The Evolution of Global Advertising

In a world that is getting perceptually smaller, global seems to be the order of

the day: global companies, global brands, global television channels and now even
global terrorism. So where steps in global advertising then?
If global brands are being marketed across the world, global advertising
agencies already exist and so do global television channels, shouldnt global advertising
be the order of the day as well? Conceptually, the ground does seem prepared for global
advertising to evolve.
In this age of globalization, multi-culturalism, and falling borders, companies must
be increasingly active in extending themselves globally, across cultures, and across
borders not only to grow but also to grapple with global competitors that they never had
before. The age-old art of advertising must parallel this evolution of attention and focus.
Companies are no longer just selling to their own city or even their own country. They
are selling to the world. Their name, brand, and image are now accessible to a global
customer base. Will an advertising campaign made for one audience be acceptable to
another, be understood in translation, or even convey the right message? Compound
this complexity with the evolving customer, the moving target who is becoming more like
a global citizen. And finally, add the Internet to the mix. As the new mass medium that
sprang up virtually overnight, the Internet's characteristics of being global and individual
at the same time present unique challenges to the way people deal with advertising.

What is a Global Brand?

A Global Brand is one that has the same name, design, and creative strategy
everywhere in the world and is marketed in most of the major regional market blocs. A
global brand has been defined as strong in its home market, has strength across other
geographies, addresses similar needs worldwide, has a consistent positioning where the
consumers value their country of origin, usually has a product category focus and a
recognized corporate name. The definition can be taken a step further, linking the
product with universal human emotions and needs, being consistent over time, yet also
being able to refresh its appeal, being consistent over all different sorts of media, and
using powerful symbols or icons. To have a global brand, it is necessary not only to use
the same name in all markets, but also to have the same target and positioning in all
markets. Example: The perennial leader is Coca-Cola, the brand alone is worth nearly
$70 billion. Others include, Microsoft, IBM, GE (General Electric), Intel, McDonalds,
Rolex, Gillette and Levis.

What is Global advertising?

The use of the same basic advertising appeals, messages, art, copy, photographs,
stories, and video and film segments on a global scale/ in an international market.
Example: Nivea Everywhere ad.
 What is Global marketing?

A strategy of using a common marketing plan and program for all countries in which a
company operates, thus selling the product or services the same way everywhere in the
world. Example: Yahoo, is a prime example of a company that uses global marketing
strategies. Yahoo! Japan founded in 1996 as a joint venture with Softbank Corporation.
By 2000, on an average, 87% of the 20 million Japanese Web users were likely to have
seen a Yahoo! Page in a given month. Yahoo! Japan took a wait-and-see approach to
new strategies adopted by Yahoo! US. For example, it waited to see how Yahoo!
Women and Yahoo Senior would fare. When they flopped because users did not want to
be categorized, Yahoo! Japan avoided making the same mistake. Yahoo! Europe had 31
million unique visitors in Western Europe for the quarter that ended December 31, 2000,
nearly twice as many as the previous year. Yahoo! is now prevalent in developing
markets, such as Asia & Latin America, however realising that these nations have
minimum online purchases.

Global business environment

The global business environment can be defined as the environment in different

sovereign countries, with factors exogenous to the home environment of the
organization, influencing decision making on resource use and capabilities. The
international business environment can be classified into the environment external to the
firm and the environment internal to the firm.

The external environment includes the social, political, economic, regulatory, tax,
cultural, legal, and technological environments. Understanding the social environment of
the host country is important to function effectively and efficiently. Today there are
thousands of MNCs which operate in many parts of the globe. Such companies should
acquaint themselves with the language and culture of the country in which they are
operating. Language can play a crucial role; lets take the example of Star Plus. Star
plus had to change its entire programming orientation to survive and grow in India. When
it came to India it was meant to be a completely international channel in English for the
international Indians. With dwindling fortunes, within 2-3 years it transformed itself
completely to a more or less 100% popular Hindi channel(with all English programming
pushed out to Star World). Since then it has been on an upswing and has becomes the
leading television channel in India.

