QUESTION
Identify and select two global television or print advertisements that are part of a global integrated marketing campaign. You are required to analyse their degree of standardisation regarding, copy, visualisation, message appeal, choice of delivery vehicle and justify the extent of standardisation
SOLUTION
Integrated marketing communications use a mix of communication methods to communicate with the target customers of the company. Advertising through mass media like newspapers and television is the most popular communications method which is used by integrated marketing communications (Philip Kotler, Kevin Kohler, 2000).
Advertising, as an integrated marketing communications technique is so effective because of the huge reach of mass media like newspapers and television channels. Other integrated marketing communication methods like sales promotions, personal selling, price based promotions and special product packaging may not be that effective in reaching a large audience as is advertising (Philip Kotler, Kevin Kohler, 2000).
Advertising uses a visual, audible or a written message communicated by the business to existing and potential customers. The aim of advertising is to communicate information about the products and services of the business to the consumers; pursue the customers to buy the products and services of the business and create and strengthen the brand image by positioning the brand in the minds of the customers.
Brand positioning refers to the way in which the company has positioned its products and services in the minds of the customers. Brand positioning is the source of the brand image which is the personality or image of the brand, as perceived by the customers.
The phenomenon of Globalization began in the 18th century with European nations colonizing other countries around the globe and across continents. Globalization means increased movement of capital, goods, human resources and technologies across countries.
The pace of globalization picked up considerably in the last two decades of the twentieth century as countries around the world opened their economies and removed barriers to trade and flow of resources (Graydon, Shari,2003).
With increase in globalization, companies increased their international footprint like never before. A restaurant chain company like McDonald’s is even present in war-ravaged countries like Iraq and Bosnia.
As companies turned global, the issue of global advertising came up. And in global advertising, the choice between standardization and customization has to be made. Standardization in advertising means that the company uses the same advertising message or campaign in different countries.
Customized advertising means that the company uses different advertising campaign in different countries. In customization the message of advertising is broken down or modified country wise and region wise.
Customization in advertising is usually done if the company perceives that the same advertising campaign will not succeed in different countries because of differences in target audiences, culture or positioning of the brand. Cultural barriers and differences have a very important impact on the decision of standardization or customization.
In case there are significant differences in terms of culture and positioning in two national markets then customization in advertising may be the right strategy.
The process of running different advertising and promotional campaign in different national markets is known as communication adaptation. Sometimes companies change both their products and promotional campaign as they move across countries. This practice is known as dual adaptation.
McDonald’s engages in dual adaptation – it not only customizes its promotional campaign but also its products. So it does not sell beef burgers in India because eating beef is a taboo in the majority Hindu community.
In Jewish Israel, McDonald’s only sells kosher products. In neighboring Islamic countries McDonald’s only sell products made of those food products which are not considered taboo in Islam.
The dual adaptation strategy has been one of the main reasons why McDonald’s achieved such a kind of success in its global operations. Its product, pricing and promotional strategy combines both standardization and customization.
Standardization in global advertising has certain advantages like it does not dilute the brand image of the company. Too much customization in advertising may dilute the brand image of the company and may end up creating different perceptions about the brand in different markets. This is the reason why companies like McDonald’ s, even while using customized advertising messages, retain standard elements like the color theme and the ubiquitous golden arches (Graydon, Shari, 2003).
Having a strong brand image and brand equity helps in sustaining the competitive advantage of the company. Competitive advantage enables the company to charge higher prices, than competitors, for its products or services and to retain a higher market share than competitors (Bhatia, Tej K. 2000).
So customization in global advertising should not be done at the cost of diluting the brand image and competitive advantage of the company. A strong and intact brand image at the global scale can be one of the biggest strategic assets for a company (Kotabe, Masaki and Kristiaan Helsen,2004)..
Standardized global advertising can also be cheaper than a customized one because of reasons of economies of scale. Advertising constitutes a major part of marketing budget of companies. In times of economic slowdown companies cannot afford to be wasteful in advertising. One of the first areas where companies cut down costs during times of cost controlling is advertising (Kotabe, Masaki and Kristiaan Helsen,2004).
