By: Katy Flanagan
“Like a good neighbor State Farm is there”. If you just read that sentence and also sang the jingle with it then State Farm has successfully advertised their brand to you and many others. Like State Farm and every other company in the world, advertising makes or breaks company’s brands.
Advertising is a key component to the business world. Without ads that capture audiences, brands would not be successful. As annoying as advertisements can be, they are a necessity. Without them no one would know what is the new “it” thing to buy and companies would go out of business. There is a competitive nature to ads that is inevitable. You want your product to stand out among all of the other ones out there. Not only do you want it to stand out but you also want it to be remembered.
Companies have taken this competitive nature global. People have noticed that in order for brands to survive you need every country seeing your ad. The largest advertising spenders are the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom (Vivian 153). Globalization significantly affects advertising and the way it gets the message across to customers.
Because of this demand to take ads global, companies have faced struggles. There are four main effects that globalization has on advertising:
- Investment
- Strategy
- Language and Culture
- Branding
Four main affects Explained:
1.Investment poses a threat in that ads are expensive. Buying the time and space for ads in countless countries is an added cost to the already expensive domestic ads. Global advertising is hard and requires extra time and effort which then costs more and more money. Companies need to employ the right investors to make their ads effective.
2. Strategy is next. Coming up with the perfect strategic plan for an ad is a huge task especially when going global. One of the biggest tasks is deciding whether to come up with a universal message or to customize each ad to specific markets. Another part of strategy is to know what mediums are best to use in different places. Media channels do not have the same reach in all countries. Deciding whether to use television ads, prints ads, radio ads or other various mediums is a big choice to make.
3. Branding is linked to strategy. Branding is promoting your product and getting your image known. The goal of branding is to create customer awareness and brand loyalty. Globalization makes it so companies have to choose whether to create a global consistent brand or to tailor different brand images for all the different countries (Vivian 161). Global brands are good because you can recognize them anywhere and they can sync up with people across the globe. Tailored brands can have an intense impact in distinct markets. Blogger Ciaran Murphy suggests that smart advertisers know that their messages have to be tailored toward specific cultures but also contain “universal human truth”.
4. The last effect is the language and cultural barrier. For an ad to be effective and persuasive you have to understand the culture and values of a country. Some ads can get taken the wrong way when language is not used correctly or if the culture is portrayed wrongly. There is an example where the “Got Milk?” ad was super successful in the United States but did not work in Mexico because the phrase translated as “Are you Lactating?”. Companies often enlist in the help of locals in each market so mistakes like this do not happen.
Influential advertising is creating new demands in markets and is influencing changes in buying habits and lifestyles. Effective advertising is key, but companies have to be wary of the challenges they will face as their brands become more and more global.
Sources:
Image Credit: Grey
Media and Globalization 