Foreign brands that are actually Russian. Imaginary "Western" brands. Russia spent billions on the World Cup, but still plays poorly

Many buyers do not even suspect that Russian manufacturers are actually hiding behind the big English and Italian names. This article is about the most important “pseudo” foreign brands.

Why do some Russian brands pretend to be foreign?

Here we are dealing with the conviction of the majority of Russians that foreign clothes and shoes (not counting China and Turkey) are always more fashionable and of better quality than domestic ones. This belief is not groundless. On the other hand, domestic producers, who know about the “special love” of Russians for everything foreign, take advantage of this. This is especially true for new brands formed after the 1990s.

First of all, brands take names that “sound” like Italian or American. There is nothing wrong with this fact in itself, and this is the case even in recognized fashion meccas, such as Italy. In particular, the Henry Cotton’s brand sounds English, is aimed at lovers of “English style”, but was founded in Italy in 1978. However, there is a big difference - they do not hide this fact. It’s just that the name is consonant with the style of the clothes they produce.

By the way, someone who would certainly benefit from rebranding is our Bolshevichka factory. It just sounds funny: “A businessman in a Bolshevik suit.” However, this is purely their business, at least they are not misleading anyone.

Three categories of Russian brands that pretend to be foreign

All brands that “pretend” to be foreign can be divided into three categories.

The first category includes those brands that do not hide their Russian origin and have only the name itself in a “foreign” language. It's like our Timati black star - no one doubts his origin.

The first category includes INCITY is a Russian fashion brand created in 2005. This is a chain of fashion stores women's clothing, which is owned by OJSC Fashion Continent. Having taken a foreign name (which, by the way, does not clearly indicate the place of origin of the brand), this brand from the very beginning positions itself as Russian and does not experience any discomfort in connection with this. As well as English language, having become de facto international, the name in English is both a tribute to fashion, a trend and simply a marketing ploy.

Fabio Paoloni

Under the brand Fabio Paoloni Men's clothing is produced: classic suits, shirts, outerwear. The logo itself contains the word Milano, giving an unambiguous hint of its noble origin. That is, this is a direct misrepresentation. Only Runet is filled with information about the Italian clothing brand Fabio Paoloni. There is not a single hint of it in the Italian segment of the Internet. Where are the clothes made and by whom? Fabio Paoloni one can only guess - on the official website there is no information at all about their origin.

BGN

As stated on the official website “The history of the BGN brand began in Paris. In 1999, following the first BGN gallery, located in the very center of Paris, the first store appeared in the Saint-Gemain des Près district, then in 2004 in the Le Marais quarter. In 2000, the first BGN store opened in Russia, then in Ukraine and Turkey. Every year the number of stores is constantly growing". However, there is not a single mention of this brand in the French segment of the Internet, so draw your own conclusion.

And in conclusion, I will say that if the quality and style of clothes and shoes are at high level, then there is no need to hide behind a “foreign” brand, and if not, then this is not only a deception of consumers, but also damage to the business reputation of those countries that pseudo-Italian and pseudo-American companies hide behind.

Stylist-shopper

Olesya Maranova

A collection of our brands that look like imported ones.
There is no Japanese AKAI on the Russian market, since it declared bankruptcy in 2000. Positioning itself today as the Japanese brand AKAI, offering itself in Russian stores, was registered in Russia in 2002 by the Akai Universal company and has no legal relation to the Japanese company of the same name. Later, the Russian brand AKAI was bought up and fought for by many well-known and unknown Russian and foreign companies, including M-Video. For curiosity: it was the Japanese AKAI that was the first to invent, and even more precisely patent, the remote control and on-screen menu for televisions. But this invention has nothing to do with our AKAI.

BORK is perhaps the first who awakened our consciousness and we learned that “German” quality can be produced in China at the request of Russian entrepreneurs. Therefore, we will not say much about this brand, just that it is Russian, which does not diminish our respect for it. But read on. There are still so many different interesting and unexpected things there.

ALtheBA was invented by Alexander Bayer. The name is formed from the initial letters of the name AL and the surname BA. Shoes are produced in Russia and China. Has no relation to Italy. There are no such stores in Italy or Europe in general.

The successful brand Carlo Pazolini was invented by Ilya Reznik in Russia in 1991. High-quality shoes are made in Portugal and China. This is the only shoe brand that has opened more than 50 stores under its own brand in the United States and Europe.

Camelot is a completely Russian brand. Produces copies of models from more than expensive brands Grinders, Dr Martens and Shellys.

Carnaby and Chester were created by Russian entrepreneurs and no longer hide their completely Russian origin.

