ICOM 892 Session 8

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ICOM 892Session 8

• International Advertising

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Assignment

• You should now all have received a message from
  Muhammad telling you what to do. Please follow
  his instructions.
• You can give me assignment 1 in class but if you
  have put it into W6B or DIC that is OK I will
  get it.
• I will return them as soon as I can, hopefully
  within a week or two.

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Guest Speaker

• The Guest speaker slot has changed to Session 10
  (24 October) we will do Session 10 in week 9.
• She is Giovanna Vitola from Brazil (Rio Grande do
  Sul) who is correspondent in Sydney for some
  Brazilian TV networks.
• She has worked in India, Germany and China
  (Olympic Games).
• Please be punctual and participate. Remember that
  she is our guest and should be treated with
  courtesy.

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What is it all about?

• In this session we will look at the special
  problems of international or cross-cultural
  advertising which is very closely related to
  international marketing.
• International advertisers must take into account
  things like language, culture, stereotypes
  prejudices, tastes, religion, history and
  government policies in other countries.
• These are non-existent or peripheral in domestic
  advertising except when looking at sub-cultures.

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Communication

• Ultimately, any PR, advertising or propaganda is
  a form of communication. Those of you who have
  studied Intercultural Communication will find it
  highly relevant to what we discuss today.
• The added element is that you not only want to
  communicate a message but also to persuade people
  to accept that message.

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Advertising Propaganda

• I have suggested that these are very similar you
  are persuading people to buy a product, a belief
  or a policy. Emotion is a vital factor.
• Marketing or advertising across cultures needs to
  take into account many of the things we have
  already discussed but we will focus in this
  session on the particular needs of international
  advertising.
• Advertisements which are very successful at home
  may be a complete flop overseas. Why?

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Propaganda

• As your first reading notes, propaganda is a
  feature of our age even if it is called something
  else. We tend to dismiss it as something wicked
  but a more sophisticated approach will be more
  helpful.
• When does information become propaganda? No
  Government can or should put out press releases
  describing everything it does in minute detail.
  Indeed, hiding unpleasant facts in a mass of
  detail is a common technique people get bored
  and dont read it.
• The best propaganda is that which appears to be
  something else people tend to distrust handouts.

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Propaganda(2)

• Propaganda may select facts which suit the
  argument being put may twist or spin the facts
  or may tell outright lies.
• Wars provide good examples of propaganda and the
  Iraq war is no exception. Emotions run high in
  wartime.
• Credibility may be gained by basing your claims
  on obvious truths which you then embroider, by
  appeals to religious or other authorities, or by
  pandering to popular prejudices amongst the
  target audience.
• If you get caught out in a blatant lie, your
  credibility may be affected but politics is full
  of examples of politicians getting away with the
  big lie in other words, sheer bluff.

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Propaganda(3)

• US propaganda over the Iraq war provides many
  interesting insights into how a democracy may use
  propaganda authoritarian regimes have less
  constraints.
• Consider the various reasons for invasion and how
  they changed. It is clear that outright lies were
  told in some cases and half-truths in others.
  Sometimes it was suggested that there was a
  connection between Saddam and al-Qaeda but this
  was done in such a way that it could be denied.
• People dont take much interest in things that
  dont affect them directly and therefore are more
  inclined to believe what Governments tell them
  without question. It is easy to get a view
  accepted if it plays to popular prejudice. You
  dont have to get all the votes to get elected.

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Propaganda (4)

• The SMH for 21/4/08 cited an NY Times article
  claiming that the US Government has Produced
  military experts to support its Iraq adventure.
  
• These people turned out to work for contractors
  and others with a vested interest in saying what
  the Government wanted them to say. The public was
  not told of their Government connections.
• If true, this is a classic example of the (misuse
  of independent experts to promote your cause.

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Open and closed societies

• Governments in open societies may tell lies and
  twist the facts, but there are other sources of
  information available to people.
• In a totally closed society like North Korea
  (DPRK), people have no way of evaluating or
  comparing what the Government tells them. So they
  are more likely to believe.

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Culture

• Most of you will be familiar with the concept of
  culture from other courses you have done and you
  will be aware of some of the pitfalls in
  intercultural communication
• International advertising is very much about
  intercultural communication but with a specific
  aim persuasion.
• Advertising can be seen as an arm of marketing.
  Marketing is about selling your products (or
  policies) while advertising is about persuading
  people to buy them.
• Advertising persuades people to try your product
  but the price and quality must also be
  acceptable. You must also sell the right product.
  You can persuade people to try a new product but
  within limits Israel and Saudi Arabia are not
  likely to become big markets for pork.

