Challenges of a Digital Age: A Perspective of a Digital Marketing Legal Expert Aleksandra Kostoreva

Adapting to the changing laws and regulations is one of the big challenges markets and advertisers face in coming years. For instance, according to the report published by IAB in April 2024, two-thirds of surveyed advertising decision-makers predict that the implementation of new state privacy laws will reduce their ability to personalize advertising messages. In the environment of evolving regulations and changes such as the one mentioned above, companies working in the digital marketing industry need to constantly search for new creative solutions that will comply with the new regulations while producing the desired outcome at the same time. As a result, the demand for law professionals qualified to work in the digital industry becomes crucial.

Aleksandra Kostoreva is one of the professionals who help companies operate in a new digital world, adapting existing practices for digital media and developing new ones. Currently, she is a licensed attorney in California, and working at Gavrilov & Brooks. However, throughout her career, she has worked at several Russian and global companies, conducting negotiations and protecting the interests of their clients. One of the keys to her success was the ability to quickly adapt to the challenges caused by the increasing influence of digital media while maintaining high work standards.

An illustrative example of such a challenge she learned to solve effectively throughout her career is the rapid digitalization of marketing practices incentivized by the pandemic. “Before the pandemic, companies had been exploring digital media cautiously and conservatively,” recalls Aleksandra Kostoreva, “However, then many activities were moved into the online spaces. As a result, businesses had to adapt quickly, exploring new modes of operation.” She mentions that trailblazing new approaches had required an immense amount of work, both theoretical and practical, but paid off quickly. At that time, Aleksandra was the dedicated in-house legal counsel specializing in digital marketing within the legal department at GroupM, a subsidiary of WPP Holdings, the largest media holding company in the world

Consequently, her unique experience and skillset played a crucial role in adapting the company to the oncoming challenges and supporting its growth in the new digital environment.

However, finding the right working approach is never enough for her. “To advance, you need not only to develop new approaches but make them scalable,” she explains further. “The end goal is to create a solution which can be generalized for multiple cases. Naturally, it helps to use company resources more efficiently.” As an example, she mentions her work on establishing advertising partnerships with bloggers and influencers for her clients. As a result, contract and exhibits templates were created, which allowed the company to accelerate the documentation processing for the finalization and approval of advertisement campaigns. Again, she was the one trailblazing new ways for the company to operate and developing efficient solutions in the legal field.

The example above highlights another quality a legal professional needs to possess. “Currently, if a professional wants to be efficient, they need to have at least the basic understanding of digital technologies, no matter what area they specialize in,” comments Aleksandra Kostoreva, “and the legal field is no exception.” For instance, she developed a contract form that had to account for the new technology of distributing advertisement orders among blog authors. It operated in an automated way, so it was necessary to draft a solution that fit all cases. A sharp understanding of legal matters, the specifics of digital marketing, and the operations of a particular company helped Aleksandra Kostoreva achieve the best result.

Being a top-tier professional who paves the legal foundation for the digital transformation in the company, Aleksandra finds it important to share her knowledge. Her scientific activities include publications in international scientific journals, encompassing a wide range of them. It is no wonder that several articles explore one of the core concepts of her practical work, namely, the operation of the digital advertising industry. For instance, her recent article in the International Journal of Applied Sciences and Technologies was dedicated to the issues of intellectual property rights in the advertising industry, and the article Science of Europe #38 explored the changes in the Russian advertising market after Meta ceased operations in Russia.

Having vast practical experience is crucial for any legal professional, especially in a rapidly changing field such as digital media. Consequently, nurturing connections and idea sharing becomes important for the industry as a whole, as well as for individual professional development. “It is important to create an environment where professionals can exchange their experience, share ideas productively, and eventually shape the industry they work in,” emphasizes Aleksandra Kostoreva. Naturally, publishing scientific articles like those mentioned above is not the only way to contribute. In recent years, Aleksandra has participated as a member of a jury panel at two contests, namely the Top-40 Digital Experts and Digital Leaders Award. The former gathered about four thousand industry leaders and became a major event on the digital marketing landscape.

Recently Aleksandra Kostoreva became a licensed attorney in California after graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law which is a number 20 law school in the USA  . She continues to enhance her professional skills, protecting the interests of her clients in civil litigation. In the future, she plans to focus on legal issues regarding digital marketing, ad tech and data protection.  “There are many issues which currently become even more relevant due to technological advancements,” she concludes. “I plan to focus on these areas in the near future to protect the interests of my clients in the most effective way.”