Religion and its philosophies should also be paid close attention to. For example, when
Dove Shampoo launched in Malaysia it had a winning formula that worked in several
countries across the globe, showing a woman with voluminous, wavy bouncy hair.
However, while Malaysia has a large Chinese community, the majority are Muslim. And
among Muslim women it is culturally and religiously inappropriate to show their hair.
Therefore, they had to adapt their advertising to have the "real women" only talk about
their hair and the benefits of Dove - - and never actually show it. This allowed Dove to be
a runaway success in Malaysia.

Also, Social customs and manners differ from country to country. MNCs need to
understand them to conduct business smoothly in the countries in which they operate. A
suitable example here would be, the Hyatt Hotel in Singapore. In China, Hong Kong and
Singapore, Feng shui means wind and water, is recommended on a large scale for
starting any new venture, particularly the placement of office buildings and arrangement
of desks, doors etc. to have good feng shui a building should face the water and be
flanked by mountains. It also should not block the view of the mountains spirits. The
Hyatt hotel in Singapore, which was advertised on a large scale for its lush interiors and
proper placement in between the city hub, went against the feng shui view. Thus the
hotel had to be redesigned and so did the advertising strategy. Hyatt hotels usually
stress on the name and the interiors of their Hotels, bringing a value of novelty to them.
But this particular branch had to be advertised and highlighted as per feng shui so as to
be accepted in Singapore.

The political environment in a country influences the legislations and government rules
and regulations under which a foreign firm operates. The economic environment relates
to all the factors that contribute to a countrys attractiveness for foreign businesses.

Every country in the world follows its own system of law. A foreign company operating in
that particular country has to abide with its system of law as long as it is operating in that
country. The technological environment comprises factors related to the materials and
machines used in manufacturing goods and services. Receptivity of organizations to
new technology and adoption of new technology by consumers influence decisions
made in an organization. For example, in todays dynamic marketplace, communication
boundaries are dissolving, owing to brands such as CNN and Reuters. It allows brands
like Levis to communicate it brand essence across the world.

As firms have no control over the external environment, their success depends upon
how well they adapt to the external environment. A firms ability to design and adjust its
internal variables to take advantage of opportunities offered by the external environment,
and its ability to control threats posed by the same environment, determine its success.
A suitable example here would be Amway. Amway, in using its direct marketing
strategies, ran into legal and political hassles, but overcame them to ensure a stalwart
global presence.

Current Global Trends

Today, there is a change from a few years ago, when marketers could still determine
when and where they wanted to roll out a new campaign in a controlled, orderly fashion.
Today, you have to enter any discussion with clients with the idea that it is global by
nature. Internet forms a major part of todays global environment. In the words of,
Tom Bernardin, chief executive of the advertising agency Leo Burnett, technology should
get much of the credit - or the blame, depending on your point of view on globalization.
Most big marketing campaigns now include a substantial online presence, and the
enormous popularity of social networking and video-sharing Web services means ads
and videos quickly zip across borders.
While Internet plays an important role, cost is a more important factor in understanding
why advertisers are suddenly singing "We Are the World," at a time when harmony
seems so elusive in other areas. Advertisers everywhere are trying to rein in marketing
budgets, as corporate "procurement" officers turn their attention to outlays that used to
face little scrutiny. It costs much less for one ad agency to create a single global ad
campaign than it does for multiple agencies to create separate campaigns. New
technology makes it easier to adapt a global campaign for individual markets, and
procurement officials know this, putting further pressure on agencies to cut costs. More
and more multinational companies are importing their global ad campaigns and
localising them by adding Indian flavour to suit the audience here. Examples include,
Pepsi, a pioneer in this. The company kicked off the trend in the early 90s by adapting its
international advertisement with Michael J Fox to the one with Aamir Khan and
Aishwarya Rai. Off late, Max New York Life adapted Partners For Life by playing with
dependability and Rahul Dravid, The Wall. Another example is Coca-Cola's Cricket Jiyo
Coke Piyo campaign, which originally underlined Coke's compatibility with soccer in the
West. With consumer insights across the globe becoming more integrated and the
Indian consumer being more open to global trends, there was far greater collaboration
between marketers, said Grey Worldwide's Chief Operating Officer Ashutosh Khanna.