The customer of the Bagbier brand is Ivan Bagnyuk (that’s why the beer has “Bag…” in its name), owner and general director of the Omsk Rossar brewery, where it is produced.

Elenberg is a private brand of the Eldorado chain.

The Erich Krause brand belongs to the Office Premier company, registered to Dmitry Beloglazov in 1994. Products are manufactured in Moscow at the Polygraphika factory and in Yoshkar-Ola at the Premier Plast factory.

The creators of the Faberlic cosmetic brand were Alexey Nechaev and Alexander Davankov. In 1997, they founded the Russian Line company, which was later renamed to the more cosmetic Faberlic. Today, this brand is successful, in addition to Russia, in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the Baltic countries, Romania, Hungary and Germany. The absolutely Russian origins of this brand don’t even occur to many people.

Owner of the Finn Flare brand Ksenia Ryasova. Design studio in Moscow. Clothing is made in China, accessories - in Vietnam.

Frau Schmidt was invented in Russia in 2007. The author of the idea for a narrowly targeted brand of household chemicals is Elena Shmidt, managing partner of the Pharmanics company. The right move by the brand’s authors was that they offered the market not a universal cleaner or detergent, but a specialized one. Products are developed in Russia and manufactured in Europe.

Like many products here, the Gipfel brand offers us fairly high-quality products whose logo indicates Gipfel Germany or Gipfel Belgium. Because Gipfel GmbH was registered in 2003 in Germany under the... not quite German surname Agababaev. Gipfel in Belgium is registered under the not quite Belgian surname Karpov. Anatoly Evgenievich. According to some sources - the same world chess champion. The brand's website is registered to Yuri M. Isaev. Sellers in stores do not hide the fact that all products are made in China.

“Italian” products under the brands Grand di Pasta and Grand di Oliva are produced at the address: Chelyabinsk, Melkombinat village No. 2 Open Joint Stock Company “Makfa”.

Greenfield is produced by the St. Petersburg tea company Orimi-Trade LLC, which produces several brands of tea, including under the brands “Princess Nuri”, “Princess Java”, “Princess Kandy” and “Princess Gita”. Apart from the English name and English origin, Greenfield has nothing in common with England.

In response to the Greenfield brand from Orimi Trade, Tea Company May created the Curtis brand (originally called Curtis&Patridge, but it didn’t work under such a complex and unpronounceable name).

A completely Russian company of children's clothing and toys, Gulliver, was registered in 1997 at CJSC Trading House Gulliver and Co.

Joss is the Sportmaster chain's own brand of sportswear and accessories. Made in China.

Kaiser was invented in the 90s by Pavel Loginov. Produced in Poland and China. It is represented by the slogan “German household appliances,” but the Kaiser brand is unknown neither in Germany nor anywhere outside the CIS.

The creator of the L'Etoile network, Maxim Klimov (now deceased). The development of the brand began with the Kurs group of companies. The first L'Etoile store opened in Moscow in 1997. This chain is not present in France, or anywhere else in the world.

We Russians love Indian and English (although English is almost Indian too) tea. Nevertheless, a beautiful, French-type tea, Maitre de The, appeared on our shelves. But in France, and nowhere else in the world, there is no such tea. Its origin is entirely Russian. Tea is packaged in Russia by Modern Tea Technologies LLC.

Mayonnaise and Mr Ricco products are produced in Yelabuga (Tatarstan), the brand (like many on this page) was developed by Russian design studios.

There is a chain of OGGI stores in Europe. But the only thing it has to do with the network we’re talking about is that it filed to challenge the right to use the name OGGI. As our OGGI writes on its website in the news: “Due to the impossibility of registering the OGGI brand in many countries, we are changing the spelling of our name.” New spelling – OODJI is already registered in more than 100 countries. OGGI - registered in 1998, (aka OODJI in 2010) - Russian brands owned by the St. Petersburg company "August-Plus" OODJI products are developed in Russia and China, manufactured in China.

O'stin launched the Sportmaster network. Clothes are made in China, India and other Asian countries.

The Polaris brand belonged to different time either POLARIS-4 LLC, or NT Computer, or JSC Microtech International S.A. (founder Sergey Bestuzhev). The brand claims to be sold on three continents, but can only be found in Russia and the CIS. The equipment is manufactured in China.

The Prology brand was also invented in Russia in 1996, with American roots in mind. But in America there is no such brand.

PROPLEX positioned itself as window systems from Austria, in fact it is a Russian manufacturer of PVC profiles founded in 1999. The plant is located in Podolsk. To be honest, it must be said that the technology and equipment at the plant are German.

The Ralf Ringer brand, created in 1995 by Andrei Berezhny, ordered its first shoes from the Moscow shoe factory “Burevestnik”. Today, shoes are produced in addition to Moscow, in Vladimir, Zaraysk and..., where without it - in China.

