Cross-Cultural Advertising Cont'd.

In addition to the previous post I decided to conduct independent research on how is advertising y perceived in different countries. I am lucky to have many international friends, so the sample is rather diverse. I asked everyone two questions:

Urszula, Italy
#1. Advertising in Italy is not as aggressive as in the USA. Of course it is present everywhere but it is more elegant and elaborated than here. It tries to picture some scenes of everyday life or a perfect situation where the "object advertised" is at centre of the situation. Due to these consideration people sometimes enjoy to watch it. But most of the time they try to avoid it. Unfortunately there is no real way to do so especially on TV because you have ads on all the channels at the same time. The important thing to understand Italian advertising strategy is that we do not have as many channels as they do here, and we do not have "state" TV. All Italians  watch the same programs and commercials. We pay a lot of attention to privacy and try to protect ourselves as much as possible.


#2. Elegance, polished commercials and contemporary themes and situations. To be original and different. The only companies that have similar commercials are the phone promoters all the other ads are different.


Amrita, India
#1. Television is one of the largest mediums of advertising in India. Most people have a TV and it ranks high on a sought luxury. I have noticed that TV advertising are more interesting and use narratives. They are excerpts from day to day life and have a lot of humor. Most ads are bilingual and use a lot of Hindi (national language) and English. Watching TV and movies are a big leisure and entertainment activity. Since DVR or Tivo are not readily available, most viewers sit through the ads. The ads are more musical (jingles) so that people can remember the product. Unlike US and Europe, the ads are not overtly sexual. India is very openly proud of its age old culture and they refernce a lot of culture  in ads. Traditional dance and music forms are used frequently and the people are very proud and eager to glorify their culture further.


#2. Bollywood movies, their songs, and their movie stars are a BIG attraction. Cricket as a sport is also huge in India. Getting a celebrity from either Bollywood, or cricket is a sure shot success. Movie stars and Cricket sportsmen rule the media whether print or TV. The masses will blindly use any product that the stars promote. Most multinationals soap, cream etc. companies have a Bollywood star or a Cricket star as their brand ambassador. The affluent classes are more discerning, but very influenced by the west.

Fairness creams are openly advertised in India. This may seem unethical, but being fair is seen as a big advantage to social acceptance and for marriages ( most marriages are still arranged in India).  I personally abhorr this aspect of Indian mentality and perception of beauty. Things are slowly changing though. Beauty creams, herbal remedies are very popular.

 Most Indians have a cell phone. You may not have a TV but an Idian will have a Cellphone. Mobile advertising is one of the largest opportunities in current India. People use their mobiles as radios, newspapers and has become the present Indian's lifeline. Mobile phones are one of the big opportunities that advertisers can think of a medium.

Ksenia, Russia

#1.I find advertising in Russia mostly annoying. It has penetrated pretty much every sphere of my life, and it gets to the point when I cannot watch my favorite TV show without having it interrupted every ten minutes. In general, I feel that ads try to press and impose certain lifestyles upon people implying that you are a looser if you don't follow them.

Another thing I find frustrating is when a company cuts down on advertising budget and comes up with a simple totally unprofessional ad and thinks it will bring them a lot of clients and money in return.

To the brighter side - I really like those ads which are tailored specifically to the Russian audience. And I really appreciate humor in ads. Humor helps me 'swallow' it easier.

In general, I really appreciate hard work companies put into creating their ads. This makes me trust the product and the company. I don't tend to trust ads "copied" from The US without tailoring them to the Russian audience.

I think in Russia the range of advertised products is totally different from that of the States. I mean, I have never seen a lot of toilet paper or feminine pads or tampons or shaving cream advertised on TV in the States. In the States I think they advertise mostly service. Like, insurance, banking services, phone services.

I also think most American TV ads are built on the idea of either:

a. American dream (with persuasion, you can achieve anything)

b. happy family

c. single successful independent mom (which actually makes it totally different from Russia, since we don't have that many single successful moms).

#2. Don't just ranslate the European ad, actually do change it! To do that, do some preliminary research on archetypes of the Russian culture and some Russian realities. For example, single successful moms in the ads will not have a tremendous influence on women in Russia. Be careful translating slogans. Carelessness can end up in very unfortunate mistakes.

Bert, Belgium

#1. European commercials are more focused on bringing their products into "the spotlights" and then you'll decide whether to buy them or not. Dutch advertisements are however more explicit than Belgians ones. For example on the Belgian radio, you'll hear lots of commercials where one person is telling the other person how great a certain store is and then you'll hear a catchy tune. They'll inform you about the special offer they have, but that's it most of the time.

#2. I think, and this is probably the case in most countries, a commercial I experience as "good" would be an original and/or funny commercial.