Today, often, MNCs issue brand guidelines and local markets are expected to adhere to
the decided templates. More importantly, though, the Indian consumer has also started
accepting global campaign models. MNCs are now comfortable with reinforcing their
global position in the country by directly importing campaigns, sometimes with no local
flavour. For instance, Samsung India supplemented its local product campaigns with its
global Imagine series in 2005 and Everyone's Invited in 2004. Similarly, while most of
Nokia's advertisements are directly lifted, some international campaigns are also
customised to local tastes, with changes such as the soundtrack in its recent CDMA
campaign.

Critics may argue, adaptations and localisation of global campaigns do not imply lack of
creativity in India. However, like in the case of LG's local adaptation of 'Life's Good'
creativity still plays an important role. Blind customisation of campaigns can also be
dangerous as companies are aiming to connect with not only the urban Indian, but also
with the semi-urban and rural Indian. Also, many times ads were directly lifted as the
magnitude of its scale could not be replicated here. An example of this is the Pepsi
advertisement with soccer players David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Roberto
Carlos and Raul Gonzales surfing in the ocean.

Advantages of Global Advertising

Economies of scale and cost benefits of standardization. These would mean

lower creative and production costs. The savings can be diverted to consumers
in the form of better quality and more reliable products at reasonable prices. In
addition, use of a single campaign provides substantial cost savings in copy
development and production costs. Example: In the case of Coke, Pepsi, mass
production has led to lowered prices.
Coherence of brand images and values across the world. The brand stands for
one word and one image everywhere resulting in a stronger and singular
consumer connect. Thus it can be an important means of building a strong and
coherent global image for the firm and/or its products worldwide. Use of the same
image in different countries builds familiarity and generates synergies across
world markets. Example: The Apple Ad
 More efficient utilization of global or multinational media options. This could mean
larger budgets, better negotiating powers leading to very significant savings on
media spends.
Better qualitative control over creative and media work. Easier to ensure that
core brand values and identity are not tampered with. There would also be more
consistency in advertising.
Fuller and wider exploitation of successful advertising ideas. Repeat your
winners, David Ogilvy once said. If there is a big idea based on genuine
consumer insight that has worked successfully in one country it might stand a
very good chance of working in many more. It allows utilization of good ideas and
creative talent (both of which are scarce commodities) on a worldwide basis.
Better coordination between marketer and advertising agency across the world.
Can help avoid the multiplicity of decisions, people and processes, there by
making work and life a lot simpler for them.

Disadvantages of Global Advertising

Development of multiple local campaigns can lead to duplication of effort, result

in inconsistent brand images across countries and confusion in consumers'
minds with regard to the benefits offered by the brand and corporate image.
Differences in customer perceptions and response patterns across countries and
cultures- Example: Seiko used a headline in Japanese which meant This watch
is light and delicate. Its literal translation Like a wind, I am the color of a bird is
completely meaningless in English.
Media availability and government regulation are major barriers to use of a
standardized campaign.
Even though technological developments allow adaptation of advertising appeals
to different languages (for example, TV can have audio channels in two
languages, Internet messages can be automatically translated), development of
visual and verbal copy that works effectively in multiple countries poses major
creative challenges.
Differences in market and economic development, consumer needs, media
availability and legal restrictions
Cultural differences make advertising standardization difficult.

When is Global Advertising Appropriate?

Brands that can be adapted for a visual appeal

Brands that are promoted with image campaigns that play to universal appeals
High-tech products and new products coming to the world for the first time
Products with nationalistic flavor
Products that appeal to a market segment with universally similar tastes,
interests, needs and values

Product category should be a key factor in the decision of whether to run with a global
campaign. Technology and apparel brands tend to travel well, while food, beverage and
packaged goods fall prey to obstacles such as cultural differences, brand experience,
category development and local economy. Cultural differences are most evident in food
categories where there are not only regional taste issues but also category development
obstacles. One example he points to is Oreo. It is a popular North American cookie
brand but as a chocolate-based biscuit with iced filling, it is not a brand that does well in
that segment, because the category is not well established there. And in categories
where global advertising is feasible, you may still have to address each region
specifically for some brands.

