Cross Cultural Advertising A successful cross cultural advertising campaign largely depends on effective cross cultural communic

Cross Cultural Advertising
Good morning, everyone. Today, we are going to talk about the role cultures play in advertising, particularly how cross culture communication can be applied in advertising. Culture affects everything we do. This applies to all areas of human life from personal relationships to conducting business abroad. When interacting within our native cultures, culture acts as a framework of understanding. However, when interacting with different cultures this framework no longer applies due to cross cultural differences. Cross cultural communication aims to help minimise the negative impact of cross cultural differences through building common frameworks for people of different cultures to interact within. In business, cross cultural solutions are applied in areas such as human resources, team building, foreign trade, negotiations and website design.
Cross cultural communication solutions are also critical to effective cross cultural advertising. Services and products are usually designed and marketed at a domestic audience. When a product is then marketed at an international audience the same domestic advertising campaign abroad will in most cases be ineffective. As we all know, the essence of advertising is convincing people that a product is meant for them. By purchasing it, they will receive some benefit, whether it’ll be lifestyle, status, convenience or financial. However, when an advertising campaign is taken abroad different values and perceptions as to what enhances status or gives convenience exist. These differences make the original advertising campaign defunct.
It is therefore critical to any cross cultural advertising campaign that an understanding of a particular culture is acquired. I am going to explain the areas of cross cultural differences in advertising and illustrate my points with a few examples.
First of all, language in cross cultural advertising. It may seem somewhat obvious to state that language is key to effective cross cultural advertising.[1]However, the fact that companies persistently fail to check linguistic implications of company or product names and slogans demonstrates that such is-sues are not being properly addressed. The advertising world is Uttered with examples of linguistic cross cultural blunders.[2]Of the more comical was Ford’s introduction of the "Pinto" in Brazil. After seeing sales fail, they soon realised that this was due to the fact that Brazilians did not want to be seen driving a car meaning "tiny male genitals".[3]Language must also be analysed for its cultural suitability. For example, the slogan employed by the computer games manufacturer, EA Sports, "Challenge Everything" raises grumbles of disapproval in religious or hierarchical societies where harmonious relationships are maintained through the values of respect and non-confrontation. It is imperative therefore that language be examined carefully in any cross cultural advertising campaign.
[4]Second, communication style in cross cultural advertising.[5]Understanding the way in which other cultures communicate allows the advertising campaign to speak to the potential customers in a way they understand and appreciate. For example, communication styles can be explicit or implicit.[6]/[7]An explicit communicator, like USA, assumes the listener is unaware of background information or related issues to the topic of discussion and therefore provides it themselves. Implicit communicators, like Japan, assume the listener is well informed on the subject and minimises information relayed on the premise that the listener will understand from implication. An explicit communicator would find an implicit communication style vague, whereas an implicit communicator would find an explicit communication style exaggerated. That’s why we should understand which communication style your listener is comfortable with and adjust to each other.
Thirdly, colours, numbers and images in cross cultural advertising. Even the simplest and most taken for granted aspects of advertising need to be inspected under a cross cultural microscope. Colours, numbers, symbols and images do not all translate well across cultures In some cultures there are lucky colours, such as red in China and unlucky colours,[8]such as black in Japan.[9]Some colours have certain significance; green is considered a special colour in Islam and some colours have tribal associations in parts of Africa. Many hotels in the USA or UK do not have a room 13 or a 13th floor. Similarly,[10]Nippon Airways in Japan do not have the seat numbers 4 or 9. If there are numbers with negative connotations abroad, presenting or packaging products in those numbers when advertising should be avoided. Images are also culturally sensitive.[11]Whereas it is common to see pictures of women in bikinis on advertising posters on the streets of London, such images would cause outrage in the Middle East. With these differences in mind, we’d better avoid sensitive colours, numbers and images in the advertorials and try to figure out different meanings of these symbols perceived by the targeted audience. To this end, a feasible study is always a good idea before you launch an advertising campaign. And this actually brings to my last point.
[12]Cultural values in cross cultural advertising. When advertising abroad, the cultural values underpinning the society must be analysed carefully.[13]Is there a religion that is practised by the majority of the people? Is the society collec-tivist or individualist? Is it family orientated? Is it hierarchical? Is there a dominant political or economic ideology? All of these will impact an advertising campaign if left unexamined.[14]For example, advertising that focuses on individual success, independence and stressing the word "I" would be received negatively in countries where teamwork is considered a positive quality. Rebelliousness or lack of respect for authority should always be avoided in[15]family orientated or hierarchical societies.
By way of conclusion, we can see that the principles of advertising run through to cross cultural advertising too. That is—know your market, what is attractive to them and what their aspirations are. Cross cultural advertising is simply about using common sense and analysing how the different elements of an advertising campaign are impacted by culture and modifying them to best speak to the target audience. So that is the cross culture aspect of advertising I would like to talk about today. In the next lecture, we shall examine the psychological aspect of advertising.