On the other hand, some elements of Western popular culture can be successful even in regions with profound cultural differences. Afghan media entrepreneurs created a hit television program called “Afghan Star,” a show inspired by “American Idol.” Though it may be inspired by “Idol,” “Star” had to make some significant changes to be acceptable to its audience. For example, producers needed to emphasize that if someone’s favorite singer lost, it was not good to seek revenge.
A Global Consumer in Our Future?
Ad Age asked Nike’s vice president of global brand and category management what he, as a
global marketer, spends the most time worrying about. This is what Trevor Edwards said:
Making sure we’re staying ahead of where we think the consumer is going. Are we mak- ing sure our teams are enabled to do creative in the best way they possibly can? At Nike, the value of what the marketing organization brings to the company is embedded in everything. We spend much of our time thinking about how the landscape is chang- ing and how we have to change our brand in the context of that landscape (A8; http:// adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/global-cmo-interview-trevor-edwards-nike/144359/).
The Global CMO Interview: Trevor Edwards, Nike
‘Ideas Rule. Ideas Are in Charge’
Ad Age regularly consults leaders in corporate marketing, agencies and research companies. Nike Corporation is famous for it’s 360º marketing—a concept that captures the idea that the best marketing touches customers and prospects at many different points in their media and “real life” activities.
© C o u rte s y o f A ll e n M c C o rm ic k
70 CHAPTER 9 • Advertising Planning—An International Perspective
Their successes are driven by innovation and a focus on ROI, or Return on Invest- ment. Return on investment is defined in different ways, but for our purposes here it means how much money your company gets back from its investments in marketing and promotion. This is a crucial concept whether you’re working in local or international ven- ues. If you pay $5 million for a campaign, you clearly want to get more than $5 million in attention, sales or whatever metric you’re using.
Nike has pioneered success with innovative products like the Nike Plus that’s in- tegrated with customizable real-time iPod tracking capabilities for average or premier athletes. It’s also renowned for its ability to develop and distribute content that online viewers want, thus avoiding much of the high priced media placements typical of televi- sion. By the way, Nike’s global marketing budget is measured in billions, not millions of dollars.
In the article, Nike’s Trevor Edwards doesn’t call Nike’s approach a strategy, but it’s unquestionably strategic as we define it in this book. According to Edwards, the team “starts with a story to tell consumers and then decides which media or technological tools will be best suited for it.”
Importantly, the company doesn’t start with a tactic like “let’s use social media to tell the story” or even “let’s use a global versus local strategy.” Rather, they have a company process that allows for input from their employees around the world to help develop bet- ter strategies and thus better tactics.
Edwards also points out that some of their ideas and campaigns don’t work so well and that those are learning processes as well. But he emphasizes that rather than having strict corporate control of messages and the flow of campaigns, “ideas are in charge.” Nike also emphasizes that the many agencies they employ around the world are team members whose ideas are taken seriously: “Our model focuses really on getting the best message to that consumer in the most holistic way.”
Changing consumers, culture, technology, and media have always been part of the marketer’s world. Today, the pace of change is accelerating. As we’ve seen technology per- meate even the most remote areas of the planet, geographic distinctions have become less important. The Advertising Research Foundation reported many similarities among the world’s young people with regard to their social lives and media use and with the role of technology in their lives. (4)
Can we anticipate the emergence of a global consumer? And what will it mean to global marketing? Consider the phenomena of social networking, communication, shifting cultural values, and digital technologies. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had the attention of hun- dreds of international marketing executives at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival when he said that the firm was halfway to its goal of one billion users. Social network- ing site Orkut.com has more than 20 million users and Japan’s mixi.jp has 28.6 million users. Millions of social networkers are sharing similar motivations for going online (A9; http://adage. com/cannes2010/article?article_id=144628).
Even language is part of the picture. Globish is a term coined by a former IBM executive, Jean-Paul Nerrière, who observed that in many countries non-native English speakers devel- oped a small but useful store of English words. Using globish, they could communicate not only with English speakers, but also with others who speak different languages. (5)
Marketing researchers once believed that an inclination toward collectivism or put- ting the needs of the larger group ahead of individual needs and benefits was a hallmark of many Asian societies. Western societies were more individualistic and focused on a per- son’s personal success and preferences. Advertising was seen to reflect these differences in its appeals. (6) However, more recent research, such as that by Li and Li in 2009 (7) and
A Global Consumer in Our Future? 71
Zhang and Shavitt in 2003, (8) shows that advertising appeals by both Eastern and Western multinational companies were mainly individualistic, perhaps blurring the differences between cultures.
In the same vein, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that the world is becoming flat. (9) By that, he means that globalization has lowered barriers for individuals and companies to connect with each other. Through communication and connections, or- ganizations of all sizes can conduct business all over the world. As “A World of Inspirational Problem-Solving, Savvy Brands and Smart Marketing” shows, from the consumer standpoint, people are able to see and experience products and services from distant places. They are also able to envision themselves leading different lives (A10; http://adage.com/globalnews/ article?article_id=144404).
A World of Inspirational Problem-Solving, Savvy Brands and Smart Marketing
Sure, the Global Economy Is Challenging Right Now, but These Companies Have Found Ways to Make Their Brand Messages Work Harder to Reach Consumers
You’ve probably heard of some of the World’s Hottest Brands reported in an Ad Age white paper about 30 brands that are successful at every level—local, regional, national and global.
Nando’s is a chicken restaurant in the “fast casual” category, Azul is a Brazilian air- line, and H&M is the Swedish high fashion/low price retailer that some refer to as offering aspirational luxury goods. Each offers brand positions that differentiate them from their competitors: Nando’s focuses on local markets and a cheeky sensibility, Azul on excellent customer service and H&M on sticking to its trendy image in every market it enters.
