Global Advertising

“Global advertising succeeds when it is perceived in semiotically-equivalent ways by multicultural consumers segments” (Domzal and Kernan, 1993, p. 1)

In the past twenty years we have seen the rise of globalisation. Living in the 21^st century, the existence of globalisation is no longer up for debate. The emergence of global conglomerates such as Mars Inc., Proctor and Gamble, Unilever and Coca-Cola provides imperial evidence that not only does globalisation exists but it is here to stay. Clients are not the only ones entering into the global market place, many agencies have also risen to the challenge such as, BBDO, Grey and Saatchi & Saatchi to name a few. Despite globalisation becoming more prominent there have only been a handful of advertisements that have gone right around the world. Globalisation hasn’t gone far enough to enable advertisers to put out one ad that can be interpreted equally by all around the world.

Dozmal and Kernan (1993, p. 1) define global advertising as “international ads which are addressed to multicultural audiences”. This definition is not only limit to ads that have been marketed around the world. Dozmal and Kernan do not impose a “worldwide” criterion on their definition because most products are not marketed globally and in virtually all cases, global ads are not absolutely standardised, for example the language must be adapted to suit the local audience. Rather, Dozmal and Kernan (1993) define global advertising as piece of advertising that has uniformity and not necessarily an exact replica across all markets.

The authors also argue that for a global campaign to be successful, marketers must identify segments who share similar beliefs and values. Dozmal and Kernan (1993) found two segments which have an ethos; the World’s economically elite and the post-WWII generation (a postmodern segment) which make great target audiences. They also recommend two product categories that make prime candidates for global advertising due to their universal appeal; food and fashion. Evian is a brand which successfully applied these principles with their Rollerbabies ad.

Evian
Rollerbabies
Agency: Ogilvy

There was lack of consistency in Evian’s communication and message strategy around the world with each country having its own execution style and message. The objective of the campaign was to firmly establish Evian as a global brand by presenting a united front and message. The aim was not to sell the benefits of Evian, but appeal to the consumers emotionally and to build Evian’s brand equity. Evian had to find a message which was going to be able to connect with the world. They decided on “Live YOUNG!” (EACA, 2010). The result was Rollerbabies which was truly a global phenomenon. It won endless awards including Time Magazine’s ad of the year. It even entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most view ad online ever (EACA, 2010).

Babies were the perfect presenters for this ad because they are a universal symbol of youth. They were cute, adorable and funny. They created the perfect cute, light-hearted, humorous tone for the ad with their innocence. Babies also have a broad appeal. They appeal to all ages, both genders and all cultures, making the ad globally assessable. Through the cute and humorous tone and the use of babies, the ad was able to successfully engage with consumers. It also created an enormous online fan base on which 67% of people passed it on to friends (EACA, 2010).

The use of humour added to the accessibility of ad. The particular sense of humour used was well selected by producers of this ad. Not all senses of humour has a global appeal, but cute babies with slight hint of attitude made it both funny and cute. The spectacular special effect also added to the ad’s “viral-bility” which suited the target audience.

One of Evian’s objectives was to reach a new market. The target audience was young, trendy and internet users. The execution of the ad facilitated in reaching this audience through the use of a well-known hip-hop track. It added that touch of attitude to the ad which would have appealed to the younger and trendier market. It also had enough of a “pop” feel to it so that it did not alienate the other segments.

Overall, Rollerbabies was an extremely well-executed global ad and the results clearly speaking for themselves with over 102 million views on all campaign content (EACA, 2010). It also translated into sales with a 7% increase in volume. 

Nike
Nike Woman 2006
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam                  

Since 2002, Nike has been trying to tap into the female market (Cobban, 2007). It began with the Nike Goddess campaign in 2002 but it had limited success because it wasn’t true to the brand (Cobban, 2007). Through their research, Nike found that the attitude of women to be that Nike was for men and not women. The brand embodied all the values that women hated about men such as aggression, conflict, winning at all costs and arrogance (Cobban, 2007). The objective of the new campaign was to reverse the perceptions of women had towards Nike and establish a credible sub-brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The target audience is obviously generation Y, athletic, self-motivated women. The presenter, Sofia Boutella, encapsulated and represented the target market well. She has an amazing physic which the athletic female aspires to have. She has incredible talent and is regarded as one of the best in the business. Sofia also has a slight competitive attitude which is true to the Nike brand. Sofia appeals to the target market because she is being presented as somewhat of an inspirational icon for women. Nike portrays her to be what every young athletic female wants to be.

The tone of the TVC has a hint of attitude. This is evident in the final words spoken by Sofia: “so tell me I’m not an athlete”. This is a deliberate strategy by Nike because through their research they found that dancers were not being respected as athletes and were not taken seriously especially by men (Cobban, 2007). Thus, the tone of the ad challenges that issue of respect towards dancers as athletes. It can also be interpreted wider than that. Nike is appealing to the general frustration that women may feel towards men and not being respected. Therefore, Nike unites women all over the world by presenting a common enemy to target. This strategy fits with Dozmal and Kernan’s (1993) recommendations of finding a segment with a common ethos. As a result, women’s attitude towards Nike began to shift.