IBM found the face it presented to the world can be coherent without entailing rigid
adherence to a cookie-cutter approach. Keyvan Cohanim, VP of marketing and
communications for IBM Canada, says it is very important for IBM to have a common
look and feel around the world in the 160 different countries in which it operates. "Were
really trying to portray ourselves as a single global company. The IT industry we
participate in, the services area of consulting with customers, and the solutions we talk
about are all applicable globally."

Cohanim says this standardization began in the early 90s when the company operated
under a different model, one where every country pretty much did its own thing and IBM
had a different image in each place. For global customers it must have been very
confusing, says Cohanim, and thats when IBM moved from a total of 88 different ad
agencies to just one - Ogilvy & Mather. "We ensured that we had a common message
around what our strategy and our value was to the marketplace. That started with
Solutions for a Small Planet and evolved to our current e-business sub-brand and
strategy."

While messaging is consistent, Cohanim says that often the timing is different from
country to country where category development, economic factors and even regulatory
elements come into play. Wireless technology for business applications is one example.
Cohanim says the U.K. is probably 18 months ahead of Canada in establishing a
wireless infrastructure (facilities and equipment) while Canada is about a year ahead of
the U.S.

Unilever, one of the worlds largest marketers, has worldwide agency relationships but
relies heavily on localized advertising. Notable successes in Unilevers decision to go
local include Sunlight laundry detergents long-running "Go ahead. Get dirty" campaign,
as well as Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup and Dove.

Stephen Kouri, VP of brand development, personal care for Unilever , says with a big
company like Unilever its very important to find the right balance of global and local
advertising. Brand propositions travel well, but TV executions may not, he says.

"It really depends on the situation of the brand, the brand proposition and certainly in our
case, were encouraged to use advertising from the or afar when its good and when its
right." Unless results of global campaigns are fantastic, there is going to be constant
pressure from local marketers to tailor advertising for the unique needs of their
marketplace.

You can still have a strong global brand identity and still have a positioning in different
markets that is tuned to the needs of the marketplace. Brands have histories and those
are the intangibles that push global marketers to local campaigns.
 The Global Advertising Spectrum

GLOBAL ADVERTISING SPECTRUM

GLOBAL APPROACH PROTOTYPE APPROACH LOCAL APPROACH

Global Strategy Global Strategy Local Strategy

Global Execution Local Execution Local Execution

Examples of Global Approach British Airways, Marlboro, Nike, Benetton, Levi,

Omega, Bacardi, Gillette, Master Card, American Express, Revlon

Examples of Prototype Approach P&G brands, Shampoo ads, Detergent ads, Pepsi,
Coke, Kit Kat, Goodyear, McDonalds, Nescafe, Samsung, Nokia.

Examples of Local Approach Unilever brands, Cadbury, Shell, Whirlpool, Reebok,

MTV India, Star TV, Tide, Henko.

However, as all 3 approaches are being practiced successfully by brands of

global repute, it cannot be said that any one is better than the other. Together they
represent the 3 optional ways to look at marketing and advertising global brands.
Depending on the degree of similarity or differences between the consumers between
countries and cultures, any of the 3 approaches may be used.

The global approach v/s the local approach

What part of the brand transcends borders, culture, philosophy, history, etc? And what
parts are germane to a culture, a people, a language? And, as we shall see in the
following case examples, the brand essence is global, transcending border, culture, and
language. Essentially, the brand essence conveyed should be the same, but the delivery
of the brand essence is what varies from one local market to another. And locality does
not just mean geographic location; it refers to "like-mindedness" (e.g. common culture,
language, religion, philosophy, etc.). The "global vs. local" debate is one of the oldest in
the industry, and has hardly been resolved. Proponents of global approach campaigns
argue that a multinational company ought to present a single brand identity in all of its
far- flung operations. Supporters of local approaches say it is more important to connect
with local consumers - never mind whether they see a different advertising message
when they travel to another country. "It usually comes down to a battle between
marketing and sales," said Philip Greenfield, chief executive of RMG Connect, a direct
marketing agency affiliated with the advertising agency JWT. "Marketing wants to be
global. Sales wants to be local." Often, marketers end up somewhere in between, trying
to give their advertising a consistent overall image, but tailoring it for perceived local
differences, in an approach called "global-local."

