SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

International advertising, despite its glamorous image, is tough work because it poses formidable challenges. We have already discussed the problems that language creates. Other concerns relate to laws, customs, time, inertia, resistance, rejection, and politics.

Laws and Regulations

International advertisers do not fear actual laws; they fear not knowing those laws. For example, a marketer cannot advertise on television to children under l2 in Swedenor Germany cannot advertise a restaurant chain in France, and cannot advertise at all on Sunday in Austria. In Malaysia jeans are considered to be Western and decadent, and are prohibited. A commercial can be aired in Australia only if it is shot with an Australian crew. A contest or promotion might be successful in one country and illegal in another.

Customs and Culture

Customs can be even stronger than laws. When advertising to children age 12 and over was approved in Germany, local custom was so strong that companies risked customer revolt by continuing to advertise. In many countries, naming a competitor is considered bad form Customs are often more subtle and, as a result, are easier to violate than laws. Quoting an obscure writer or poet would be risky in the United States, whose citizens would not respond to the unknown author. In Japan the audience would respect the advertiser for using the name or become embarrassed at not knowing a name they were expected to recognize. A campaign that made such a reference might irritate U.S. audiences and engage Japanese consumers.

Companies that are starting to do business in the Middle East have to learn new selling methods because the region is so devoutly religious. For example, there are major restrictions on how women are presented in advertising. Many Asian cultures emphasize relationships and context. To be effective, the advertising message must recognize this cultural difference. Many oppose the move to a global perspective because of concerns about the homogenizing of cultural differences. Marketing or cultural imperialism is a term used to describe what happens when Western culture is imposed on others, particularly cultures such as the Middle Eastern, Asian, and African cultures that are considerably different. Countries in Southeast Asia have advertising codes. Singapore has an ad code deter-mined to prevent Western influenced advertising from impairing Asian family values. Malaysia requires that all ads be produced in the country, which cuts back dramatically on the number of foreign ads seen by its public.

Time

Everything takes longer internationally--count on it. The New York business day overlaps for only 3 hours with the business day in London, for 2 hours with most of Europe, and for I hour with Greece. Normal New York business hours do  not overlap at all with those in Japan, Hong Kong, the Middle East, or Australia.

Overnight parcel service is dependable to most of Europe, and other regions, if the planes are able to take off and land. For these reasons e-mail that permits electronic file transfer and telecopy transmission are popular modes for international communication. E-mail and fax numbers have become as universal as telephone numbers on stationery and business cards in international companies.

Time is an enemy in other ways. France and Spain virtually close down in August for vacation. National holidays are also a problem. U.S. Corporation’s average l4 to l5 paid legal holidays a year. The number is more than 20 in Europe, with more than 30 in ltaly.

Inertia, Resistance, Rejection, and Politics

Inertia, resistance, rejection and politics are sometimes lumped together as "not invented here" situations. Advertising is a medium for change, and change may frighten people. Every new campaign is a change. A highly successful campaign from one country might or might not be successful in another country. (Experience suggests that the success rate in moving a winning campaign to another country is about 60 percent.) Creative directors often resist advertising that arrives from a distant headquarters rather than advertising created within the local agency. This resistance is partially the result of a very real problem in local offices of international agencies: an inability to develop a good creative team or a strong creative reputation when most of the advertising emanating from the office originates elsewhere.

Government approval of television commercials can also be difficult to secure in some countries. Standards may seem to be applied more strictly to international than to national products. Flat rejection or rejection by delay or lack of support must be anticipated with every global strategy and global campaign. The best solution is to test two ads that are both based on the global pattern advertising: a locally produced version of the advertising and an original ad. As mentioned, the global strategy usually works 60 percent of the time. If the locally produced advertising of the global strategy wins, the victory must be decisive or the costs of the variation may not be affordable. Global companies must remain flexible enough to adopt the strategy that emerges as the winner.

At times the resistance and rejection are political. These may be the result of office politics or an extension of international politics. Trying to sell a U.S. campaign in a foreign country can be difficult if relations between the two nations are strained. To overcome local resistance and build consensus companies should have frequent regional and world conferences, maintain a constant flow of communication, transfer executives, and keep their executives well informed through travel, videotapes, e-mail, teleconferences and consultation.

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

APPROACHES TO THE INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

'All business is local." This proverb should be modified to read 'Almost all transactions are local." Although advertising campaigns can be created for worldwide exposure, the advertising is intended to persuade a reader or listeners to do something buy, phone, and order. Even this will change as multi-national directmail campaigns become possible in a unified common market. Some advertisers develop tightly controlled global campaigns with minimum adaptation for local markets. Others develop local campaigns in every major market.

Centrally Controlled Campaigns

International advertising campaigns have two basic starting points: (l ) success in one country and (2) a centrally conceived strategy, a need, a new product, or a directive.