Riston tea is harvested in Ceylon, but packaged in Russia, which does not make it any less Ceylonese. The brand was invented and developed entirely in Russia.

Rolsen officially positions itself as a Korean brand. In fact, it is completely Russian and was invented in 1995 by Sergei Belousov. The products are assembled at our own factory in Fryazino from components from Southeast Asia.

Savage is a completely Russian brand, registered in 2000. Products are manufactured in China and Russia.

The Scarlett brand was registered in 1996 in the UK. But the company is of Russian origin. The equipment is produced in China.

The first SELA store was opened in the early 90s by Eduard Ostrobrod and his brother Alexander Pekarsky in St. Petersburg. The first shipments were delivered from Israel. Later from China and Bangladesh. SELA from Hebrew "rock". But I think the beauty of the name is that it is short, it fits well on the ear and is similar to SALE (sale). Therefore, many stores, placing the word SALE on their windows, unwittingly advertised the SELA brand.

In 1974, Supra Corporation of Japan was registered in Japan, but in the 90s another Supra appeared on the Russian market, legally unrelated to the Japanese one. The Japanese brand Supra no longer exists. Therefore, the Supra that you will meet in Russia is the result of Russian-Chinese economic relations.

Tervolina is not an Italian brand at all; shoes are made in China and in Togliatti at the Leader factory.

TJCollection, Chester, Carnaby - belong to the same Russian company, registered in 1992, allegedly whose owners are named Timur and Yulia (hence TJ). Positions its shoes as “made in Italy and/or Spain and/or Great Britain,” despite the fact that no stores from these brands have been found in these countries.

The completely Russian Vitek brand was registered in 2000 by Golder Electronics (owner Andrey Derevyanchenko). In addition to the Vitek brand, this company owns the brands Maxwell, Rondell, Collfort.

The Vitesse brand belongs to Vitesse Culinary Club LLC. Legal address: Tula region, Tula, st. D.Ulyanova, 15. Products are manufactured in Tula and China.

Westland positions itself as an American brand that has been around since 1930. In fact, this is a completely Russian brand, since 1996 (date of registration) it has been producing its high-quality products in Turkey. Jeans are not sold under this brand anywhere except Russia. The company does not have a website in English.

Gloria Jeans was founded in 1988 in Rostov-on-Don by Vladimir Melnikov. Since its founding, Vladimir has been its current and active CEO, despite the fact that in 2018 he will turn 70 years old. I would like to tell you a little about him. When Melnikov was a teenager, he was left without parents. He grew up as a hooligan and dropped out of school in the 6th grade (which is why he doesn’t have a high school diploma), and at the age of 15 he got a job at a factory. In the sixties, and then in the seventies, he was twice convicted of blackmail. The third time in the eighties for currency trading, while trying to purchase sewing equipment abroad for his cooperative. In 2011, Melnikov was noted by Forbes magazine as one of the 9 most unusual Russian businessmen.

Zolla positions itself as an Italian brand. In fact, there is no such fashion brand in Italy. The company manufactures its products in Sri Lanka, China and Bangladesh. Which does not detract from the dignity of this brand at all.

The VIS-A-VIS brand (French for “face to face”) was founded in Moscow in 2000.

Motor Jeans is a brand of Russian origin. Offers high-quality jeans and accessories made in Turkey.

Ile de Beaute is undoubtedly a respected perfume and cosmetic brand in Russia. There are no such stores in France. The brand "Ile de Beaute" belongs to the holding " United Europe", the central office of which is located in the Moscow region (urban settlement "Moskovsky settlement" of the Ulyanovsk forest park).

The HANDERSON brand has been owned by TAMI and CO LLC since 1998. It is clear that the Limited Liability Company form is a Russian form of ownership.

Green Mama was created in 1996 by Oleg Nasobin and his wife with their own production in the Moscow region.

The CentrОbuv brand was created in 1996 in Moscow. Despite the fact that the brand is completely Russian, it has excellent integration into the West - today the Centro brand is represented in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia.

The owner of the controlling stake of Bosco di Ciliegi is Mikhail Kusnirovich. Bosco di Ciliegi from Italian - “cherry forest” - is a completely Moscow company, the main shareholder of Moscow GUM

The brilliant and noble Ahmad also refers to those imitating foreign origin. He just hides it very carefully. Let's figure it out. The company that owns the Ahmad brand is registered in London (which our citizens have the right to do), but this brand is not available anywhere except Russia and the UK. In the UK, Ahmad is only sold in places (airports) with connections to Russia. Tea is packaged by tea factories in Kharkov and the Moscow region.

