Approaches To Global Advertising

Globalization (standardization).This school of thought contends that differences between countries are more a matter of degree than direction, so advertisers must instead focus on the similarities of consumers around the world

Localization (adaptation). This school of thought argues that advertisers must consider differences among countries, including culture, stage of economic an: industrial development, stage of life cycle, media availability, research availability, and legal restrictions.

Contingency (moderate). This school of thought reasons that neither complete standardization nor compete adaptation is necessary and that a combination of the two approaches can guide advertising in multiple countries after a careful evaluation of factors that can affect the effectiveness of such advertising. Note that most companies use the middle-of-the-road approach or lean toward localization. Starbucks uses this approach. Tea is offered in stores in the far-east, stronger coffees in Europe, and gourmet coffees in the United States. Furthermore individual elements often are standardized (product name, logo, and packaging).

No single approach is always the right one. In actuality no business has a completely global campaign. The reality of global advertising suggests that the contingency approach is best. Marketers are restricted by language, regulations, and a lack of completely global media. The challenge in advertising is the careful and sophisticated use of Kotler's "variations" nationally or regionally under a basic Levitt-style global plan to maintain efficiency.

The Global Advertising Plan

The strategic advertising plan usually is prepared in conjunction with the budget. Basically, the plan outlines the marketing strategy, whereas the budget allocates the funds. Two major approaches to advertising in foreign cultures differ in their orientation: one is market oriented and the other is culture oriented.

The Market Analysis Model

This model is based on data and observation from several countries. It recognizes the existence of local, regional, and international brands in almost every product category. The two major variables are the share of market of brands within a category and the size of the category. For example, the brand's percentage share of the category market might vary substantially in four countries:

	Country A	Country B	Country C	Country D
Global Brand	25	30	50	20
Regional Brand	60	30	10	55
Local Brand	15	40	40	25

According to this example, Country C looks very valuable for the global brand. Considering the size of the market changes the picture, however. Assume that the size of the category market in the four countries is as follows:

	Country A	Country B	Country C	Country D
Global Brand	2,00,000	1,00,000	50,000	3,00,00
Regional Brand	25,000	30,000	50,000	20,000
Local Brand	50,000	30,000	25,000	60,000

According to this market analysis, Country C actually is much less important. Half of this smaller market is already in global brands. Country D not only is a larger global brand market but also is a much larger total market. A marketing manager must look not only as share but also at market size, growth rates, and growth opportunities. For instance, cola-flavored soft drinks are not nearly as dominant in Germany as they are in the United States. To generate sales in Germany, then, a soft-drink company would have to develop orange and lemon lime entries. McDonald's serves beer in Germany, wine in in France, a local fruitf lavored shake in Singapore and Malaysia, and even a Portuguese sausage in Hawaii, in addition to the traditional Big Macs, fish sandwiches, and French fries to cater to local tastes.

The Culture-Oriented Model

The second model of international advertising emphasizes the cultural differences among peoples and nations. This school of thought recognizes that people worldwide share certain needs, but it also stresses the fact that these needs are met differently from culture to culture. Although the same emotions are basic to all humanity, the degree to which these emotions are expressed publicly varies. The camaraderie typical in an Australian business office would be unthinkable in Japan. The informal, first-name relationships common in North America are frowned on in Germany, where co-workers often do not use first names. Like-wise, the ways in which we categorize information and the values we attach to people, places, and things depend on the setting in which we were raised. How do cultural differences relate to advertising? According to the high-context/low-context theory, although the function of advertising is the same throughout the world, the expression of its message varies in different cultural settings.

The major distinction is between high context cultures, in which the meaning of a message can be understood only within a specific context, and low-context cultures, in which the message can be understood as an independent entity. It is observed that Japanese has the highest context culture. This model helps explain the difficulties of advertising in other languages. The differences between Japanese and English are instructive. English is a low-context language. English words have very clearly defined meanings that are not highly dependent on the words surrounding them. In Japanese, however, a word can have multiple meanings. Listeners or readers will not understand the exact meaning of a word unless they clearly understand the preceding or following sentences, that is, the context in which the word is used. Advertising messages constructed by writers from high-context cultures might be difficult to understand in low-context cultures because they may offer too much detail to make the point clearly. I contrast, messages authored by writers from low-context cultures may be difficult to understand in high-context cultures because they omit essential contextual detail.

In discussing the Japanese way of advertising, Takashi Michioka, president of DYR, joint-venture agency of Yoirng & Rubicam and Dentsu, put it this way: In Japan, differentiation among products, does not consist of explaining with words the points of difference among competing products as in America. Differentiation is achieved by bringing out the people appearing in the commercialthe way they talk, the music, the scenery-rather than emphasizing the unique features and dissimilarities of the product itself.

Agencies have to develop techniques to advertise brands that are marketed around the world. Some agencies exercise tight control, whereas others allow more local autonomy All of these techniques fall into three groups: tight central international control, centralized resources with moderate control, and matching the client. Henkel, a large German manufacturer of household and cleaning products, provides -: example of how centralized management with similar products works. Henkel's international strategy was designed to accomplish three goals: eliminate duplication of effort among its national companies, provide central direction for new products, and achieve efficiency in advertising production and impact. It included these steps:

1. l. Identifying how a product fulfills a need or functions beneficially.
2. Determining the common need or product benefit for consumers in Europe or larger area.
3. Assigning that specific need or benefit to one product with one brand name.
4. Assigning that brand to one brand manager and one advertising agency to develop and market.
5. Disallowing the use of that one brand's benefit, name, or creative campaign for any other brand in the company.

The organizational structure for managing international advertising depends heavily on the globalization-versus-localization marketing and advertising strategy. For highly globalized advertising efforts, there may be one advertising plan for each product regardless of the number of markets entered. For a product using localized advertising, there probably will be a separate advertising plan for each foreign market. For globalized advertising plans, the business is more likely to centralize the development and control of the advertising. Quaker adopted standardized advertising for Gatorade and its other international products. As a first step in implementing its pan-European approach, Quaker centralized advertising management for all of Europe. If the marketing effort, including the advertising, is more localized, then the company is likely to centralized advertising management in each individual foreign market. Colgate Palmolive Company decided to take a country-by-country approach in its advertising