Customized advertising caters well to the unique sensibilities of a particular market. So a brand like Coca-Cola runs one advertisement in China and another one in neighboring India because of differences in cultural sensibilities of the target audience.
Customization may also become necessary when the advertising campaign uses celebrities. A celebrity in one country may be unknown in another. So such an advertising campaign -having a local celebrity -will have to be customized.
The most effective advertising strategy is one which has elements of both customization and standardization. McDonald’s and most other major multinational companies rely on this strategy.
In global advertising strategies which use both customization and standardization in their campaigns, certain characteristics of the brand image and brand personality are retained. Other characteristics like copy and choice of media are customized.
Print global advertisement of BMW i8
BMW is one of the premier luxury automobile brands in the world. The company drives its competitive advantage from its image of being a German company which excels in engineering and quality.
BMW i8 is the electric car model of the company. BMW is running a global print campaign in which the advertisement of i8 appears in all major print publications, like The Economist and the Time
This advertising campaign is a highly standardized one. BMW is running the campaign in all the major national markets where it is present. The same ad appears in all the markets. In its visualization it shows a blue image of the two-seater, i8 against a blue urban landscape dominated by neon-lit glass and concrete skyscrapers.
The copy of the advertisement describes the BMW i8: a two-seater, open-top sports car with eDrive technology. The eDrive technology is based on the electric motor developed and built by BMW. This electric engine is supported by an intelligent engine management system and a battery which is very innovative.
The copy’s message is that the BMW i8, with its TwinPower Turbo engine can propel one from eco- to ego-minded in less than five seconds.
The copy of the advertisement adds: “More driving pleasure and lower emissions. After all why settle for a car that’s only reasonable.”
The tagline of this global ad campaign of BMW i8 is : BMW i. BORN ELECTRIC.
The appeal of the message of this campaign of BMW i8 lies in the innovative eDrive technology. The message implies that those driving i8 will not only be driving an eco-friendly car but will also be embarking on such a drive which will take them on a pleasure – and ego-trip.
The reason that BMW is using a standard advertising campaign instead of a customized one is that brand image is the most important source of competitive advantage for the company. BMW succeeds in charging a premium price for its products because of its premium brand image. In the luxury automobile segment, brand image is the most important critical factor of success.
So by running a standardized campaign BMW is not risking dilution of brand image and brand equity which a customized campaign may entail.
The ads are being run in all the premium print publications which are popular among its target group – the upper income group and affluent ones.
This print advertisement campaign of i8 is part of the global integrated marketing communications of i8 which includes advertisements on television, internet and other electronic media; in-store promotions and even direct marketing to customers who have made purchases of BMW models in the past.
Global Print Advertising Campaign of Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific airline is the flag career of Hong Kong. The airline serves more than 120 destinations in around 40 countries of the world. Its fleet of more than 120 aircrafts consists of Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Boeing 747 and Boeing 777.
Cathay Pacific, like other airline companies, is battling high fuel costs. Revenues from high margin business class customers have fallen considerably in the years after the 2008 financial crisis. This is because many companies are controlling costs and hence are cutting down on the business class travel of their executives.
In such a scenario, Cathay Pacific has increased its focus on the economy class passengers. It has created a new class – the Premium Economy class. The global print advertising of Cathay Pacific nowadays is focused around this new class.
The visualization of this ad is in the turquoise light green colors of Cathay Pacific. The visual is that of a woman sitting comfortably on green comfortable chairs of the Premium Economy class.
The copy of the ad elaborates on the Premium Economy Class: “The new economy class is a total enhancement of our economy class experience. You’ll relax in a wider seat – with more space between you and the seat in front of you – and you will sleep more soundly with eight inches of recline. We have designed this seat to make your journey as comfortable as possible.”
The copy of the print ad highlights the newly added features of the Premium Economy class. There are wider seats than in the economy class, which make travelling in premium economy class much more comfortable.