The Jardin coffee brand, as well as TESS tea and Greenfield tea, is produced by the Orimi Trade company from St. Petersburg.

ZINGER is a manufacturer and supplier of manicure and other haberdashery accessories of the highest quality. The brand was registered in 1998 and has about 50 stores across Russia (the main ones in Moscow and St. Petersburg). This brand (except for the German ZINGER - sewing machines) is not present abroad. Our brand has nothing to do with ZINGER sewing machines.

The Explay trademark was registered in 2007 and belongs to a Russian supplier digital devices ZAO "Explay" from Yekaterinburg. The main direction is the sale and warranty service of electronic devices.

Despite the fact that incanto successfully positions itself as Italian underwear and accessories, it is a Russian company, since there is no such brand in Europe, as well as stores. This does not in any way weaken the merits of the offer of this respected brand.

The INCITY brand chain, owned by Fashion Continent OJSC, is one of the largest federal fashion chains in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. According to Nielsen research, NCITY has one of the most high performance recognition among brands in its own category.

KANZLER is one of the most respected and high-quality Russian men's clothing brands with more than 20 years of history. KANZLER offers its products in about 60 cities of Russia: from St. Petersburg to Ulan-Ude. There are no such stores in Germany.

The supposedly American brand Redmond is actually registered at Tekhnopoisk LLC, St. Petersburg, Koli Tomchak St., 28 V
The Redmond Industrial Group company itself was registered in the USA in 2007 by Alex Hlavachek.
The company entered the market with inexpensive small household appliances precisely at the moment when the market had a great need for it, which played a positive role in the popularity of this brand.

Sven is a Russian manufacturer of acoustic systems and peripherals for computers Oy Sven Scandinavia Ltd. By official information The office is located in Finland. At first, products under the Sven brand (multimedia and portable acoustic systems, multi-channel home theater speaker systems, keyboards, headphones, headsets, etc.) were produced as part of the conversion at the Bryansk Defense Plant. Today production has moved to Taiwan and China.

Vassa&Co was created in Russia in 2000 with a claim to compete with global fashion trends. The head office is located in Yekaterinburg, sales departments are located there and in Moscow.

Zarina (Zarina) is an absolutely Russian brand, founded in 1993. Since 2009, Renata Litvinova has been taking part in the creation of collections. Zarina is part of the Melon Fashion Group, which includes the Love Republic and Befree brands.

Dr.Körner breads do not have German roots, but are produced by OJSC Khlebprom, whose office is located in Moscow on the street. Rustaveli 14, and Dr.Körner production is located in the Smolensk region, Yartsevo.

Only the name and style of this tea are truly English. Tea is produced by Yakovlevskaya Tea Packaging Factory LLC at the address: Moscow region, Podolsk district, Yakovlevo village, st. Shosseynaya, 1. Which does not mean that this tea is bad.

Rondell, like the Vitek and Maxwell brands, belongs to Golder Electronics (owner Andrey Derevyanchenko). The company is located in Moscow, Pestovsky lane, 10.

The brands TOP HOUSE, NORDLAND and Baby Speci belong to the Russian LLC ALTEROS, location: Moscow, Varshavskoe shosse, 125. The company began its work in 1999. These brands are not represented anywhere abroad (including in Europe).

Why am I telling you all this and, it would seem, revealing secrets? Russian business, undermining his credibility. In fact, I praise the Russian entrepreneur and with this revelation I want you not to think that ours can’t do anything.
Look how cool they can be! Why don't they make our brands with Russian names? It's all about our consumer mentality - we are still confident that imported goods are better.
Therefore, entrepreneurs do not waste resources on breaking our stereotypes. They spend effort and money on offering the target audience an “imported” brand, one that they would be better off buying. It's simple.

Recently, the Industrial Development Fund launched a flash mob on social networks #BuyOur. Users began posting photos of the domestic products they use and passing the baton to friends. This promotion is designed to help Russian manufacturers, because recommendations from friends are the best advertising.

The flash mob participants recommended to each other, for example, domestic cosmetics Natura Siberica and Cocco Bello, HarryCooper glasses, children's clothing brands Eli'n'son and Little Star, Casademont sausage and Aquin drinking water.

It is difficult for our entrepreneurs to compete with Western corporations that can afford to spend a lot of money to conquer the Russian market. Domestic businessmen also have to fight the age-old stereotype that we don’t produce anything good. Therefore, they make logos in Latin and even invent legends about the foreign origin of their goods.

Often Russians do not even suspect that they are buying domestic goods. There are a lot of texts circulating on the RuNet about Russian brands pretending to be foreign. Rusbase decided to remember which products are usually not perceived as Russian, but could be a reason to be proud of our entrepreneurs.