The humor in Belgium is often subtle and/or sarcastic as opposed to the direct and superficial kind of humor they have in the Netherlands (I lived there for a while). This is definitely something to keep in mind I think.
Originality: I think Belgians can appreciate a good storyline, beauty of composition (colors, graphics, atmosphere) in a commercial.

Annie, Mexico

#1. Advertising in México is so diverse because of the influence we have from our direct northern neighbors we have a lot of American products trying to position in Mexico with the same advertisements they use in the US, anyhow we have important Mexican firms who have in my opinion created Mexican advertising so influential, because they make it so meaningful, humorous and real, they try to find mexicans passions and they link their products towards it, soccer is a great example since mexicans are so proud and passionate about their soccer teams. I think mexican advertising has evolved into an interesting, meaningful kind of advertising where more than overvaluing the product they try to make you feel attached to it or just interested by using humor. I personally love mexican advestising, its funny, down to earth and they keep it simple. I think in general advertising creates a fake necesity in each one of us, creating a desire for something we really don't need, anyhow advertising is a great way to know your options and I believe it gives credibility to the brands and talks about quality.

#2. Find a passion people have and link your product to it, it can be an activity like soccer, or an important subject like family, mexicans are really close to their families. Its all about the culture and the values, mexicans tend to like parties, friends, family, rest, they like keeping their word, love soccer, and humor, so just find something like this that can relate your product to the mexican culture and make it fun, it doesn't have to be elaborate, people tend to get lost, just keep it simple.

To The Understanding Between The Countries! or Global Advertising

Advertising in a new market is always a challenge. And if this market is a different country (or several countries) you definitely to consider cultural issues long before you start planning the campaign.
Culture is everywhere around us, it affects everything we do and reflects itself in all the things we do. From catch phrases to classic movies, from the way we dress to the way we communicate, cultural framework we are living in gives a certain tone and sets a context for everything that is going on.
It is simple, -- and it is often left behind by advertisers when targeting to a culturally different audience. The most obvious it gets when addressing completely different countries.
Marieke K. de Mooij in her book Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes talks about several cultural elements that should be taken into consideration when advertising internationally:

• signs, symbols, and body language
• stereotypes and thinking patterns 
• myths, rituals, and beliefs
• common ideology
• language
• and others.

The differences might be subtle or might seem insignificant, however I can tell from my experience living in Russia that being unaware or ignorant of cultural issues is the most common mistake Western advertisers can make. For example, the Soviet heritage and the history of the country on the whole has predetermined collectivism and sharing type of personality. That's why promoting American individualistic lifestyles simply won't work because people won't associate themselves with this type of personality. No matter how funny, engaging and entertaining the ad might be.


Neil Payne, a cultural consultant from Kwintessential Ltd., outlines several main things to keep in mind that a cross-cultural advertiser should keep in mind:

Japanese consumers would more likely consider American way of communication exaggerated because it presents the information too aggressively, whereas Japanese ads might be considered vague by American audiences because of assuming that the message recipient is to some extent familiar with the product/service.

Red is lucky in China, and black is unlucky in Japan. British and Russians are not really fond of number 13. All those little thing could be of a huge importance if put in a spotlight.

Is the country collectivist or individualistic? How do they treat time: always on time or constantly getting late? How are family and religion important? Is there a prevalent ideology?

Failing to look carefully at these issues might make a well-planned campaign a disaster.

Take a look at some funny cross-cultural advertising gaffes:

When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery, "Fly in Leather," it came out in Spanish as "Fly Naked."

The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are you lactating?"

Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux" 

An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit Instead of "I Saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato" (la papa)

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem – Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market into "When smoking Salem, you feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."

REFERENCES

De Mooij, M. K. (2010). 

Global Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Payne, N. (2007) International Advertising: Understanding cultural differences. In Cross cultural communication. Retrieved from http://www.sideroad.com/Cross_Cultural_Communication/international-advertising.html

Some Humorous Cross-Cultural Advertising Gaffes! (n.d.) In Essential Action: Taking on the tobacco industry Across Borders. Retrieved from http://www.takingontobacco.org/intro/funny.html

Perceived vs. Real Values In Advertising

"How many problems of life can actually be solved by tinkering with perception rather than tedious hard-working and messy business of actually trying to change reality?"

Rory Sutherland

VALUES in advertising.
Perceived. Intangible. Subjective. Badge.

Rory Sutherland,  Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, talks about how advertising can add value to product by changing  perceptions, rather than the product itself.  In a funny humorous way he is trying to assert that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider real value.








The main points he states:


1. All values are subjective.
2. Persuasion is often better than compulsion.
3. The interface largely determines the behavior.
4. Intangible values replace actual/material values. 


Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man | Video on TED.com