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Where to Begin?

• As in any domestic advertising campaign, you must
  identify your target audience what they are
  likely to buy and why and what pitch will appeal
  to them. See last sessions checklist.
• What differs in international campaigns is not so
  much the questions you ask as the answers you
  get. The answers are more complex and varied
  internationally.
• A major difference is that you are not operating
  within a comfortable and known framework. What
  worked at home may not work abroad. Why?

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Language

• Deciding what language to use is not always
  simple. In many countries, the language you use
  will depend on what you are selling to whom. Some
  languages have high prestige in one country and
  low prestige in others (eg Spanish).
• For example, in the Philippines you would use
  English to sell wine and Tagalog (or other local
  languages?) to sell Giniebra San Miguel. Why?
• I would like class members to tell us about
  similar examples from their countries or their
  experience.

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Language (2)

• Your penultimate reading shows why you need to
  pay careful attention to the translation of your
  slogans. We discussed the Australian Tourist
  Commissions where the bloody hell are you last
  session. In most places it doesnt work.
• A slogan which fits well in one language and one
  culture will not necessarily work in another.
  Global slogans or even brand names can be
  dangerous. You must get native speakers of the
  language and any relevant dialect to vet anything
  you want to use.

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Brands

• Branding is a basic feature of all advertising
  but some cultures seem to be more susceptible to
  it than others.
• I found people in Southeast Asia very keen on
  getting the right brand. I would, for example, be
  asked by beginners what was the best brand of
  Australian wine to buy.
• Fashion is a related concept. We are herd
  animals.
• Some foreign brands and fashions may be
  prestigious while others may not foreign goods
  may be seen as superior or inferior. This can
  vary.

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Brands (2)

• Advertisers try to create brand loyalty so that
  people will buy their products and may even pay
  more. For example, generic Pharmaceuticals in
  Australia cost less than brand names even though
  the ingredients are exactly the same. Why do
  people pay more for them?
• They may feel that a known brand is reliable or
  more effective or just feel emotionally
  comfortable with a familiar name.
• In some cases, it can be a fashion statement or
  a sign of solidarity with the group.

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Paradoxes

• The reading from Marieke de Mooij raises some
  interesting issues. She looks at the global-local
  paradox and at values.
• For example, in some cultures change is good and
  old is bad whereas in others old is good and new
  is suspicious. Just as we adapt images of Christ
  or the Buddha to look like us, so we may adapt
  foreign products to look familiar. But some of us
  may also be attracted to the exotic.
• Read carefully what she says about the value
  paradox and the global-local paradox.

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Product Market

• I mentioned last session the danger of mass
  produced material for all audiences and de Mooij
  applies this idea to advertising by saying that
  many global advertisers are not market oriented,
  they are product oriented.
• She also notes that people who are aware of
  sub-cultures in their own country do not always
  apply the same insight to other cultures, e.g.
  youth culture. This is an important point.
• Her summary of national advertising styles
  clearly shows the range of difference. My
  experience in Southeast Asia suggest that the
  importance of brands probably reflects the
  collective nature of the societies where people
  want to wear and consume what everyone else is
  consuming.

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Global Brands

• Markets are people, not products. There may be
  global products, but there are no global people.
  There may be global brands, but there are no
  global motivations for buying those brands.
• She notes two different motivations for using a
  Sony Walkman in the USA it is used to enjoy
  music without being disturbed by others in
  Japan, it is used to enjoy music without
  disturbing others.

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Australia

• Australians like to think they are all equal so
  advertisements featuring ordinary people are
  popular although prestige sells products where
  you want to show that you have made a lot of
  money.
• Sporting figures are used a lot because they have
  prestige.
• Humour is also a feature because Australians do
  not like anyone without a sense of humour.
• What do you think about Australian advertising?

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Fashion

• Fashion is not only varies from place to place
  but also from time to time. Therefore, successful
  advertising based on a particular fashion may
  become ineffective when the fashion changes.
• Things may go out of fashion in one place but
  remain in fashion elsewhere.
• Fashion may be adapted to local culture or not
  catch on because of cultural differences.
• McDonalds in most places is a cheap, down market
  joint for children and people in a hurry. When it
  came to Moscow, the beautiful people flocked to
  this exotic locale.

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Group Discussion

• Discuss advertising styles in the countries in
  your group.
• What do you think is effective in your country?
• Do people want humour in their advertising?
  Authority figures? Sporting figures? Celebrities?
  Foreign or local?
• If you were running a campaign in Australia for
  a product from your country, what would you do
  differently?