We bet you didn't know that they are connected to Russia:

Appliances

• Bork- a brand of the Russian consumer electronics network Technopark (formerly Electroflot). Registered in Germany and promoted as the standard of German quality. In fact, Bork multicookers, juicers and other equipment are manufactured in China. In 2010, the Federal Antimonopoly Service fined the company 100 thousand rubles for this. Today Bork is considered a premium brand and has a network of branded showrooms.

• Vitek- the trademark was registered in Austria by the head of Golder Electronics, Andrey Derevyanchenko. On the boxes they wrote about Austrian origin, but they were produced in China. Vitek has long become one of the most recognizable brands in Russia.

• Rolsen- the company was founded in 1995 by Sergei Belousov (Acronis) together with his MIPT colleague Ilya Zubarev. We started by assembling LG TVs at a factory in Fryazino, and then launched our own brand. Later we bought the Rubin trademark along with production in Voronezh.

• Scarlett registered by Russian entrepreneur Sergei Mashukov. The brand belongs to the English company Arima Holding and is produced in Southeast Asia.

• Manufacturer of large kitchen appliances Kaiser- the brainchild of Russian Pavel Loginov. Maintains the reputation of a German company, but is produced in a Polish factory.

• Redmond- the trademark was registered in 2006 by the Russian company Technopoisk. Thanks to active marketing, it occupied a third of the domestic multicooker market.

Cloth

• Oggi- translated from Italian as “today”. The brand was created in 1998 by the St. Petersburg company August Plus. The design bureau is located in St. Petersburg, most of the clothes are made in China.

• Gloria Jeans- the history of the famous denim brand begins with the Gloria cooperative, which was created in 1988 by Rostov resident Vladimir Melnikov. Today the company has 35 factories in Russia and 13 in Ukraine.

• Brands BeFree, Love Republic And Zarina belong to the St. Petersburg company Melon Fashion Group. Initially, all their products were produced by the Pervomaiskaya Zarya clothing factory; now 90% of their items are produced abroad.

• Chain of clothing stores Sela(translated from Hebrew as “rock”) was created in the early 1990s by cousins ​​Boris Ostrobrod and Arkady Pekarevsky. We started by selling Chinese down jackets, then decided to sell our own. The design bureau is located in Israel, production is in China.

• Russian Andrey Tarasov bought the rights to use the brand from an old Italian family company Meucci in Russia. Part of the assortment is sewn in Italy, but all outerwear is made at a factory in Lobnya near Moscow.

• InCity is a Russian brand created in 2005 by the founders of Fashion Continent OJSC. Clothing production is located in the countries of Southeast Asia.

Shoes

• Brand Carlo Pazolini was born not in Italy, but in Russia. In 1992, Ilya Reznik, an engineer at the Moskvich automobile plant, ordered a batch of shoes from an Italian factory. The logo was drawn by a Russian advertising agency. A few years later, Reznik bought two shoe factories in Tuchkovo and Kubinka near Moscow. Now, however, most of Carlo Pazolini’s products are made in China.

• Shoe brands TJ Collection, Chester And Carnaby positioned as Italian and English. According to some reports, they belong to our former compatriots Timur and Yulia Akhmetov (their initials are included in the name TJ Collection). It was reported that at first the products of these brands were produced near Lipetsk, and then in China.

• Shoes Ralph Ringer usually mistaken for German or Austrian. But in fact, it is produced in factories in Moscow, Vladimir and Zaraysk. The company's managers, by the way, do not hide this at all.

• Tervolina sews his shoes at the Leader factory in Tolyatti. The sonorous name remains from the times when the company was importing Czech and Hungarian shoes.

• Camelot- a Russian company that sold Grinders and Dr. Martens shoes in the 1990s. In 1999, they launched their own brand, which was more accessible to young people. These shoes are made in Poland and China.

• ALBA is translated from Italian as “dawn, beginning”, and also plays on the name of the founder - Russian entrepreneur Alexander Bayer. Like the others, at first he brought imported shoes to Russia, then decided to launch his own brand. ALBA shoes are manufactured under contract by Spanish and Italian factories.

• Brand Mascotte founded by the Russian company OOO Moscot Shoes in 2000. Design bureaus are located in Moscow and Italy, production is in China.

Cosmetics and household chemicals

• history of the company Faberlic began in 1997, when Moscow State University graduates Alexey Nechaev and Alexander Davankov founded the Russian Line company. The bet on Russian origin did not bring results, and after much deliberation the Faberlic brand was born. These cosmetics are produced at two factories - in Moscow Biryulyovo and in the village of Sobolikha near Moscow.

