COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD CUSTOMER

CHAPTER OVERVIEW Global Advertising and CultureSetting the Global Advertising BudgetCreative StrategyGlobal Media DecisionsAdvertising RegulationsChoosing an Advertising AgencyOther Forms of Communication

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Introduction

• There are many cultural challenges that advertisers face in global marketing.

• Global advertising encompasses areas such as advertising planning, budgeting, resource allocation issues, message strategy, and media decisions. Other areas include: local regulations, advertising agency selection, coordination of multi-country communication efforts and regional and global campaigns.

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1. Global Advertising and Culture

• Language Barriers• Language is one of the most formidable barriers in

global marketing.• Three types of translation errors can occur in

international marketing:

• Simple carelessness• Multiple-meaning words• Idioms

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1. Global Advertising and Culture• Other Cultural Barriers

• Religion• Cultural traps/cultural dimensions

• Geert Hofstede’s cultural grid can be used to assess the appropriateness of comparative advertising campaigns (see Exhibit 14-2). The five cultural dimensions include:

Power distanceUncertainty avoidanceIndividualismMasculinityLong-termism

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1. Global Advertising and Culture

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2. Global Advertising Budget

• Companies rely on different kind of advertising budgeting methods which include:• Percentage of Sales

• Competitive Parity

• Objective-and-Task Method

• Resource Allocation

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3. Creative Strategy

• The “Standardization” versus “Adaptation Debate”

• Merits of Standardization:• Scale Economies

• Consistent Image

• Global Consumer Segments

• Creative Talent

• Cross-Fertilization

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3. Creative Strategy

• Barriers to Standardization:• Cultural Differences

• Advertising Regulations

• Market Maturity

• “Not-Invented-Here” (NIH) Syndrome

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3. Creative Strategy

• Approaches to Creating Advertising Copy:• Export Advertising

• Global Prototype Advertising

• Prototype Standardization

• Regional Approach

• Pattern Standardization

• Modular Approach

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4. Global Media Decisions

• Media Infrastructure• Media infrastructure differs from country to country

• Media Limitations• The major limitation in many markets is media

availability.

• Recent Developments in the Global Media Landscape:

• Growing commercialization and deregulation of mass media

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4. Global Media Decisions

• Shift from radio and print to TV advertising

• Rise of global and regional media

• Growing spread of interactive marketing

• Growing popularity of text messaging

• Improved monitoring

• Improved TV-viewership measurement

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4. Global Media Decisions

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4. Global Media Decisions

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5. Advertising Regulations

• The major types of advertising regulations include:• Advertising of “Vice Products” and

Pharmaceuticals• Comparative Advertising• Content of Advertising Messages• Advertising Targeting Children• Other Advertising Regulations:

Issues of local languages, tax issues, and advertising rates.

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The never ending wars....

Chapter 14 Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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5. Advertising Regulations

• Strategies to deal with advertising regulations:• Keep track of regulations

and pending legislation• Screen the campaign

early on• Lobbying activities• Challenge regulations in

court• Adapt marketing mix

strategy

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6. Choice of an Advertising Agency• In selecting an ad agency, the international

marketer has several options:1. Work with the agency that handles the advertising

in the firm’s home market.2. Pick a purely local agency in the foreign market.3. Choose the local office of a large international

agency.4. Select an international network of ad agencies

that spans the globe.

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6. Choice of an Advertising Agency

• When screening ad agencies, the following set of criteria can be used:• Market coverage• Quality of coverage• Expertise with developing a central international

campaign• Creative reputation• Scope and quality of support services• Desirable image (“global” versus “local”)• Size of the agency• Conflicting accounts

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7. Other Forms of Communication• Sales Promotions: Sales promotion refers to a

collection of short-term incentive tools that lead to quicker and/or larger sales of a particular product by consumers or the trade.• Rationales explaining the local character of promotions:

• Economic development• Market maturity• Cultural perceptions• Trade structure (pull vs. push promotions)• Government regulations

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• Direct Marketing • Event Sponsorships• Trade Shows: When attending an

international trade show, the following guidelines might prove useful:• Decide on what trade shows to attend at least a year in

advance.

• Prepare translation of product materials, price lists, selling aids.

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Trade show

• Bring plenty of literature. Bring someone who knows the language or have a translator.

• Send out, ahead of time, direct-mail pieces to potential attendees.

• Find out the best possible space, for instance, in terms of traffic.

• Plan the best way to display your products and to tell your story.

• Do your homework on potential buyers from other countries.

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Trade show

• Assess the impact of trade show participation on the company’s bottom line. Performance benchmarks may need to be adjusted when evaluating trade show effectiveness in different countries since attendees might behave differently.

• On-line information on trade show events are plentiful (e.g., www.tsnn.com). A recent phenomenon is the emergence of “virtual trade shows” (e.g., www.unisfair.com/Showcase.asp)

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Techniques

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