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Great global ads: the secret of success

In our earlier Knowledge Point, Why is it so difficult to produce world class international advertising?, we highlighted the pitfalls to be avoided in producing global advertising. Here, we look at the steps you can take to help ensure a successful international campaign. Broadly, there are four approaches proven to work well: identifying clusters of countries where the brands standing and cultural attitudes are similar; finding an idea that represents the brands unique perspective on a human truth; creating a brand space in which to express this perspective; basing ads on a genuinely unique product benefit. In addition, we consider how international ads across all media can be adapted to bring the idea alive locally.
Ads without frontiers: four proven approaches
From our studies, we have identified four approaches that have been used successfully by international advertisers: tend to respond less well to this kind of advertising. The example below illustrates this approach, showing the world segmented into three regions according to the status of a particular brand; note these clusters do not represent traditional geographic divisions: Cluster one USA, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, South Africa; consumers know what the brand stands for (high efficacy), but this is not enough it is seen as a category entry-point only. The brand needs to finds additional benefits, or find more differentiating ways to talk about efficacy. Cluster two Argentina, U.K., Germany, Turkey, Australia; consumers know what the brand stands for, but dont feel close to it. The brand needs to become more emotionally

1. The brand status cluster approach

Brand status has been found to have a considerable influence on the kind of communications that are effective for a brand. For example, ads with an implicit message tend to work best in countries where the brand is very highly regarded and familiar; where the brand has permission to invite the consumer to fill in the gaps based on what they already know and feel about the brand. In countries where the brand is less well known and of lower status, consumers

Great global ads: the secret of success

Millward Brown November 2006

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appealing. Cluster three Chile, France, Italy, Japan, Thailand; the brand is relatively unknown, there is a need to establish what the brand stands for. In each cluster of countries, the advertising task is clearly different although it is possible that, in cases like this, the same advertising idea could work well for more than one cluster (e.g. advertising that differentiates the brand in an emotionally appealing way could work well for clusters one and two).

late to the drive shared by many people across the globe to find a partner, or help the next generation to thrive and to live a long, fulfilling life. What else unites us as human beings? This TGI data shows that spending time with the family is a priority for many people in all countries: I enjoy spending time with my family Brazil Russia India China Europe 76% 75% 62% 73% 81% And related to this, people all over the world feel that children should be free to learn and express themselves in order to develop: Children should be allowed to express themselves freely Brazil Russia India China Europe 75% 49% 63% 66% 64% At the other end of our life-span, people also like to see the older generation still getting a lot out of life: It is important to continue learning new things throughout your life Brazil Russia India China Europe 95% 78% 59% 79% 84% There remain other human truths, (such as the desire for health, exploited by pharmaceutical brands, and wealth, used by National Lotteries), which arguably have yet to be fully exploited.

2. The shared global culture approach

The three aspects of global culture most often used successfully in international advertising are: Movies especially big Hollywood productions, seen all over the world. Love of sport many brands, like Pepsi, have successfully exploited the global obsession with football the worlds most popular sport. Youth culture and music another way of uniting audiences across the globe, since the birth of pop culture in the 1950s. Coke was one of the first brands to use this approach with their I want to teach the world to sing campaign.

But its also worth noting that some advertisers have created effective global advertising by celebrating the cultural diversity that exists in the world (like HSBC) or the ethnic diversity of its customers around the world (like Benetton).

3. The fundamental human truth approach

Successful global advertising campaigns can also be based on an idea that expresses a fundamental truth or insight about human nature. Most often, these re-

4. The unique product benefit approach

The last of the four proven approaches to creating international advertising is to clearly demonstrate a

Great global ads: the secret of success

Millward Brown November 2006

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unique product benefit. Brands like Gillette, LOreal and Head and Shoulders have successfully adopted this approach. This can be an effective and successful strategy when there is a genuine product-based advantage and a large marketing budget.

consumers:

How do we make the idea come alive in local markets?

The challenge all international advertisers face is how to bring alive a global advertising idea in all the local markets across the whole communications mix. With its relatively low production costs, poster advertising lends itself to local adaptation. Here are some examples of how the Make the most of now poster ads created by the central Vodafone team have been adapted to optimize the campaigns effectiveness in local markets, by accommodating cultural differences and tactical needs: Print, leaflets and Web sites are other channels that can usually be adapted for local markets without too much expense. But what about TV advertising? Its certainly true that many successful TV campaigns have traveled well without any changes to the execution. But there is sometimes an opportunity to optimize the power of the advertising idea in local markets through adaptation. For example, an ad using a divining rod worked well in France; but divining rods were not understood in Thailand, so the ad needed to be adapted to use locally understood symbols.

Create your own Brand Space and theres no need to adapt

Many successful campaigns have created their own unique Brand Space which isnt tied to any particular place or time, but is owned by the brand. Creating this kind of Brand Space isnt easy. Its essential to avoid any reference points, iconography or use of language which are not shared across cultures. But once found, a Brand Space can form the basis of an advertising campaign that is distinctive and travels well. Successful examples of this include the iPod advertising, the distinctive world of Bertolli with its young-

Heres how the Dove Real Beauty poster campaign was adapted for Russia following qualitative research that helped identify the beauty stereotypes appropriate for being criticized and images that were best for maximizing the power of the idea for Russian

Great global ads: the secret of success

Millward Brown November 2006

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at-heart older people, and the Comfort Cloth People. In a series of ads, Huggies created a brand space where children from many ethnic backgrounds have fun playing together in a specially created, colorful soft play world. In addition to having a Brand Space, the advertising celebrates something that unites parents the world over: pleasure in watching them have fun. Coke created a fantastic brand space with their famous Christmas ads Caravan and Convoy. With these ads, Coke created a highly appealing magical world which evoked the childhood excitement of Christmas. This carries on what Coke started a century ago when it created its own Christmas world featuring the brands color red (even going so far as to dress Santa Claus in red instead of his traditional green or white). They are ads that generate strong enjoyment through emotion and the use of icons and symbols. The now familiar Christmas Coke ads successfully leverage the emotion of the season using icons such as the red trucks which have developed into strong brand cues over 30+ years and are now seen by many viewers as a welcome signal that the Christmas season is approaching. In Latvia and Lithuania, where the campaign was one of the first expressions of western Christmas icons to be seen, there is a big media event every year called the Coca-Cola Christmas Caravan Tour where the big red lorries drive around the country and bring gifts to people in need. The material in this presentation originally came from a joint project between Millward Brown and Ogilvy & Mather in 2005.
Knowledge Points are drawn from the Millward Brown Knowledge Bank, consisting of our databases of 50,000 brand reports and 40,000 ads, as well as 1,000 case studies, 700 conference papers and magazine articles, and 250 Learnings documents.

www.millwardbrown.com

Great global ads: the secret of success

Millward Brown November 2006