Global Marketing Communications

Objectives and Strategy
Marcomms objectives must follow marketing objectives
Marketing objectives may be different in each market
Factors that determine strategy
Firm’s resources
Available media
Available agencies
Standardise or adapt?
Legal restrictions
What is possible (e.g. media); what might work

Marketing Objectives
Different stages of market development
New market
Need to create awareness
Brand or umbrella advertising
Explain category benefits
Mature market
Promote specific products
Communicate brand’s positioning, USP’s
Reinforcing brand

Marketing Communications Mix
Whole mix should be considered
Advertising
All media
Sales Promotion
Public Relations
Sponsorship
Exhibitions / trade shows
Personal Selling
Marcomms mix should be integrated

Personal Selling
Sales process
Highly culture-bound
Who should do it?
Expatriate
Good relationships with HQ
Knows company & product
Presence motivates local agents
But expensive & may have limitation with language
Local
Knows language & culture
Needs training & coaching
But can you hire the best?
TCN Third country national

Incentives
Formal realistic evaluation
Must deserve salary
Sales figures – average
Target negotiated
Rewards & sanctions based on results
Individualism
Low PD, UA, explicit
Internal incentive
Cannot be dismissed
Close personal ties
Boss knows best –motivate not achieve
Collectivism
High PD, UA, implicit

THE COMMUNICATIONS MIX
Advertising
Public relations
Sales promotion
Direct marketing
Selling
Sponsorship
Exhibitions
Corporate identity
Packaging
Point of sale
Word of mouth

ADVERTISING
Is any non personal paid form of communication using any form of mass media.
How it works
“By making buyers respond more favourably by providing information to encourage them to modify their desires”

ADVERTISEMENT
An advertisement by Jung von Matt/Alster for watchmaker IWC. Bus straps have been fashioned from images of IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch to allow bus travellers near the airport to try before they buy at Berlin, Germany.
www.hemmy.net

ADVERTISEMENT
A very cost-effective advertisement in Hong Kong for a yoga school. It showcases the prowess of a yoga practitioner on the flexible stems of drink straws. A surge of enquiries and enrollment went after up this promotional stunt.
www.hemmy.net

ADVERTISING VS PUBLICITY
FACTOR ADVERTISING PUBLICITY
Control Great Little
Credibility Lower Higher
Reach Achievable Undetermined
Frequency Schedulable Undetermined
Cost Specific Unspecified/low
Flexibility High Low
Timing Specifiable Tentative

PUBLIC RELATIONS
“Public Relations is a management activity that attempts to shape the attitudes and opinions held by an organisation’s stakeholders”
Chris Fill, 2002
“The deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics”
The Institute of Public Relations

CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Marketing and public relations
Corporate and product marketing
Well suited to building and maintaining awareness
High levels of credibility
Levels of control may vary (content, timing)

STAKEHOLDERS TO BE CONSIDERED
Employees
Shareholders
Suppliers
Financial groups
Media
Opinion formers
Competitors
Community
Local authorities and government
Customers and potential customers
Special interest groups
Potential employees
Distributors

SALES PROMOTION
“Sales promotion comprises that range of techniques used to attain sales/marketing objectives in a cost effective manner by adding value to a product or service either to intermediaries or end users, normally but not exclusively within a defined time period.”
(ISP/Cummins, 1994)
“Short term incentives to encourage purchase or sales of a product or service”
(Kotler, Armstrong, Saunders, Wong 2002)
70%

OBJECTIVES OF SALES PROMOTION
Consumer
increase short-term sales
encourage trial of a new product
encourage purchase of brand in preference to another (switching)
encourage repeat purchase
Trade
Allocate more shelf space /extend the number of outlets
Persuade retailers to buy ahead
Sales force
prompt sales force support for new products

SALES PROMOTION
“Push” promotions
Push products through distribution chain by promoting to the trade
“Pull” promotions
Stimulate consumer demand to “pull” products through the distribution chain

Influence of culture on buyer-seller relationships
Inferior status for trade
Poor status for sales/selling is reserved to a minority group
Being/doing
Personal relationship orientated/Impersonal deal orientated
Money
Price bargaining as friendship ritual
In-group orientation
People from a certain in-group are considered adequate
Family orientation
Buyer-seller relationships are viewed as an element of a larger family network

Public Relations
Possible PR methods
Event sponsorship
Prizes at events
Press releases
Announcements
Lobbying
Possible PR targets
Employees
Shareholders
Suppliers
Customers
General public
Governments
Financial markets