A National Success Story

A successful advertising campaign, conceived for national application, is modified for use in other countries. Wrigley, Marlboro, IBM, Waterman Pen, Seiko Watches, Philips Shavers. Procter & Gamble, Ford, Hasbro and many other companies have taken successful campaigns from one country and transplanted them around the world.

Centrally Conceived Campaign

A centrally conceived campaign was pioneered by Coca-Cola and is now used increasingly in global strategies. Although the concept is simple, the application is difficult. A work team, task force or action group assembles from around the world to present, debate, modify if necessary, and agree on a basic strategy as the foundation for the campaign.

The one word theme replaced one of the most successful ad slogans in aviation history, "Fly the Friendly Skies of united."' Some circumstances require that a central strategy be imposed even if a few countries object. Cost is a huge factor. A centralized campaign could include television, radio, newspaper, magazine, Web, outdoor advertising, and collateral extensions (brochures, mailings, handouts, take-one folders, or whatever is appropriate). The team can stay together to finish the work, or it can ask the writer or campaign developer to finish pervise the completion of the entire project.

Positioning the Global Product

Research must be conducted to identify the problems and opportunities facing the product in each of the international markets to be entered. The normal approach of conducting consumer and market analysis works well for international analysis. Emphasis should be placed on identifying local market differences to which the advertising programs must adjust. The analysis portion of the advertising plan develops the information needed for positioning the product in the foreign markets. Particularly important is a good understanding of consumer buying motives in each market. This is almost impossible to develop without locally based consumer research. If analysis reveals that consumer buying behavior and the competitive environment are the same across international markets, it may be possible to use a standardized positioning in all international markets. In exploring the international marketing opportunity for Gatorade, Quaker discovered that the active, outdoor lifestyle that created demand for sports beverages was an international, not domestic phenomenon. Starbucks' consumer research suggested that perceptions of a store such as Starbucks varied from market to market. In Japan, Starbucks was positioned as a daytime meeting place for business people and an evening place for socializing. The position of Hawaiian gores was as a place to relax, any time of the day or night.

Selecting Media for International Campaigns

Advertising practitioners can debate global theories of advertising, but one fact is inescapable: Global media do not currently exist. Television can transmit the Olympics around the globe, but no one network controls this global transmission. An advertiser seeking global exposure must deal with different networks in different countries.

Media Choices

Once the company has approved the basic global media strategy and plan the central media planner will look for regional or multinational media. If magazines are part of the plan the media buyer may purchase advertising space in Time, Newsweek' The Economist' Reader's Digest, and other magazines with international editions. The International Herald Tribune and the wall street Journal newspapers are published simultaneously in a number of major cities using satellite technology. Magazines published by international airlines for their passengers are another option Multinational satellites, such as British Satellite Broadcasting in Europe and Star in Hong Kong, also provide opportunities to place the same message before a target audience at the same time across national boundaries if the audience is targeted for a consumer product, local planning and purchase are required. This is accomplished through an international advertising agency (or international consortium of agencies) or through an international media-buying service If these two methods are not used, the media executive must execute the plan through a multitude of local, national, or regional media-buying services or advertising agencies. International media-buying services usually work effectively for smaller international companies that do not have well-developed agency relationships in each country in which they operate. Regional media-buying services, such as Carat of France, are gaining great strength in Europe.

The Global Creative Effect

Global campaigns, like domestic campaigns, require ad work that addresses the advertising objectives and reflects the product's positioning. The opportunity for standardizing the campaign exists only if the objectives and strategic position are essentially the same. The creative process requires three steps: to determine copy content, to execute the content through a central idea, and to produce the advertising. Standardizing the copy content by translating the appeal into the language of the foreign market is fraught with possible communication blunders. It is rare to find a copywriter who is fluent in both the domestic and foreign language and familiar with the culture of the foreign market. It is best if the central creative idea is universal across markets, or at least can be converted easily from market to market. Adaptation is especially important if the advertiser wants its products identified with the local market rather than as a foreign import. Advertisements may be produced centrally, in each local market, or a combination of both. With a standardized campaign, production usually is centralized and all advertisements produced simultaneously to reap production cost savings.

EVOLUTION OF GLOBAL MARKETING

Generally markets are composed of local, regional, and international brand.

