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BIBM756 International Marketing Assignment

Week 10: Intercultural Marketing Communications

Chapters 12, 13, 14

The four main types of marketing communication tools are advertising, personal selling, public relations, and negotiations.  Language plays a major role in each.  Many companies advertising globally want to standardise their advertising messages and advertising campaigns by using the same strategies globally.  The key issue is, which elements should be localised and which ones can be similar worldwide when transferring campaigns cross-nationally.

Culture is a major player in the acceptance or rejection of an advertisement.  Decisions are required in the two main areas, advertising strategy (in the areas of information content and advertising appeals) and advertising execution (characters and roles represented, visual and textual elements, etc)

Other issues include:

• the development of global media resources and the choice of/use of global advertising agencies
• personal selling in an international perspective taking into consideration cultural variations in the management of sales forces and their practices (such as business ethics and bribery)
• negotiating sales and business agreements taking into consideration good practice, good communication and good relationships with business partners
• establishing and maintaining trust between partners and business parties.

The main aspects of language and communication that have a direct and indirect impact on international business operations are:

• verbal communications styles and their relationship to contextual factors
• non-verbal communications such as gestures, eye and body language
• the way language shapes and reflects world views
• ways of dealing with language differences in international business.

The main steps in developing marketing communication include:-

• identifying the communication problem to be solved (i.e. whether it be brand awareness, brand image, to increase sales, encourage first trial or straight rebuy or build comer loyalty)
• identify your target segments (their socio-demographics, consumer habits, consumption behavior, lifestyles and values)
• develop communication objectives in terms of influencing your target market
• create your copy strategy (picking up USP’s (Unique Selling Propositions), strategies from marketing)
• design a media plan based on affordable media and maximum reach of the target market
• implement the advertising campaign including pre- and post- tests of the advertising effectiveness (message recall, brand recall, aided brand recognition, influence and actual sales).

In your reading of intercultural marketing communication take note of: –

• the language of friendships (friends come and go in some cultures, in others they are for life)
• communication through gestures
• facial expressions and communication with the eyes
• advertising used in writing advertising messages
• stereotypes (how different nationalities perceive each other)
• general attitudes towards publicity and “publiphobia”
• attitudes towards comparative advertising
• cultural variations with advertising appeals
• the use of language, humour and characters in advertisements
• the influence of religion on advertising
• advertising regulations
• the impact of cultural differences or international marketing negotiations.

Your group is part of the global marketing department within a New Zealand manufacturing company.  Your company presently has an established business in New Zealand.  You are presently advertising your food and beverage products in magazines.  You have been asked to look at your present range of advertisements in the New Zealand market and answer the following: –

1. Identify which elements can be kept and which elements will need to be changed to use your advertisement/s in:

• Germany
• Hong Kong
•  and Argentina

2. Create three new advertisements, one for each country, picking up considerations of language, cultural considerations for information content and advertising appeals, incorporating where appropriate characters and roles, and including visual and textual elements. Describe in detail your rationale for the changes.

3. Create one global advertisement which can be used in New Zealand, Germany, Hong Kong and Argentina. Justify the creative approach you have taken.

Note:

Firstly, choose a New Zealand food and beverage company, identify advertisement(s) presently being used in magazine advertising, and take a copy of those advertisement(s) for use in your presentation.  You will need to justify why you have created the style and image in your advertisements for each individual company (Germany, Hong Kong and Argentina) and justify why you have created your one global advertisement to reach all four countries.

4. Provide a range of examples (6) of advertisements in Germany, Hong Kong and Argentina in the general area (market sector) your chosen New Zealand food and beverage manufacturing company operates in. Describe unique characteristics found in each set of advertisements for each country.