Useful phrases

§ Discussing an ad campaign

§ Typically, our products have appealed to...

§ We have a high market share among teenagers / 18-25-year-old men.

§ We want to appeal to a younger / older audience.

§ Our (name of product) is very well known, but we want to raise the profile of our...

§ It’s important for us to reinforce our brand’s positive image / to change perceptions of our product.

§ We’d like to rebrand our product / to change our image / to create a new image.

Exercise 10 How do you think advertisements vary between countries? Read the opinions below. Do any of them surprise you?

A. I can tell the difference between a German ad and a British one immediately. I find German advertising very direct, whereas British advertising tends to be much more subtle. You know, a British ad for a chocolate bar might be all about something that has nothing to do with chocolate, but which somehow manages to evoke the idea of self-indulgence: a woman in a bath, for example. A German ad for a chocolate bar will always have a chocolate bar in it.

B. Henry Ford said that a car can be any colour as long as it’s black, and I feel the same way about advertising. A really good ad campaign will work across cultures and appeal to basic human needs – the only thing you need to change is the language.

С. I was in Japan a few years ago and was shocked to see how many famous Hollywood stars were advertising everyday products like cars and bath soap. They’d never do ads like that in the US because it would harm their reputation here. I’m not sure why it’s OK to do it in Asia, though. But a friend from Kyoto visited me recently, and she mentioned that these days, Japanese companies prefer to use Japanese actors in their ads. Apparently the West is losing its appeal!

D. Sure, something like fancy French perfume can be marketed in a similar way around the world: the only thing that changes is how sexy the ad is allowed to be!

E. But the ad campaigns for our wines are completely different in, say, the US and France. Our American ads show a couple drinking wine in a very exclusive restaurant; it’s clearly a special occasion. And our French ads show a group of adults, obviously old friends, having a casual meal at home. The product is the same, but the ‘packaging’ is completely different.

Which opinion refers to:

universal advertising? a change in status of foreign stars? differences in advertising styles? a product that has a different status in different cultures?

Is it important to adapt advertising for different cultures? What differences in advertising have you noticed when travelling abroad?

Exercise 11 Write an advert for this running shoe, based on this information sheet. Try using the approach suggested underneath.