mk364 - international advertising
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING
CREATIVE STRATEGY AND APPEALS
Introduction
Here we are concerned not only with how advertising may work creatively but also with
the international setting. Do we simply like the advertising - and hopefully the brand - or
does it provide a real proposition also? This is also an area where literature abounds.
The approach taken to international advertising will very much depend on the company
and its understanding of international marketing. At the one extreme, you have a
company such as Next who locate in the wrong part of Paris, use a translator and
inappropriate advertising such as lifestyle ads on the Metro that fail dismally; at the other
you have companies which excel. Most opinion seems to suggest that global advertising
does not really work unless the strategy is changed in individual countries to take account
of their culture. The Guy Laroche ad used in theme two from Mueller shows quite clearly
the link between culture, creative strategy and standardisation/adaptation. This is repeated
below:
See Mueller text
theme 3: creative strategy and appeals
1
mk364 - international advertising
International advertising may be defined as ‘advertising designed to promote the same
product in different countries and cultures’. However, this definition implies that the
advert can be standardised; many authors agree that this is not the case. Even companies
where standardised advertising is used, such as Benetton, might question appropriateness
of their creations from country to country.
Creative strategy
Mueller uses Frazer’s 1985 definition of creative strategy viz.: ‘a policy or guiding
principle that specifies the general nature and character of messages to be designed.
Strategy states the means selected to achieve the desired audience effect over the term of
the campaign’ or in other words ‘what is said’. This includes consideration of both verbal
and non-verbal approaches to message content.
Strategy is a statement of how objectives will be achieved. The creative part is what the
ad will say as opposed to the media strategy as to how it will be said. The creative
strategy area is concerned with three things:
1. The actual message strategy that includes the creative concept and is usually
linked to the brand concept. The strategy for P&G’s Pringles brand was to
communicate the ideas that the brand is irresistible taste that is unique and an
exhilarating ‘snacking’ experience.
2. Appeals, chosen from a range of rational/informational and emotional appeals. In
pringles’ case slices of life depicted the fun of endorsers (skateboarders or dancers
outdoors) yet stressed the uniqueness of the brand.
3. The execution, the way the communication, particularly advertising, is rolled out.
In Pringles’ case attention was paid to clothes, music (and atmosphere) and the
catchy strapline ‘Once you pop, you can’t stop’.
De Mooij (1994) covers this area well with regard to universal and culture-bound themes,
appeals and executions.
Integrated marketing communications
Advertising of course is only one tool of the integrated marketing communications mix.
The importance of advertising will depend on the availability and price of the tools in
various countries. Clearly there is notionally some global media, but you can question in
reality its extent. The main issue that arises is the extent to which standardisation is
appropriate. A company obviously needs to pay attention to the product, the customer and
how difficult it will be to execute strategy.
theme 3: creative strategy and appeals
2
mk364 - international advertising
Standardisation or adaptation
De Mooij considers four global marketing and marketing communications strategies:
1. Standardised brand/product and standardised communications e.g. American Express
2. Standardised brand and adapted communications e.g. Levi Jeans
3. Adapted product and standardised communications e.g. Douwe Egberts Coffee
4 Adapted product and adapted communications e.g. Unilever brands (Jif in the UK, Viss
in Germany and Cif in France).
There are several issues important here. Firstly, whether the organisation develops a
message for one market and then transposes this in tact into others (Like Esso’s ‘put a
tiger in your tank’) or if they develop a message with a number of markets in mind from
the start, centrally conceived (see Mueller’s example of Chivas Regal in chapter 5). This
is popular because of co-ordination and control providing the benefit of speed of roll out.
With easier production and fewer staff involved the cost benefits are easy to see. The
danger is that voice-overs/dubbing etc. may not be adequate or may even be disastrous.
But still the search for universal symbols and meaning transference in many markets with
the same message is an attractive proposition. De Mooij contends that there are three
ways to choose from:
1. Adoption - where the whole thing is exported, language and all. This can work for
(say) French perfume.
2. Prototype - where concepts and central ideas remain in tact but where local input is
used. The control of this remains in the hand of the company but depends on the quality
of the local input.