Culture & Public Relations
To create and enhance a favourable corporate image with various publics
Crisis: To maintain goodwill by responding to criticism, explaining actions and countering messages that may damage
Cultural variance in
Making contacts
Managing relationships
Disclosing information
Developing arguments
Dealing with nationalistic feelings

Corruption Facts http://www.unodc.org/pdf/9dec04/general_e.pdf
Each year, in both developed & developing countries, over US$ 1 trillion is paid in bribes. [www.worldbank.org]
Judicial corruption was pervasive in 30 of the 48 countries examined. [Centre for Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Ninth annual report on Attacks on Justice, March 1997, February 1999.]
Investment in a relatively corrupt country compared to an uncorrupt one can be as much as 20 per cent more costly. [“Economic Corruption: Some Facts”, Daniel Kaufmann 8th International Anti-Corruption Conference 1997]

International PR
Objectives
Remove discrimination against foreign firms
Obtain investment incentives
Obtain favourable media treatment
Build media relationships
To help with future News Releases
To help with any damage limitation
Inform & motivate stakeholders
Create and build awareness and knowledge
Kotler’s extra Ps for International Business
Public Relations, Politics

Trade Shows and Exhibitions
1,500 trade shows in 70 countries per annum
Can be efficient
Meet possible agents, decision makers & prospects
Observe competition
Be seen as player in the industry
Who pays? May be subsidised by government
Needs organisation
Logistics
Associated PR & advertising
Follow-up

Types of sales promotion
Price discounts
Catalogues/brochures
Coupons
Samples
Gifts
Competitions

Main media types
Television
Radio
Newspapers
Magazines
Cinema
Outdoor

Global Media
Satellite TV
Internet
English language papers, magazines and periodicals, e.g.Business Week, Economist, FT
Translated copy magazines e.g. National Geographic, GQ, Cosmopolitan,Vogue

The New Communication Environment
Major shifts in media viewing habits
Decline of TV advertising
Growing use of video gaming and internet
broadband
Rise of mobile phones as ubiquitous tool
Explosion of blogs and social communities
Importance of search engines (e.g., Google)
Events, experience and buzz marketing

Global Advertising
Advertising is any sponsored, paid message that is communicated in a nonpersonal way
Single country
Regional
Global
Global advertising is the use of the same advertising appeals, messages, art, copy, photographs, stories, and video segments in multiple country markets

Key decisions in international marketing communications
Global vs. Local communication policies
Promote corporate image
through non-media tools (e.g., sponsoring, public relations)
Standardization versus localization of advertising campaigns
Which strategies and executions to be adapted to local markets?
Is basic ad strategy more standardizable than execution?
How to account for cultural cues to avoid blunders in multi-local campaigns?
Which organizational design (global/local + advertiser/agency) will be the best in managing the necessary ‘glocal-logal’ compromises?

Top Global Ad Markets
Country 2000 $Bill highest prop
US 134.3 TV - 39%
Japan 33.2 TV - 45%
Germany 21.6 Newspaper - 45%
UK 15.8 Newspaper - 39%
France 11.1 TV - 34%
Italy 8.3 TV - 45%
Brazil 6.9 TV - 60%
Spain 5.4 TV - 41%
Canada 5.3 TV - 39%

Standardise or Adapt
Key question for global marketers
Does the specific advertising message and media strategy need be changed because of environmental requirements?
Two positions
”One world, one voice” approach
Localised approach

Advertising: Standardise or Adapt?
Media buying - still highly localised, hard to standardise
Message and creative - communication style and content must match the culture (de Mooij, 1998)
High context cultures tend to respond to indirect communication, less copy, more symbols
Low context cultures tend to respond to direct communication, more copy, facts and data
BUT, there are exceptions

What Works
Visuals
Music
Universal themes
superior quality/value, brand new, country-of-origin, heroes, global presence, market leadership
World Celebrities
Concept/benefits, not the product

Gillette’s Fusion razor: a USP creative strategy

What Doesn’t Always Work
Standardised Humour
Advertising using previous heritage
National symbols, settings
Verbal/written copy
National personalities

Advertising Standardisation
Advantages
Brand coherence
Economies of scale
Creation and production costs
Purchase of global media space
Transfer of success
Use the successful team’s work everywhere
No need for top marketers in foreign locations
Control
Costs
Message
Disadvantages
Lowest common denominator
Foreign targets may not identify themselves with the advertisements
Reduced sales
Weak or confused branding
May demotivate local employees

Cathay Pacific: standardized advertising throughout its markets
http://www.cathaypacific.com

Obstacles to Standardised Advertising
Media variance
Culture
Marketing objectives
Competitors
Different positioning
Product adaptations
Push or pull strategies
Long channel encourages pull when it can be afforded
Small budget encourages push

Advertising Standardisation Strategies
Identical ads
Common artwork with minimum of localisation
Global prototype ads
Voice over and visuals may be changed to avoid language & cultural problems
Re-shot with local people & places
Pattern standardisation
Common positioning theme
Local implementation

Core benefit for new cars sales
Car attribute importance
France
car’s elegance
Germany
engineering efficiency
Italian
acceleration
England
Large percentage of company cars
Important attributes?

