Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ads That Travel
Ads That Travel
Ads That Travel
Sana M. Carlton
Managing Director
Millward Brown Switzerland
sana.carlton@millwardbrown.com
Yet in countries and environments as different as Mumbai and Miami, a global traveler will
see many familiar brands. Its no mean feat to maintain a successful global brand; managing
brand positioning and communication strategies across countries is a tricky business. And
in recent years, global media, the Internet, and an increasingly well-traveled population of
consumers have made it more important than ever for brands to have a consistent tone and
message. In addition, if they can harmonize a brands position across regions, marketers
can save money by reducing the number of campaigns and executions that must be
developed. But with the worlds cultures so diverse, can advertising communications really
cross borders effectively?
The answer is that developing such communication is a challenge. The dream of reaching
a worldwide audience with just one ad is rarely realized. Very often, something important
gets lost in the translation. But with a bit of due diligence, campaigns can be developed
that will work effectively across many geographies and cultures, allowing advertisers to
realize great efficiencies while establishing seamless brand positionings.
To create communication that can cross borders effectively, marketers must follow a threestep process:
1. Determine the global brand promise, based
on applying the unique product benefits to
a universal human need.
2. Identify the marketing task that faces the
brand in each geography.
3. Implement the creative idea with sensitivity
to differences across countries and
cultures.
By following these steps, described more fully
here, an advertiser can leverage the economic
power of multi-country scale while achieving a
cohesive brand position around the world.
However, this will not always be possible; the needs and wants
of consumers do vary from country to country, and different
approaches may be needed when a brands standing is not
consistent across regions. But even in those cases, clusters of
markets that will respond to a single brand promise can often
be identified.
The sophistication of the target audience in relation to A woman of similar age and socioeconomic status in Madrid
advertising is another key difference to consider. In countries would spend much more time walking outside and commuting
2009 Millward Brown