The goal of the white paper wasn’t to identify the biggest or highest market value brands, but rather to identify those that offer “great marketing lessons [that] can happen in your backyard . . . or halfway around the world.”
Even in tough economic times, some companies continue winning ways. In the car category, BMW exploited the Chinese consumers’ interest in upscale transportation with its’ “Joy” campaign. You may have heard of Zipcar’s model of car sharing, a kind of easy short-term rental plan within a city for those who don’t own their own cars or don’t want to use them. Their technology-enabled model lets people reserve and check out cars on their smart phones.
India’s Tata Nano isn’t an iPhone application but a tiny urban car with a tiny price tag ($2000) and a tiny footprint (10 feet from front to back.) Some say it’s the car of the future.
Computer maker Lenovo has used creative promotional ideas in China’s “smaller” markets, third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities that still have millions of people but are much smaller than the huge urban centers of Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. The company often used free movie screenings to attract potential customers.
We mentioned H&M, but other retailers made the list by offering trendy quality at great prices. Others have a different approach—charging premium prices for high fashion footwear like Havaianas flip-flops.
Other brands that Ad Age highlighted were noted for their smart or lucky timing— Nintendo’s Wii using technology to make gaming more like “real” gaming.
All of these brands are very different from each other in their features and consumer benefits as well as the widely different strategies they use. The similarities? Here’s how Ad Age described it: “Despite economic downturns and increased competition, the power of a well-managed brand endures.”
72 CHAPTER 9 • Advertising Planning—An International Perspective
For instance, PC maker Lenovo identified the huge potential markets in rural China by targeting smaller cities that offered a market of some 700 million customers who were likely ready to buy their first computers. Lenovo’s strategy was to show free movies with Lenovo ads and to use the venue as a way to demonstrate its interactive PC.
In many parts of Africa, mobile devices have gone mainstream. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cell subscribers numbered 9.3 million in 2008 or fifteen users per one hundred citizens. By 2010, numbers of subscribers had grown to fifty users per one hundred citizens.
These marketing campaigns certainly sell PCs and mobile services. But they also in- troduce new “world-flattening” elements into the lives of millions. New PC owners will begin to have similar experiences to those living in more developed and technology rich areas. Of course, some people don’t think these changes are necessarily good. Critics point out that consumerism and technology have mixed benefits and may damage traditional cultures, family cohesiveness, and fragile natural environments.
Regardless of one’s attitude about the juggernaut of multinational marketing and globalization, these trends are crucial elements in many firms’ success. If the trends are creating a new global consumer and marketing environment, the winning companies will be those who are agile and adaptive.
Notes
1. Knight, G. “Marketing Blunders by American Firms in Japan,” 7th Marketing History Proceedings, Vol. VII (1995). Available at: http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/charm/CHARM%20proceedings/ CHARM%20article%20archive%20pdf%20format/Volume%207%201995/175%20knight.pdf 2. McCracken, G. “Advertising: Meaning or Information,” in Advances in Consumer Research Vol. 14,
ed. Melanie Wallendorf and Paul Anderson (Ann Arbor: Association for Consumer Research), 121–124.
3. O’Guinn, T. C., Allen, C. T., & Semenik, R. J. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009.
4. Uyenco, B. “Circuits of Cool,” presentation to the ARF Emerging Media & Youth Councils. January 31, 2008. Available at: http://s3.amazonaws.com/thearf-org-aux-assets/downloads/cnc/ emerging-media/2008-01-31_ARF_EM_YM_BUyenco.pdf
5. Chotiner, I. “Globish for Beginners,” The New Yorker, May 31, 2010.
6. Han, S.-P., & Shavitt, S. “Persuasion and Culture: Advertising Appeals in Individualistic and Collective Societies,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 30 (1994): 326–350.
7. Li, H., & Li, A. “Internet Advertising Strategy of Multinationals in China: A Cross Cultural Analysis,” International Journal of Advertising 28, no. 1 (2009): 125–146.
8. Zhang, J., & Shavitt, S. “Cultural Values in Advertisements to the Chinese X-Generation: Promoting Modernity and Individualism,” Journal of Advertising 32, no. 1 (2003): 23–33.
9. Friedman, T. (2007). The World is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Articles
(A1) Normandy Madden. “Break Me Off a Piece of That Soy-Sauce Bar.” Published June 14, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=144397
(A2) Jack Neff. “The Dirt on Laundry Trends around the World.” Published June 14, 2010. Avail- able at: http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=144398
(A3) Natalie Zmuda. “Sprite Launches ‘The Spark,’ Its First Global Ad Campaign.” Published February 11, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/article?article_id=142073
(A4) Jeremy Mullman. “World Cup Kicks Off Marketing Games on Epic Scale.” Published May 17, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/article?article_id=143889
Articles 73
(A5) “ ‘Write the Future’ Writ Large.” Published June 23, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/ mediaworks/article?article_id=144640
(A6) Jack Neff. “Walmart, P&G, Unilever Learn from Their Mistakes.” Published June 15, 2009. Available at: http://adage.com/article?article_id=137296
(A7) Laurel Wentz. “U.S. Military Goes Native in Afghanistan Ad Push.” Published April 12, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=143223
(A8) Jeremy Mullman. “The Global CMO Interview: Trevor Edwards, Nike ‘Ideas Rule. Ideas Are in Charge.’ ” Published June 14, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/globalnews/ article?article_id=143223
(A9) Rupal Parekh. “How Facebook Plans to Get to 1 Billion Global Users.” Published June 23, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/cannes2010/article?article_id=144628
(A10) Ann Marie Kerwin. “A World of Inspirational Problem-Solving, Savvy Brands and Smart Marketing.” Published June 23, 2010. Available at: http://adage.com/globalnews/ article?article_id=144404
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