3. Concept co-operation (guideline) - which keeps a certain amount of the brand and
company facets in tact e.g. company colours and straplines. This raises the dangers of
lack of control but also imposition of facets that are wrong for particular markets.
De Mooij lists 4 creative impediments to centralisation:
1. In each country creative people like to prove themselves.
2. Ad agencies can be obstructive because adapting a campaign pays less than
creating a new one
3. Ad managers of subsidiaries can impede progress.
4. The NIH (not invented here) syndrome might exist and should be replaced by NIH
(now improved here).
What is vital is that the brand personality is maintained. Mueller lists product types that
are suitable for standardisation and those for specialisation/adaptation/customisation:
theme 3: creative strategy and appeals
3
mk364 - international advertising
1. Products suitable for standardisation - where audiences are similar (lifestyles etc.),
where image can be used (but does the marketer really know what this is), where the
target is ‘upper class’ (social status etc.), where the product is high tech (involving
innovation/innovators, common technical language etc.) and where products have a
nationalistic flavour (where for example country of origin can be important).
2. Products suitable for adaptation - where concentration on the differences is seen as
important/necessary to tackle problems encountered by a standardised approach across
the marketing environment from political to social/cultural to media infrastructure etc.
Also internal differences such as stage in the product/brand lifecycle can be catered for.
Mueller and others offer plenty of examples, such as Parker, Colgate, who have realised
to their cost what it can mean to fail with a standardised approach. There is also
recognition that the adaptation approach does not necessarily mean changing
fundamentals - such as core values of the brand. In communication terms the actors in a
commercial may be changed (as with Coca Cola using different national sports and
therefore players) at a surface level.
More on advertising appeals
This can be viewed as ‘how it is said’ rather than what and involves copy and dialogue
(verbal) and visuals and illustrations (non-verbal) communications. The two broad kinds
of appeal are on the one hand rational and the other emotional. This is often referred to as
hard and soft sell respectively. The reality of situations is more complex than this rather
simple distinction. Mueller uses her own and others’ work on the differences between
Japan and the USA (reference back to high and low context cultures) but it should be
remembered that most would agree that these are very large generalisations. The French
are said to like humour and sex appeals while the Brits display a great fondness for class
division, eccentric behaviour and puns.
With verbal communication (copy and dialogue) things like brand names (briefly looked
at in theme 1) come to the fore but it is much more than this. Mueller gives both linguistic
and managerial guidelines.
(See Mueller for a comparison between the USA and Japan. See also De Mooij for
comparisons between Japan and the USA, France, Taiwan and the USA, the USA
and the EC, Germany and the UK).
With non-verbal communication (visuals and illustrations) the usual claim is that less
confusion will be the outcome because of the lack of translation difficulties. Despite
Mueller’s recognition of settings, backdrops etc. as having different meaning to different
people of different cultures which hinders standardised campaigns, both this writer and
others have a rather naive or at best simplistic approach to the very big problem of
communicating effectively by making the situation appear much more simple than it is
viz-a-viz symbolism.
De Mooij does a better job in the area of creative appeals although the assumption that
there are universals available is also made. The distinction between the appeal and the
execution is made well and the three basic aspects of De Mooij’s execution is given
below:
theme 3: creative strategy and appeals
4
mk364 - international advertising
1. Analysis – of the most important aspects of the appeal in order to prevent
problems at a later stage.
2. Research – into what can be used across borders, and as important which cannot.
3. Creative execution - ensure cost of adaptation are not prohibitive.
The overall strategy and the appeal may be universal but the execution may well be
localised. To quote De Mooij discussing the family appeal of McDonald’s which is
universal but within Spain ‘the execution is Catalan’ - and presumably different in other
parts of Spain still. Ideas generated centrally might remain while surface level treatments
differ.
De Mooij lists the following as universal concepts:
1. Case histories - difficult but worthwhile, usually offering solutions to problems and a
mixture of landscapes and environments.