• Toothpaste Splat and other brand products are produced at factories in the Novgorod and Moscow regions. The founder of the company, Evgeny Demin, started this business in 2001 and managed to conquer 15% of the Russian market.

• Another premium brand of oral hygiene products R.O.C.S. belongs to the Russian group "Diarcy". Products are produced at two factories in the Moscow region (Domodedovo and the village of Staraya Sitnya).

Products

• Tea brands Greenfield And Tess and also coffee Jardin belong to the St. Petersburg company Orimi Trade. They are produced at a factory in the Leningrad region. At the same time, the Greenfield brand was initially positioned as British.

• Tea Curtis Produced by a plant in Fryazino, Moscow Region. The brand belongs to the May company, which has firmly established itself in the market thanks to the popular Maisky tea.

• Coffee Milagro(the name translates from Spanish as “miracle”) is produced at the Intercafe plant in Mytishchi.

• Branded ketchups and sauces Mr.Ricco, which we remember for its advertising with sultry Italian women, is produced by the Kazan Dairy Plant (owned by the Nefis Group of Companies).

Other

• Supposedly a German stationery brand Erich Krause owned by the Russian company Office Premier. Production is located in Southeast Asia.

• Bicycles Stels are produced at factories in Kubinka near Moscow, in the Krasnodar Territory and in the Sverdlovsk Region.

• Japanese stylized women's cigarettes Sakura Produced by the Donskoy Tabak plant.

With the advent of the iPhone, mobile phone manufacturers began to lose customers, revenue and former greatness. Chinese technology giants decided to take advantage of the situation and began buying up well-known Western unprofitable companies, to increase their shares in foreign markets, playing on nostalgia. The Secret looks back at Western phone brands that have fallen into Asian hands.

Nokia

Finnish Nokia has gone from a small manufacturer of boots and toilet paper to a tech giant. In 2007, the company occupied more than 50% of the total mobile phone market. Today she is not even in the top ten. In 2013, the American Microsoft bought the brand for $7 billion, and then virtually completely destroyed it. In 2015, unprofitable Nokia Devices and Services was closed and employees were laid off.

Previously, Microsoft began releasing tablets and new models of Nokia phones and tried to revive the brand. But it was not possible to surpass Apple gadgets technologically.

Last year the brand partially returned to the Finns. It was acquired by the Finnish startup HMD Global Oy and FIH Mobile from China for only $350 million. Now they are making remakes of the iconic Nokia 3310 model and devices for monitoring weight and blood pressure.

Motorola

Motorola's popularity peaked in 2005 and 2006, when it sold more than 50 million of its ultra-thin and lightweight Razr flip phones. In 2007, the company's revenue from the sale of mobile phones amounted to about $18 billion. After Apple's telephone debut, Motorola's advantages in the eyes of users faded, and the company was acquired by Google. The corporation had no intention of returning Motorola's lost positions. In the spring of 2012, Google greatly overpaid, paying $13 billion for an unprofitable brand for the sake of patents.

Google failed to develop its own direction based on Motorola’s inventions, and in January 2014 it resold the depleted portfolio to Lenovo. The latter paid more than $1 billion for Motorola. Another $1.5 billion was spread over quarterly payments over three years. Thus, the brand will finally become Chinese only by the end of this year.

The merger was painful. Lenovo has cut at least 2,000 jobs in the US. And Motorola's telephone business, which occupied third place in the list of leading smart manufacturers in 2014, dropped to eighth place. In the near future, Lenovo plans to release nine models under the Moto brand.

Philips

The huge Dutch consumer electronics corporation Philips has long been taken into small pieces. The inventor of cassettes, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs now independently produces only razors, light bulbs and medical equipment.

Since 2007, Philips' mobile division has been owned by CEC (China Electronics Corporation). The company abandoned it, unable to withstand pressure from Asian players. Even before the deal was closed, the Dutch annually reduced funding for developments in the field of mobile communications. On the eve of the sale, in the first quarter of 2007, profits fell from 100 million euros to 55 million compared to the same period in 2006. Now Philips continues to make mobile devices and, in addition, produces futuristic-looking landline phone models, such as the Philips Mira.

BlackBerry

Before the release of the first iPhone, Canadian BlackBerry was the leader among smartphones. The popularity of Apple and Samsung, failures in the operation of sold phones led the company to multi-billion dollar losses and the disposal of unsold goods. In the third quarter of 2013, the loss was $4.4 billion, and revenue decreased by 56%.

To compete with the emerging strong competitors, BlackBerry released touch models, abandoning the main feature - the PC keyboard under the screen. Users did not like the inconvenient interface, and most of the products were returned to stores.