Absolut vodka is extremely well known due to a highly successful brand campaign which
has all of the desirable ingredients mentioned above. The name Absolut is in each ad;
there is a verbal and visual pun on the name (e.g. Absolut perfection bottle with an
angel halo, Absolut Chicago bottle with the letters being blown off, Absolut citron
orange motif for the flavored vodka, and even Absolute centerfold "nude" bottle for
Playboy spread); the product is in it (highly recognizable bottle shape); and entire
campaign is highly consistent. The brand essence of this colorless, odorless, and
tasteless liquid underpinned the local variations. These "local" variations spanned
geographic locations, cities, industries, celebrities, concepts and flavors. These
examples clearly show how a brand essence can be global but the diverse variations,
local.

Another example is NIKE, they have the more difficult task of conveying an intangible
brand essence, the essence of sport. NIKE also had brand attributes attached to the
company such as irreverent, unorthodox, and upstart. How could these attributes be
conveyed across the world, across different sports, and across the diverse cultures and
people of the world who watch these sports. People from Latin America had their own
sports heroes and legends that were different from American or European sport heroes.
People developed their own "relevancies," their own perceptions about the sport, and
their own loyalties. For example soccer in America is very different than soccer in Latin
America. Furthermore language didn't always translate well. Their solution was to use as
few words as possible (sometimes no words), use local sports celebrities in the ads,
convey the fun, energy, and excitement of sport, and always end with the NIKE swoosh.
Using local celebrities, people could develop their own relevancies to the essence of
sport, NIKE. So NIKE built their brand by "thinking globally and acting locally." A unified
brand essence was delivered in different ways to local consumers.

Finally, Lee Johnson of McCann-Erickson Worldwide speaks to the concept of a brand

"footprint." The analogy is taken from the dinosaurs. If an archeologist can reconstruct
what the entire dinosaur looks like just from its footprint, then all of the local variations of
a global brand can be constructed from the brand "footprint." This method of work helps
to ensure that the local variations remain true to the brand essence, the "footprint." For
example, Mercedes' brand footprint is "the engineering standard, the luxury standard,
and the world of powerful wealth." However, BMW's brand footprint is "the performance
standard, the world of the enthusiast, and dynamically successful." Having identified
these differences, local variations will use suitable images, sound, and motion to convey
the brand essence. The brand essence is what ultimately gravitates older,
accomplished, wealthy persons to buy a Mercedes while it gravitates younger, dynamic,
entrepreneurial persons to purchase a BMW.

At this point in understanding the global-local approach, it would be useful to take the
example of the McDonalds case. McDonalds launched its first global advertising
campaign in its 50-year history, at a time when it is facing stiff competition and badly
needed ad investments to pay off. The "I'm loving it" campaign took a youthful, hip
approach to selling fast-food, tying together music, fashion, sports and entertainment.
The advertisement was aired in 118 countries in which McDonalds operates, but each
local market will customize the television spots with its own local language and local
shots of customers. Also notably, the Im lovin it tagline translated easily in all
languages.

Global Advertising and Culture

Constraints
Culture,
Language,
Taste,
Global Attitude, Foreign
Communicator Economic climate, Audience
Politics,
Laws & regulations,
Media availability,
Information
avialibility,
Product role/ position

