is experimenting a robust economy.

We conducted surveys in Mexico for a Chinese company that was introducing a new tech product. (Not difficult as we have Spanish speaking surveyors if/when needed.)

But then there is all of South America. We can identify consumer need in any of those countries and or survey your product or service in one or more Spanish of the speaking countries. We can research markets and see if you have competitors and if so, how to position your product above them.

If you want to expand, moving into a foreign jurisdiction just might be the answer. We can research and survey in Europe as well.

Let us know where you want to go. We’ll do the rest.

Best,

Bruce

Bruce Wiseman

President & CEO

On Target Research

www.ontargetresearch.com

Br***@**********an.net

1-818-397-1401

‘