BlackBerry tried to sell itself to the Chinese twice. The first time a deal with Lenovo Group was banned by Canadian authorities: smartphones that were reliable and protected by a special code from surveillance and wiretapping were national pride. They were used by the top officials of some states, for example, British Queen Elizabeth II, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Having received a government refusal, BlackBerry tried to save the company on its own: they developed a dozen new product lines and fired about 40% of the staff. But the situation was completely hopeless. And in December last year, BlackBerry absorbed one of the world's largest manufacturers of televisions, air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators - the Chinese TCL.

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When choosing shoes, the brand and country of manufacture are perhaps of decisive importance. Many buyers are willing to pay several times more to purchase high-quality and comfortable shoes. This is what the inventors of werewolf brands are counting on. As a result, people buy Chinese products at the price of European ones, without even checking the origin of the new item. Is it any wonder then that the expensive “Italian” shoes fell apart after a month?

A werewolf is not the same as a fake. By offering its products to customers, the manufacturer creates the illusion of the European origin of its brand. The country of origin is either tactfully kept silent, or there is an outright substitution of Saratov for Milan and Tolyatti for London. As a result, naive buyers purchase Chinese or Russian consumer goods for a lot of money.

Werewolf brands can be divided into two groups

"Guess yourself". This includes those brands whose owners generally do not hide their Russian origin, but avoid the topic of the origin of the shoes. Products of average quality and price are given loud names foreign language and an attractive advertising slogan. For example, “traditions of English quality” or exquisite shoes from Italian designers. At the same time, with a little effort, you can find all the information about the origin of the shoes on the packaging or on the company’s website. The price of products from such brands is usually within reasonable limits, and the products are of acceptable quality. Therefore, after the purchase, you don’t regret the money spent, but there remains an unpleasant aftertaste - they thought that they bought German boots, but they were Russian.

"Under cover". The werewolf brands of the second category are much more insidious. Their owners quite consciously and purposefully invent and promote the legend of the Western origin and European production (usually Italian, German, English) of their products. Shoes sold under such werewolf brands are expensive, but the quality is very average, corresponding to the level of the mid-price segment.

What exactly to buy is an individual choice for everyone. But if you don’t want to overpay for something unknown, value high-quality and truly branded shoes and be vigilant and don’t be deceived!

Representatives of the first category “Guess for yourself”.

Ralph Ringer. Shoes are sewn in factories in Russia and China in accordance with standards. The products have a simple design, good quality and affordable prices. The Russian origin is not hidden, but sellers often talk about German roots: design, quality, etc., but this brand has nothing to do with Germany.

Argo. Despite the sonorous name, this is a brand of the Pyatigorsk shoe factory. The prices are reasonable, the quality is decent, Russian production is not hidden.

Avela Bellini. A Russian shoe brand that quite often mentions European roots and traditions, although there is no evidence of connections with Europe.

BurgerSchuhe. Having a “German name”, the brand is nevertheless Russian, which it honestly states. The shoes are of good quality, but don't believe the tales of German origins.

Camelot. The brand is Russian, but shoe production is located in China. The company will not invent legends about its origin. Camelot often copies designs to produce affordable collections from fashion brands. The price/quality ratio is satisfactory.

CV Cover. A Russian shoe brand that looks quite strongly like Italy. The site has a lot of streamlined statements about European production and Italian designers, however, the manufacturing country is Russia.

Grand Gudini. The name of this brand can also be misleading. Shoes are made in China and Russia. The company's claim that the models are developed by designers invited from Europe seems quite controversial. Prices and quality are average.

El Monte. A Russian shoe brand whose products have fairly high prices and decent quality.

Enzo Brera. On the Enzo Brera website a lot of space is devoted to Italian traditions, but there are no lies, and the Russian origin is not hidden. Although the quality is good, the prices for shoes are high.

Francesco Donni. A shoe brand with a network of branded stores and high prices. The brand’s website talks quite a bit about the descendants of the outstanding Italian shoemaker and Italian traditions. However, the producing country is Russia.

Giovane Gentile. A Turkish brand, whose origin is not advertised, with “Italian” ambitions and inflated prices due to the legend.

Henderson. Despite its Polish roots, the Henderson brand has been owned by a Russian company for quite some time, which does not hide its origin. The shoes are made in China and Portugal, there is nothing special about them. It has pretty decent quality and above average prices.

Jillionaire, Botinerri, Perfection, VS. All these brands seem to be the brainchild of the same Russian company. She, in general, does not hide this, but she avoids the topic of the origin of the shoes. Much is said about Italian standards and design, but the country of tailoring is most likely China.