In international markets the process of communicating to a target audience is more

complex because communication takes place across multiple contexts, which differ in
terms of language, literacy, and other cultural factors. In addition, media differ in their
effectiveness in carrying different appeals. A message may, therefore, not get through to
the audience because of people's inability to understand it (due to literacy problems),
because they misinterpret the message by attaching different meanings to the words or
symbols used, or because they do not respond to the message due to a lack of income
to purchase the advertised product. Media limitations also play a role in the failure of a
communication to reach its intended audience.
The process of communication in international markets involves a number of
steps. First, the advertiser determines the appropriate message for the target audience.
Next, the message is encoded so that it will be clearly understood in different cultural
contexts. The message is then sent through media channels to the audience who then
decodes and reacts to the message. At each stage in the process, cultural barriers may
hamper effective transmission of the message and result in miscommunication.
In encoding a verbal message, care needs to be taken in translation.
Numerous examples exist of translation problems with colloquial phrases. For example,
when the American Dairy Association entered Mexico with its "Got Milk?" campaign, the
Spanish translation read "Are You Lactating?" Also, Seven Up uncola theme could not
be easily translated in respective languages in almost 80 countries.

Low levels of literacy may result in the need to use visual symbols. Here again, pitfalls
can arise due to differences in color association or perception. In many tropical
countries, green is associated with danger and has negative connotations. Red, on the
other hand, is associated with weddings and happiness in China. An example here,
would be, General Foods instant Maxwell House coffee in Japan being sold in red cans.
They had to change the color as red in Japan has fire connotations Appeals to humor
or sex also need to be treated with considerable care as their expression and
effectiveness varies from one culture to another. The dry British sense of humor does
not always translate effectively even to other English-speaking countries.
In addition to encoding the message so that it attracts the attention of the target
audience and is interpreted correctly, advertisers need to select media channels that
reach the intended target audience. For example, use of TV advertising may only reach
a relatively select audience in certain countries. Equally, print media will not be effective
where there are low levels of literacy. Certain media may also be more effective in
certain cultures. For example, radio advertising has substantial appeal in South America
where popular music is a key aspect of the local culture. The cultural context also
impacts the effectiveness of communication, in terms of whether people and nations, are
more responsive to visual or written communication messages.

Product Planning Strategies For International Markets

It is essential to understand that products must be planned out carefully before entering
international markets. Examples include US fast food brand Subway struggled in China
because sandwiches are not popular there. "They were going in with a product that
wasn't very culturally relevant," says Kennedy, of Landor Associates. "And they amplified
that by the fact that the fillings they had didn't have much relevance to the market. The
question would be: If you brought the sandwich in and changed the filling to a much
more local type of filling, would you have had more success? Or would people have still
said I just don't eat sandwiches'?" Marieke de Mooij, the Dutch author of Global
Marketing and Advertising: Understanding Cultural Paradoxes, traces these kinds of
problems to Western marketing managers being too focused on achieving brand
consistency. Another example, De Mooij includes is of few international brands of
European origin (for example, L'Oral and Nivea) have succeeded by continuously
communicating innovative ingredients or introducing innovative line extensions rather
than trying to market culturally hobbled white elephants.
One might also consider Nestl. Although the Swiss company has been rationalizing its
product line in the West, when it introduced coffee into the Chinese market, it developed
a highly differentiated product. Kennedy explains, "When coffee came into China, people
just didn't know how to drink coffee. Nestl created a mix so they put the right amount of
coffee with the right amount of cream and the right amount of sugar. So the coffee would
taste reasonable. Previously people had been getting the mixing of the coffee all wrong.
Nestl understood the cultural issue there, and they now dominate the coffee category in
China. That opened the door for Starbucks to come in." Other examples include, Phillips
that had to change the size of its shavers in Japan to fit their smaller hands, Coke had to
change its sweetness in some countries. McDonalds had to drop beef from its
ingredients in India.

Things can however, go wrong, if product planning strategies go wrong. Hallmark cards
for example, bombed in France because the French prefer writing their own cards. Tang
initially failed in France as it was positioned as a substitute for orange juice at breakfast.
The French hardly drink orange juice at breakfast. Kelloggs cornflakes initially failed to
take off in India when it was positioned as a healthy breakfast option. The concept didnt
fit with Indian breakfast habits. Kelloggs pop tarts failed in Britain as they were too
sweet for British taste. And, KFC initially failed in India as its un-skinned and fried
chicken products did not appeal to Indian tastes. Indians prefer skinned chicken
marinated with spices.

