Advertising across cultural borders

by: Bianca Bischoff

Table of Contents

Pictures [only in downloadfile]

1 Different countries = Different advertising – Some examples 1

2 Cultural borders 2

3 Consumer behavior  4

4 Consequences for Advertising 6

4.1 Standardization vs. Differentiation 6
4.2 Advertising media 7
4.3 Advertising in different cultures  8

4.3.1 Advertising laws and regulations 8
4.3.2 Comparative vs. non comparative advertising 9
4.3.3 Adapting the advertisements to the cultures  9

4.3.3.1 Advertising goals  9
4.3.3.2 Values  10
4.3.3.3 Role of genders  11
4.3.3.4 Informational content  11
4.3.3.5 Symbols 12
4.3.3.6 Humor 13
4.3.3.7 Disregarding the culture on purpose 14

5 Efficient worldwide advertising 15

5.1 Announcements  15
5.2 Association Transfer  16
5.3 Lesson  16
5.4 Drama  17
5.5 Entertainment 17
5.6 Imagination  17
5.7 Special Effects  18

6 Conclusion 18

Sources  III
 

1. Different countries = Different advertising – Some examples

When someone goes to another country and turns on the television or the radio or opens a magazine, he will find advertising which is different in comparison to what he is familiar with. One can learn a lot about the country and its culture if he looks close enough at their advertisements. As Jean-Marie Dru in his book ‘Disruption’ says “Nothing reflects a country and age better than its advertising.” (Tretyak, 2001, p. 185). One can find these differences not just in advertisings of local companies; they are also in advertisings of international companies. A good example is the commercial for the new VW Golf GTI. In Germany it is shown as a car for men who want to have a “cool” car. Here the focus is either on the experience older men already had with the former GTI or on the horse power of that car. When watching the commercial in the United States this is different. They have several drafts but all are very similar. A German engineer says that it is the time to “unpimp” the car of a young man which is damaged at the same time. Then the Golf GTI is shown. It is still presented as a “cool” and pimped car but which is already pimped when it is bought, so it does not need any aftermarket tuning. The last sentence of the engineer is “VW, German engineer in the house” with a strong German accent. So they also use the popular German engineering for their commercial and show the Volkswagen Group as a young company by choosing the way they speak. Here the focus is on young men who like to drive pimped cars.

Picture 1: VW Golf GTI commerical, USA, youtube.com, 22 November 2006 [picture only in downloadfile]

Advertising of the DaimlerChrysler Group is also different. In the US they have the slogan “Ask Dr. Z”. On the radio Dr. Dieter Zetsche answers questions in the ad in English with a real strong German accent where he makes fun of his mustache. In Germany they would never present Dieter Zetsche like that. They would say he makes too much fun of himself and Germans do not make fun of a president of a company like that. In Germany people take their superiors in higher positions more seriously. Another example is if someone looks through a magazine which is published in different countries. For example the Cosmopolitan magazine. Cosmopolitan is distributed in 110 editions in 28 languages (Nelson & Paek, 2005, p. 371). Here one can see especially differences in the nudity of the models shown. The degree of sexuality by Western models is higher than in Asian countries (Nelson & Peak, 2005, p. 373).

When watching commercials in Germany and the US another difference can be seen. The commercials in the United States are partly more localized. Channels in the US offer companies to make commercials just for a specific region. And this is not just for the different States; it is also for specific cities. Watching the same channel in Detroit, Michigan and Charleston, South Carolina, similar nationwide commercials can be found but also city specific ads e.g. for shops in that specific region which offer the advertised product. Or for example in the Detroit Metro area commercials target people who are working for the automotive companies by offering special deals only to the big three (General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler) employees, because they are primarily from that region.

2. Cultural borders

As mentioned above in every country advertising is different. And this is for a reason. The first thing someone recognizes when he goes to another country is the language. After a while one will recognize another type of architecture, another behavior of the people living there and so on. And this is what advertisers have to think about. This paper is based on the usual cultural differences like religion, traditions, norms and values, as well as Hofstedes five dimensions of culture: masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and long versus short term orientation. These dimensions and the cultural differences will not be discussed in this paper; just a few examples are shown to show how easy different cultures can cause problems with advertising.

Language mistakes are often made by not proofing well enough the translations of slogans or the used brand names. Also the opinion that English is understood by almost everyone is wrong and can lead to a non successful advertisement. The agency Endmark in Cologne made a study about how English slogans are understood in Germany. They found out that a lot of slogans are not translated right by the Germans (“Englische Werbesprüche”, Spiegel-online, 26 Nov. 2006). “The current Jaguar commercial which says “Life by Gorgeous” was understood right by just eight percent of the Germans. Some thought it means living in the country Georgia” (“Englische Werbesprüche”, Spiegel-online, 26 Nov. 2006). Other examples outside Germany are Chevrolet and Pepsi. Chevrolet advertised their Chevy Nova in Spain but forgot to think about that “No va” in Spanish means “it does not go”. So the turnovers were not like expected. They should have thought about changing the name of their car for Spanish speaking countries. Pepsi had an advertisement which said in English “Pepsi brings you back to life”. They translated their slogan for the Chinese market but did not recognize that they actually said “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”. (American Demographics magazine, http://bears.ece.ucsb.edu/personnel/astornet/humor/humor91.html; 12 Nov. 2006) These examples show how important it is to check what the translated slogan or the brand name means in that language.

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