A local brand is one marketed in a single country. A regional brand is one marketed throughout a region (for example, North America or Europe). An international brand is available virtually everywhere in the world. Marketing emerged when the emphasis changed from importing products (tea and species, silk, gold, and silver) to exporting products. Advertising was used to introduce, explain and sell the benefits of a product especially a branded product in markets outside the home country. Advertising that promotes the same product in several countries is known as international advertising. It starts with product that begins to reach the saturation point in its home market and cannot grow faster. Recapture strategy is used either by introducing new products in its home market or expanding into foreign markets. The following are the reasons for companies to venture outside the home market:

• Saturation of the home market
• Market research that shows market potential for products in other countries,
• Mergers and acquisitions with foreign businesses, and
• Moving into other markets to preempt development by competitors

Export

Exporting a product, requires placing the product in the distribution system of another country. The exporter typically appoints a distributor or importer, who assumes responsibility for marketing and advertising in the new country. As volume grows, the complexity of product sizes, product lines, pricing, and local adaptation increases. The exporter might send an employee to work with the importer and act as a liaison between the exporter and the importer. Some companies prefer to appoint a local distributor who knows the language and the distribution system and can therefore handle customers and the government better than a foreigner could. Starbucks, for instance, appointed a local distributor in several Asian countries, including Thailand. Exporting is still the first step in international marketing. For example, 2 years ago Brazil-based chocolate manufacturer Garoto (which means "boy" in Portuguese) decided to export to other Latin American countries. Even though only $25 million of Garoto's $592 million sales come from exports, the company is already Latin America's biggest chocolate exporter. Although sales outside Latin America aren't big enough to merit media advertising beyond the region, Garoto does participate in promotional opportunities such as major food fairs. International marketing and advertising is not the exclusive province of large companies.

Nationalization and Regionalization

If the sales grow in export markets, the exporter may send a manager to work in the importer's organization or to supervise the importer. That manager typically must secure approval of plans, obtain funds for operations, and defend sales forecasts to a company management that is concerned chiefly with its domestic market.

If sales grow even further, the exporter may want greater control or a larger profit share and may either buy back the importer's rights and handle distribution or set up assembly (or manufacturing) facilities in the importing country. That is, management and manufacturing get transferred from the home country to the foreign one At this point, key marketing decisions focus on acquiring or introducing products specifically for the local market. For example, BMW set up a U.S. manufacturing plant to build American versions of its German cars. Once the exporter becomes nationalized in several countries in a regional bloc, the company establishes a regional management center and transfers day-to-day management responsibilities from the home country to that office. When a company is regionalized, it may still focus on its domestic market, but international considerations become more important as that of Coca-Cola.

Growth of Consumerism:

The term "consumerism" refers to the resistance of consumers to misleading advertising, sales techniques and products. The development of consumer power took place in the USA between 1889 and 1925 when consumers developed their strength and realized the need for resisting misleading and unrealistic advertising. Women's organizations developed to resist “black" sales. In India, consumer power developed during the Swadeshi Andolan in 1922, which continued till 1950. The second period of growth of consumerism was between l926 and 1959 in the USA" Many books, articles and seminars were held on consumerism. Consumers' Union, Drug Control, etc., came into being during this period. In India, the growth of consumerism took place between 1951 and 1985. The third period, i.e. the surge of modern consumerism, started in India in 1986 when various organizations developed to protect the interests of the consumer. The consumers' Safety Act was enacted in 1989.

In America, consumers insisted on the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose and the right to be heard. Many books on consumerism were written, which brought pressure to bear on manufacturers and traders so that there might be the right type of packaging, true labeling, truth in credit and substantiation of claims of deceptive products. In India, many voluntary organizations were formed to protect the interests of consumers. The misleading activities of advertisers were brought to the notice of the public. The government was apprised of the widespread practice of adulteration. Consumerism in India developed rapidly. Women's organizations have become very active in India to educate people about misleading advertising and products. There has been a great pressure on the government to enact suitable legislation to protect the interests of consumers. Advertising is criticized vehemently. The present laws in India may not be very useful unless consumers are educated and motivated to protect their interests. Consumerism in India has to be developed rapidly. The present state of consumerism in India is worse than it is in the USA. In America a tax was levied on advertising, to restrict the putting up of billboards along highways and to create a sense of purpose among consumers. The reasons for the growth of consumerism are technological development, water and air pollution, soaring prices, heavy taxes and other economic factors. Education and social consciousness have motivated people to safeguard their interests. In the Indian context, consumer protests have to be developed on a large scale.

Consumerism has a direct as well as indirect impact on advertising. If advertisers get the feedback that their presentation and announcements have been resisted by people, they would avoid misleading advertising. If they do not, their image would be tarnished. Advertisers have to evaluate the end results of their advertisements. Pre-assessment and evaluation will avoid unnecessary expenses on advertising. Therefore, advertisers should not feel that consumers are adversaries. They are, in fact, true guides for the success of advertising. Consumerism gives a boost to government control. The advertising research will not be required if consumer organizations provided adequate information and feedback on advertising. There-fore, consumers now receive the cooperation and assistance of many sound advertising agencies. Advertisers look upon their reactions as clues to the need for further development.