Advertising Elements: Message
Basic concept
Ad appeal
Rational
Emotional
Selling Proposition
Claim captures reason for buying or benefit
Adaptations?
Creative Execution
Straight sell
Scientific evidence
Demonstration
Comparison
Testimonial
Slice of life
Animation
Fantasy
Dramatization

Advertising Elements: Communication
Copy
Target populations
Literacy rates
Languages
Cultural dimensions
Symbolism
Colours
Man-woman relationships
Media types
TV
Cable TV
Radio
Internet
Outdoor
Direct mail
Availability
Coverage of target pop

International Marcomms
Global Prototypes - Marlboro
Germany
Turkey
France
Saudi Arabia
USA
Sweden

International Marcomms
Global Prototypes - Drakkar Noir
USA ‘Feel the Power’
France
Spain
Saudi Arabia

International Marcomms
Pattern Standardisation - Diet Coke
France
Korea
Thailand

Content Analysis
Do not support standardized advertising
Differences usually consistent with cultural dimensions
i.e. individualism, collectivism

Content Analysis: Goal Differ
Japanese Ads
Make friends with the audience
Prove that you understand their feelings
Show that you are nice
Consumers will then want to buy from you because they feel familiar with/trust you
Western Ads
Learn-Feel-Do
Teach the audience how the product/brand is different and why it’s better than others
Provide concrete benefits/reasons for purchase
Learning brand benefits leads to good feeling about brand/company

Advertising Appeals
Japanese Ads
Soft sell
more emotional appeals
fewer comparative appeals
Korean Ads
family well-being
group goals
interdependence
harmony
Western Ads
Hard sell
USA Ads
individuality
independence
self-improvement
ambition
personal goals/benefits

Standardisation: A more realistic way to global advertising
Publicity not Persuasion
Mostly for Maintenance in the face
of Competition
Seldom for Growth

Publicity: Talking-points
(not Selling-points)
Publicity proclaims the brand, e.g.
“Always Coca-Cola” (Here I Am)
“X Gets Clothes Clean” (X is a detergent)
Tells a good story, well
Can link and refresh personal memory traces

Advertising Slogans: A few mistakes (Source: American Demographics)
Coors "Turn it loose"
in Spanish "Suffer from diarrhoea"
Chevy Nova
in Spanish is "No va" means "it doesn't go"
"Pepsi Brings You Back to Life“
in Chinese "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave"
McDonald’s “Finger-licking Good”
In Chinese “eat your fingers”
Clairol’s "Mist Stick“ (a curling iron)
in Germany mist is slang for manure
Gerber baby food had cute baby on the label
in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside because of high rates of illiteracy
(Source: American Demographics)

Examples of Country Regulations in Saudi Arabia
Use of comparative advertising claims is prohibited
Noncensored films cannot be advertised
Women may only appear in those commercials that relate to family affairs, and their appearance must be in a decent manner that ensures feminine dignity
Women must wear a long suitable dress which fully covers her body except face and palms

The globalization of advertising: organizational issues
Arguments in favour of standardized advertising
Consistent image across markets
Avoids confusing mobile consumers
Can decrease preparation
campaign themes, copies & materials;
Control over planning and execution of local campaigns
Major limitations to standardized advertising
Culture-bound products & services
Local execution may still be needed (Wash & Go shampoo)
Colonial orientation may be irritating for local marketing teams since “global” often equates with US approach

Selecting an Advertising Agency II
World’s Top Ad Agencies
1. Dentsu (Tokyo)
2. McCann-Erickson worldwide (New York)
3. BBDO worldwide(New York)
4. J. Walter Thompson co. (New York)
5. Euro RSCG worldwide (New York)
6. Grey Worldwide (New York)
7. DDB Needham Worldwide (New York)
8. Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (New York)
9. Publicis Worldwide (Paris)
10. Leo Burnett Co. (Chicago)

UK

Scandinavia