2. Improved quality or productivity - especially useful business-to-business wise.
3. Basic everyday themes - e.g. motherhood, jealousy.
4. New products - novel features or new concerns such as environmentalism.
5. Service - particularly in industrial marketing.
6. Special expertise - particularly technology, engineering.
7. The ‘made in’ concept - country of origin effect, appealing to national pride or
particular (perceived) expertise.
8. Demonstration - such as “Toilet Duck” loo cleaner
9. Universal images - such as the Red Cross (not so universal in other viewpoints!).
10. Media driven concepts - such has the youthfulness of MTV, matching the message to
the medium.
11. Life-style concepts - but where adaptation of execution may be necessary.
12. Heroes - again possible (but there are very few) but with adaptation of execution.
De Mooij also lists several culture-bound concepts:
1. Personal ideas and opinions - for example the notion of slimness being attractive is not
universally held.
2. Customs and Moral values - similarly as 1. above. Nudity in France is not such a big a
hang-up as it seems to be in the UK.
3. Humour - doesn’t travel well apart from the use of incongruity i.e. contrast highlighted
by that which is expected and unexpected. Other writers might add slapstick comedy of
the Chaplin kind to be a universal.
4. Motivation - can be seen in examples of household products that are convenient i.e.
there is an incentive so that time etc. can be freed up.
5. Individuality and the role of women - involving clothing, sexual overtones. Refer back
to thoughts on communicating in the Middle East and especially the influence of Islam
6. Comparative advertising - again refer back to the differences between Japan and the
USA. Loosing face is looked on very differently in these two cultures.
Note: De Mooij provides useful guidelines on organisation, creative development
and production for the execution of campaigns as well as some useful examples.
REFERENCES
theme 3: creative strategy and appeals
5
mk364 - international advertising
Alden, D (1993). Identifying global and cultural-specific dimensions of humour in
advertising: a multinational analysis. Journal of Marketing, April.
BBC, (1988). TV Programme. 3 Minute Culture - No.1 with John Hegarty on Advertising
- BBC2.
Barker, D. (2001). How to write an inspiring creative brief. Admap, Issue 419, July.
Cozens, C. (2002). Ad watchdog to vet French Connection ads. MediaGuardian, March
4th.
De Mooij (1994) ch7
Duckworth, G (1995). How advertising works, the universe and everything. Admap Jan.
Farr, A. and Gardiner, S. (2001). Creative enough for the financial director. Admap, Issue
415, March.
Fletcher, W. (1997). How to manage creative people. Admap, November.
Hollis, M. (1996). Ads U like. WPP (www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/knowledge).
Horstmeyer, J. (1998). Is there creativity on the web? Agency Magazine, Fall.
Jhally chs1,2,4
Lace, J. (1999). Crisis, what crisis? Admap, June.
Lannon, J. (1983). Humanistic advertising: a holistic perspective. International Journal of
Advertising, 2.
Lannon, J. (1985). Advertising research: new ways of seeing. Admap Oct, pp520-7.
Leiss, W. et al (1986). Social Communication in Advertising: Persons, Products and
Images of Well-being. Methuen esp. ch8.
Mattelart ch9
Mueller ch6
Mueller, B. (1992). Standardisation vs specialisation: an investigation of Westernisation
in Japanese advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, Jan/Feb.
Nevett, T. (1992). Differences between British and American television advertising:
explanations and implications. Journal of Advertising, 12, 4.
Sasser, S. et al (2003). What is creative to whom and why? Journal of Advertising
Research, 43, 1, pp.96-110
Smith, B. et al (2001). Assessing advertising creativity using the creative product
semantic scale. Journal of Advertising Research, 41, 6, December.
Sorrell, M. (1997). Beans and pearls – the end of either/or. Admap, March.
Speck, S. (1991). The humorous message taxonomy: a framework for the study of
humorous advertisements. Research in Advertising, 13, pp.1-44.
Weale, S.(1994). Great comic, but what about the product. The Guardian 7.12.94.
Zandpour, F. et al (1992). Stories, symbols and straight talk: a comparative analysis of
French, Taiwanese and US TV commercials. Journal of Advertising Research, J/F.
theme 3: creative strategy and appeals
6