Product packaging

From high touch to high tech, international brands are struggling to achieve economies
of scale with packages and products that successfully appeal to an increasingly global
clientele. In 2003, McDonald's announced that all of its restaurants30,000 in over 100
countrieswould soon be adopting the same brand packaging for menu items.
According to a company press release, the new packaging would feature photographs of
real people doing things they enjoy, such as listening to music, playing soccer, and
reading to their children. McDonald's global chief marketing officer was quoted as
saying, "It is the first time in our history that a single set of brand packaging, with a single
brand message, will be used concurrently around the world." Two years later, the
company appeared to backpedal when it announced plans to localize nutritional value
charts on its packages.

To the extent that international brands appeal to global tastes, worldwide packaging
strategies might be expected to show signs of convergence, especially as consumer
tastes around the world become more homogeneous. But there is little evidence that this
is happening.

Computer manufacturer HP strives to convey brand personality on packages that may

need to accommodate text in as many as eight local languages. Fast-moving consumer
goods companies, for their part, have hardly been more successful in finding global
solutions to their packaging needs. Unilever standardizes some branded products while
localizing others. Procter & Gamble adjusts branding strategies across borders. P&G
markets its brands in Asia under the company brand name, but in Europe and the US,
the product brands are not blatantly branded as P&G brands.
 The Essentials Of Packaging In Global Advertising

In catering to a global scenario, sometimes the packaging might need change, be it for
environmental reasons or perhaps even for cultural reasons. It is important to keep this
in mind, when selling a product globally. For example, cases go wrong include:

In most European countries some forms of food like ketchup and mayonnaise is
also sold in (toothpaste-like) tubes. The concept didnt work in America.

At times, the product or other marketing elements might not need any change but
the advertising may need adapting. Example, Marlboro could not use its cowboy
advertising in Britain. Britain does not allow the use of heroic figures or role
models in cigarettes ads as that might encourage people to smoke.

Advertising may require adaptation even when the product and consumer needs
might be the same in 2 countries but the corresponding wants & desires get
expressed and satisfied differently. Example, when Procter & Gamble was trying
to launch a brand of toothpaste in Europe they found stronger teeth more
desirable in Denmark, Germany and Netherlands but whiter teeth more
desirable in England, France and Italy.

On the whole, if the turf of the game is global then some level of standardization and
consistency in the core brand values and identity is critical. That is the only way a
brand can stand out as a global brand. What core need it will satisfy and what it will
stand for in the consumers minds should be the same across the world.

Inernational Distribution Channels

Channels of Distribution is known as "Place" in the "4 P's" model of Marketing.

Distribution Channels provide the utility of place, of having products where the customer
wants when the customer wants them. It is a set of interdependant organisations
involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption
by the consumer or the business user.

It has two aspects:

Logistics: Physical Movement of Goods

Strategies: Who participates and what they do

For example, Distribution is particularly important in a country like Canada with our huge
size and our northern climate. Every spring, trucks go down through the ice in places
where frozen water is used as a seasonal road; this truck is sinking in Lake Winnipeg.
 Distribution Channel Functions

Information

Promotion

Contact

Matching
(including such things as
manufacturing, grading,
assembling, and packaging)

Negotiation

Physical Distribution
(transporting and storing)

Financing

Risk Taking
 Number of Intermediaries

This is one of the core concepts in Channel of Distribution. Will your product be available
everywhere, or will you sell your product either selectively, or perhaps in only a few
exclusive stores. Below mentioned are the strategies:

Stocking the product in as

many outlets as possible Even found sold in a boat
Intensive
floating down a deserted section of the
Used for Convenience Goods Nile River, says one Globe and Mail
reporter

Using more than one but

fewer than all of the
intermediaries who are willing
Selective to carry the company's
products In a some select places; you
may not find a GE appliance in a small
Used for Shopping Goods Mom&Pop store

Giving a limited number of

dealers the exclusive right to
distribute the company's
Exclusive
products in their territories
You can't buy a
Used for Specialty Goods Rolls Royce or a Ferrari just anywhere

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