Creative Director and Co-founder, Friends и mads, Russia
Maksim Ponomarev is one of Russia’s leading creative directors, with 20 years of experience in the advertising industry. A graduate of the Faculty of Psychology at Moscow State University, he began his career in advertising in 2004 at McCann Erickson, then worked as a copywriter at BBDO Moscow, and since 2012 has served as co-founder and creative director of the agency Friends и mads.
Over the years, Maxim has executed large-scale communication campaigns for major brands across various sectors, including Yandex, Samolet Plus, M.Video, Pochta Bank, Cyan, Lamoda, Ehrmann, Gillette, MegaFon, Google, Yota, Adrenaline Rush, and Epica. His projects have been recognized with numerous professional awards, including two bronze Cannes Lions, the Golden Hammer Grand Prix, and awards from the Red Apple, Effie Russia, Eurobest, Epica, Golden Drum, ADCE, ADCR, Cristal Festival, and “White Square” festivals.
Maxim is actively involved in the development of the professional community: he has served on the juries of the Red Apple, ADCR, ADC Europe, G8, and Effie Awards, and regularly gives lectures and workshops at HSE, ITMO, Russian Creative Week, “Design. View,” and at key industry conferences.