There is also more space between the front and back seats which will allow customers to stretch their legs more easily. Eight inches of recline allows travelers of the Premium Economy class to sleep more comfortably while travelling.
The ad uses the tagline of Cathay Pacific : Some things just feel right.
This global advertising campaign is a standardized one. Cathay pacific is running the same advertising campaign in different countries. The target segment of the newly created Premium Economy class seems to be business class customers who are cutting down on their costs as part of cost rationalization in the years after the 2008 financial crisis.
The message of the ad appeals to the targeted business class passengers by conveying that travel in Premium Economy class is as comfortable as the business class in many ways. And that too at less than the costs of a business class tickets.
The choices of delivery of this campaign are business newspapers, magazines and periodicals. The standardized advertising campaign is being used because business class travelers around the world share certain common traits. The advertisement targets the common needs of the business class travelers.
The high degree of standardization in the case of Cathay Pacific’s advertising is justified considering its target audience. It is the most prominent part of the integrated marketing communication mix of Cathay Pacific.
The success of the newly created Premium Economy class is pivoted on the success of the standardized integrated marketing communications mix.
Was the standardization in both the above ads justified?
The standardization in the global print ad of BMW i8 is justified on the ground that BMW strives to keep its brand image intact. Having one ad campaign in US and another one in China may have created different brand images about BMW i8 in the minds of US and Chinese customers.
BMW strives to maintain one single global brand image. So this brand image should throw up the same image in the customers and prospective customers, no matter which nationality or culture that they originally belong to. The company leverages its strong global brand image for maximizing value created for its shareholders and other stakeholders.
A customized ad campaign would not have succeeded in achieving this objective for BMW. Different print ad campaign in different countries might have created slightly different brand images in the minds of the customers belonging to different nations and cultures.
A standardized ad campaign has also saved costs for BMW because of benefits accrued from economies of scale. Having different ad campaigns in the numerous different national markets would have sharply pulled up the costs as it would have required hiring many different advertising agencies and duplication of efforts.
So a standardized global ad campaign is not only more effective but also more efficient for BMW.
For Cathay Pacific a standard global advertising campaign is justified because the objective of the ad campaign is introduction of a new product or service i.e. the Premium Economy class. Such advertising campaign should be highly standardized so that customers and prospective customers in different countries understand the new product or service in one way and not in multiple ways.
Why there is higher incidence of standardization in global advertising campaigns in recent years?
Globalization is rapidly creating a homogeneous global culture. The participants of this global culture have increasingly similar sensitivities, no matter what their nationalities are. So both an American and a Chinese may now want burgers on some days and noodles on other days for satisfying their need of food.
Now with a more homogeneous global culture, aspirations and sensibilities, standard global advertising campaigns have become more effective. This was not the case a few years ago. Because of sharp differences in culture, tastes, aspirations and sensibilities then, companies had no other choice but to pursue customization in their ad campaigns spread around different countries (Bhatia, Tej K. 2000).
Many like McDonald’s have shown the benefits of pursuing an advertising strategy that has elements of both standardization and customization. Such a strategy is usually more effective than purely standardized or customized ad campaigns.
Taglines sometimes lose their punch when they are translated in languages other than the one in which they were originally created. They may even end up conveying a different message -than the one which was originally intended- when translated from one language to a completely different one – say from English to Chinese Mandarin. So it may be a good idea that companies use different taglines in the different languages in which they are running their ad campaigns. This is one element of customization which companies pursuing standardized advertising strategies can adopt.
Appendix
References:
Philip Kotler, Kevin Kohler, 2000, Marketing Management, Pearson
Bhatia, Tej K. 2000. Advertising in Rural India: Language, Marketing Communication, and Consumerism. Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies,Tokyo Press: Japan.
Kotabe, Masaki and Kristiaan Helsen,2004, Global Marketing Management, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sopns, Inc
Graydon, Shari (2003) “Made You Look – How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know”, Toronto: Annick Press
Johnson, J. Douglas,1978, “Advertising Today“, Chicago: Science Research Associates,
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