Cross Cultural Advertising in

India
ACS Project

Presented By TYBMM
 SUMAIYA SHAIKH - 13
 HINA KHATRI – 15
 ARWA DARUGAR -17
 SUSHANT GUPTA – 18
 MAJEED KHAN - 40
Introduction
Cross cultural advertising affects everything we do.
This applies to all areas of human life from personal
relationships to conducting business abroad.
When interacting within our native culture, culture
acts as a framework of understanding. However,
when interacting with different cultures this
framework no longer applies due to cross cultural
differences.
The essence of advertising is convincing people that
the product is meant for them. By purchasing it, they
will receive some benefit.

Language in Cross cultural advertising.

It may seem somewhat obvious to state that
language is the key to effective cross cultural
advertising.
Therefore it is important to examine language in any
cross cultural advertising campaign.
Colours , Numbers, Images in Cross Cultural Advertising
The simplest aspects of advertising need to be
inspected under cross culture microscope because
colours , numbers, images and symbols do not all
translate well across cultures.
In some cultures there are lucky colours such as
‘Red’ in China and unlucky colour such as ‘Black’ in
Japan.
Some cultures have unlucky numbers such as 13.

Cultural Values in Cross Cultural Advertising

When advertising abroad their culture should be
analysed carefully and some questions should be
kept in mind such as
Is it family oriented?
Is it hierarchial?
Is there a dominant political or economical
ideology?
Is it the religion practiced by majority of people?
Adapt your Product
Even the slightest change to adapt your product can
make a world of difference.
When Kelloggs started producing cornflakes in India
they failed to realise that indians start their day with
something warm and according to Homi Bhabha, an
indian cultural critic, if you pour warm milk on
kelloggs they instantly turn into wet paper.

Stay Neutral
When marketing to general public, try to stay
neutral. Have your marketing and advertising
material reviewed by cross cultural specialists.
This will ensure your advertisement does not offend
a specific culture.
Translate Correctly
If your entire advertisement lies on language, make
sure the translation is correct.
KFC’s famous ‘finger licking good’ slogan in chinese
apparently came off as ‘eat your fingers off’.
Therefore it is necessary to pay attention on
translation.

To Avoid Translation Blunders :

Hire a translator who wont translate your campaign
literally and spot any obvious pitfalls for you.
Do your market research on brand and product
names to catch any unintended double meanings.
Keep an open mind about changing your core
product\brand benefits for a particular audience.
Do a ‘soft launch’ to test different alternative
executions before investing heavily in one.
 Humorous Cross-Cultural Advertising Gaffes!
Things were not much easier for Coke's arch-rival
Pepsi.When they entered the Chinese market a few years
ago, the translation of their slogan "Pepsi Brings you Back
to Life" was a little more literal than intended.In
Chinese,the slogan meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors
Back from the Grave".

When Kentucky Fried Chicken entered the Chinese

market,to their horror they discovered that their slogan
"finger lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off"
 The American slogan for Salem cigarettes,"Salem -
Feeling Free," got translated in the Japanese market
into "When smoking Salem,you feel so refreshed
that your mind seems to be free and empty.“
The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign
"Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to
Mexico.It was soon brought to their attention the
Spanish translation read "Are you lactating?"