Loiter. Shoes of this brand are made in Russia and, according to the manufacturer, using Italian technologies. Whether this is true is unknown, but sellers often try to pass off Loiter as an Italian brand. The shoes are produced by a small company, the prices for the products are low.

Mario Ponti. Brand of the Greek company Kasta, with shoe production in China, affordable prices and good quality.

Paolo Conte. A Russian brand that does not hide its origin. Prices are high for products from China, quality is average.

Pier Lucci. The Turkish brand of shoes is of pretty good quality, but often sellers pass it off as an Italian brand.

Rheinberger. Russian brand, owned by the Ryazanvest company from Ryazan. Shoes are sewn using German technology.

Renaissance. Russian brand whose shoes are produced in Asia and Eastern Europe. The site talks about the participation of Italian and French designers in the development of models, but it is unknown to what extent this is true.

Vigorous. A Russian brand, the origin of which is ignored. Production is located in China. A significant part of the shoes is made of leatherette.

Centro. Brand of a large Russian chain, average price/quality ratio, made in China.

Now we will talk about insidious werewolves "Under cover"- whose owners shamelessly invent and spread myths about European origin(“English traditions”, “Italian masters”) of their brands.

Carnaby, TJ Collection and Chester. These shoe stores are the most famous representatives of this category. They are positioned as English brands that produce shoes in Spain and Italy. In fact, most of the shoes are made in China and Vietnam, and in Italy they put insoles into them. The prices are clearly inflated and the shoes are not worth the money.

Aaltonen. Russian clone of a large Finnish brand from the 80s of the last century. The current Aaltonen website is only in Russian and shoes are sold exclusively in Russia. Therefore, one can only guess how and where these shoes are developed and produced.

El Tempo. The brand pretends to be a Spanish brand, but has nothing to do with Spain. The company has one Russian website; there is absolutely no information about the El Tempo brand on the foreign Internet.

Ita Ita. A chain of stores selling pseudo Italian shoes. There you can find many different Polish, Russian and Chinese brands passing off their products as Italian. Prices are high, the quality of shoes varies greatly. In general, all this looks like a lottery, so it is better to avoid Ita Ita stores.

Provocante. Shoes of this brand are presented as German, but there is no information about this company on the foreign Internet. Therefore, it is obvious that this is a werewolf brand that does not have a very well-developed legend. The price/quality ratio leaves much to be desired.

Alba. A Russian brand whose owner claims the Italian origin of the shoes, but there are serious doubts about this. Most likely, the brand has nothing to do with Italy, although it is trying to create an impression of Italian roots among consumers. On the company's official website, the question of where shoes are produced is avoided, but a lot is said about Italian style and quality. It is quite possible that expensive models are made in Italy, but cheap ones are definitely made in China. In general, prices for Alba shoes are high with average quality and rather conflicting reviews.

Gode. A rather dubious brand, which is presented as Italian, but most likely, it is Chinese or Russian.

Thomas Munz. This brand is a prime example of a brazen werewolf brand that deliberately misinforms customers. There is a well-thought-out legend on the website, and in stores and advertising posters it is said that these are German shoes. However, the foreign (including German) segment of the Internet does not contain information about the Thomas Munz brand. Apparently, the brand is indeed registered in Germany, but that’s all. The Germans have nothing to do with the development and production of shoes.

Carlo Pazolini. Another highly advertised werewolf brand that claims the Italian origin of its shoes. The brand has quite normal quality, but the shoes are made in China and Eastern Europe without the participation of Italian designers. The company even has a website in Italian, but the Carlo Pazolini brand is nothing more than a beautifully invented legend about the mythical shoemaker Carlo Pazolini.

Mascotte. Russian brand with production in China. It has high prices, rather questionable quality and comfort of shoes.

Enzo Logana. Positioned as Italian, the shoes are sewn at a factory in the Moscow region. Decent quality comes with fairly high prices, and in general, the Enzo Logana brand is not worth that kind of money.

Massimo Renne. The place of shoe production on the website is Italy, China, India. The site is hosted in Russia, the domain is registered to a Russian citizen. Therefore, one can only guess about the true origin of the shoes.

Roberto Rossi. Another deceiving brand with a website in Italian and stores only in Russia. The quality is good, but the prices are greatly inflated due to the rather creative legend of the mythical shoemaker Roberto Rossi.

Vitacci. A brand of women's and children's shoes masquerading as Italian. The site is in Russian, there is no foreign data about this brand. The shoes are of good quality, but most likely have nothing to do with Italy.

Vito. It is presented as a Finnish brand, but the company’s website is in Russian and there is no information about this brand on the foreign Internet. According to some reports, Vito shoes are made in Turkey and have very controversial reviews.