Text10 International Advertising

Our world became global. More than ever before, corporations are looking beyond their own country’s borders for new customers. Faster modes of shipping, rising personal income levels worldwide, and falling trade barriers have all encouraged commerce between countries. Corporations open new markets and sell their products in many regions of the globe, and they advertise their products in those regions. International advertising makes goods or services known and attractive for the foreign customers, promotes them in the world market, and facilitates the process of cooperation of different countries of the world.

There are two tendencies in international advertising nowadays: standardising and localization. The aim of standardizing is to create an international image of the product (the same product name, design, and slogan used in different countries), and thus to save advertising expenses. It is proved that effectiveness of standardised advertising is increasing, because particular groups of people are happy to see the same advertisements in different countries and to use the services and goods of the same level, which are offered by the well-known companies. For example, young adults from different countries who follow the same trends in music, eating, fashion, sport games, have the similar taste and habits, study foreign languages and travel much. These people don’t need diversity, and they like the shop they buy food in, and the hotel they stay at in different countries look the same and offer the same goods and services.

Global advertisers develop advertisements for global target groups. There exist from five to seven target groups in every country, which have the same values, aims, beliefs and income. Researches show that advertising campaigns developed for a country can be quite successful in other markets. It can be said about prestigious models of cars, computers, audio- and video equipment. A common advertising approach can be found for goods for mothers – baby food, nappies; for housewives – cleaning agents and home appliances; for the rich – expensive cars, the goods for image perception (perfumes, expensive clothes, and jewellery). Advertising of food hardly can be standardised because people in different countries have different eating habits. In general, it is easier to standardize the advertising in the countries with the same level of economic development than with different ones, and for a new trademark than for an old and well-known one.

Sometimes while preparing an advertisement done for a country to be used in another country, some problems of translation arouse. For example, Braniff Airlines wanted to advertise its fine leather seats. But when its advertisement was translated from English into Spanish, it told people that they could fly naked! Another example of wrong translation is when Chevrolet tried to market the Chevy Nova in Latin America. In English, the word nova refers to a star. But in Spanish, it means “doesn’t go”. Would you buy a car with this name?

To avoid these problems of translation, most advertising firms write completely new ads. In writing new ads, global advertisers must consider different styles of communication in different countries. In some cultures, the meaning of an advertisement is usually found in the exact words that are used to describe the product and to explain why it is better than the competitor’s one. This is true in such countries as the United States, Britain, and Germany. But in other cultures, such as Japan, the message depends more on situations and feelings than it does on words. For this reason, the goal of many TV commercials in Japan will be to show how good people feel in a party or some other social situation. The commercial will not say that a product is better than others. Instead, its goal will be to create a positive mood or feeling about the product.

Global advertisers must also consider differences in laws and customs. For instance, certain countries will not allow TV commercials on Sunday, and others will not allow TV commercials for children’s products on any day of the week.

Advertisers say: “Plan globally, act locally”. It means that when a common advertising concept is created, it is necessary to make it fit local customs and traditions, to make it national.

Sometimes it is necessary to change the characters, the story or the plot. Ideal variant is partly standardised advertising, which has the same spirit and common strategy, but offers the opportunities to fit the local conditions so that its influence on the target audience can be more effective.

People around the world have different customs, likes and dislikes. Even though some markets around the world are quite similar, companies such as Mc Donald’s have found that it is very important to sell different products in different parts of the world. So when you go to a Mc Donald’s in Hawaii, you’ll find Chinese noodles on the menu. If you stop for a hamburger in Germany, you can order a beer with your meal. In Malaysia, you can try a milk shake that is flavoured with a fruit that most people in other countries have never tasted.

The products must be sold with the right kind of message. It has never been an easy job for global advertisers to create this message. But no matter how difficult this job may be, it is very important for global advertisers to do it well. In today’s competitive world, most new products quickly fail. Knowing how to advertise in the global market can help companies win the competition for success.

Questions:

1. What is international advertising?

2. What are the aims of international advertising?

3. What media of advertising do global advertisers use?

4. What global target groups can you name?

5. What are the two tendencies in international advertising?

6. What does standardising mean?

7. Give examples of standardised advertising.

8. What does localization mean?

9. What does a saying “Plan globally, act locally” mean?

10. What is an ideal variant for international advertising?