WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL MARKETING?

International marketing is simply the application of marketing principles to more than one country. However, there is a crossover between what is commonly expressed as international marketing and global marketing, which is a similar term. For the purposes of this lesson on international marketing and those that follow it, international marketing and global marketing are interchangeable.

At its simplest level, international marketing involves the firm in making one or more marketing mix decisions across national boundaries. At its most complex level, it involves the firm in establishing manufacturing facilities overseas and coordinating marketing strategies across the globe.

DEFINITION OF INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING

 

International advertising entails dissemination of a commercial message to target audiences in more than one country. Target audiences differ from country to country in terms of how they perceive or interpret symbols or stimuli, respond to humor or emotional appeals, as well as in levels of literacy and languages spoken. How the advertising function is organized also varies. In some cases, multinational firms centralize advertising decisions and budgets and use the same or a limited number of agencies worldwide. In other cases, budgets are decentralized and placed in the hands of local subsidiaries, resulting in greater use of local advertising agencies.

International advertising can, therefore, be viewed as a communication process that takes place in multiple cultures that differ in terms of values, communication styles, and consumption patterns. International advertising is also a business activity involving advertisers and the advertising agencies that create ads and buy media in different countries. The sum total of these activities constitutes a worldwide industry that is growing in importance. International advertising is also a major force that both reflects social values, and propagates certain values worldwide.

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Through a mutual accord, upon a granted interview, we will know how to interpret your necessities in order to significantly influence your potential clientele through ideas and images that will spark a favorable response. We will create the interest needed to stimulate your bottom line.

In the international marketing literature the issue of advertising standardization has ignited a lively and heated debate among academics and managers alike. However, the decision whether to standardize or not cannot be considered a dichotomous one. Develops a comprehensive framework to capture the relevant factors that determine the selection of the appropriate international advertising strategies and tactics. More specifically, first identifies three broad sets of factors (“local”, “firm” and “intrinsic”) which influence international advertising decisions. Then proposes that the standardization and adaptation of international advertising strategies represent the polar ends of a continuum of transitional stages. Finally, discusses the ways and the degree to which international advertising strategies can be adapted to different situations.

NEED OF INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING

It’s early days on the Internet, perhaps the most important communications conduit we’ve seen so far. Yet even now, history is repeating itself. There are those who want to direct the traffic and set up the roadblocks. We believe hyperspace is one more place where you should have the freedom to know what’s out there and the right to choose. Which is why advertising is dedicated to help develop the tools and the technologies that will let you do just that?

While use of uniform advertising appeals offers a number of advantages, differences in customer perceptions and response patterns across countries and cultures, as well as media availability and government regulation are major barriers to use of a standardized campaign. Even though technological developments allow adaptation of advertising appeals to different languages (for example, TV can have audio channels in two languages, Internet messages can be automatically translated), development of visual and verbal copy that works effectively in multiple countries poses major creative challenges.

 
Faced with this dilemma, firms may use a global umbrella campaign combined with local country or product-specific advertising. The global umbrella campaign develops a uniform image for the company or brand worldwide, often relying on consistent visual images and the corporate logo. Product-specific or country advertising builds on this image, modifying the appeal and providing information tailored to the local market. The objective of the umbrella campaign is to provide an integrating force, while local campaigns provide greater relevance to specific local customers and markets.

International advertising is also a major force that both reflects social values, and propagates certain values worldwide.

Language barrier

Language is one of the major barriers to effective communication through advertising. The problem involves different languages of different countries, different languages or dialects within one country, and the subtler problems of linguistic nuance and vernacular.

The bicardi company wanted to sell the drink “pavane” in germany, but “pavane” is perilously close to “Pavian” which means “babbon”. A company Marketing tomato paste in the middle east found that in arabic the phrase tomato paste translates as tomato glue.

Tropicana brand orange juice was advertised as jugo de china in Puerto Rico, but transported to Miami’s Cuban community, it failed.

Language translation encounters innumerable barriers that impede effective, idiomtic translation and thereby hamper communication. This is especially apparent in advertising materials. Abstraction, terse writing, and world economy, the most effective tool of the advertisers, pose problem for the translators. Communication is impeded by the great diversity of cultural heritage and education which exists within countries and which causes varying interpretations of even single sentences and simple concept. Some companies have tried to solve the translation problem by hiring foreign translators. This often is not satisfactory because both the language and the translator change. Everyday words have different meanings in different cultures.

Low literacy in many countries seriously impedes communications and calls for greater creativity and use of verbal media. Multiple languages within a country or advertising area pose another problem for the advertiser.

Cultural Diversity

Communication is more difficult because cultural factors largely determine the way various phenomena are perceived. If the perceptual framework is different, perception of the message itself differs.

Knowledge of cultural diversity must encompass the total advertising project.

Media Limitation

Media may diminish the role of advertising in the promotional program and may force the marketers to emphasis the other elements of promotional mix.

A marketer’s creativity is certainly challenged when a television commercial is limited to to 10 showing a year with no two exposure closer than 10 days. In some African countries advertisers run boats up and down the rivers playing popular music and broadcasting commercial into the bush as they travel.

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING HELPS IN:

Ø      Remind customers and prospects about the benefits of your product or service

Ø      Establish and maintain your distinct identity

Ø      Enhance your reputation

Ø      Encourage existing customers to buy more of what you sell

Ø      Attract new customers and replace lost ones

Ø      Slowly build sales to boost your bottom line

Ø      Promote business to customers, investors

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING CONCEPT

It entails dissemination of a commercial message to target audiences in more than one country. Target audiences differ from country to country in terms of how they perceive or interpret symbols or stimuli, respond to humor or emotional appeals, as well as in levels of literacy and languages spoken. How the advertising function is organized also varies.

International advertising can, therefore, be viewed as a communication process that takes place in multiple cultures that differ in terms of values, communication styles, and consumption patterns. International advertising is also a business activity involving advertisers and the advertising agencies that create ads and buy media in different countries. The sum total of these activities constitutes a worldwide industry that is growing in importance. International advertising is also a major force that both reflects social values, and propagates certain values worldwide.

 
The Communication Process

The process of communication in international markets involves a number of steps. First, the advertiser determines the appropriate message for the target audience. Next, the message is encoded so that it will be clearly understood in different cultural contexts. The message is then sent through media channels to the audience who then decodes and reacts to the message. At each stage in the process, cultural barriers may hamper effective transmission of the message and result in miscommunication.

 
 
International Advertising as a Business Practice

International advertising can also be viewed as a business activity through which a firm attempts to inform target audiences in multiple countries about itself and its product or service offerings. In some cases the advertising message relates to the firm and its activities, i.e. its corporate image. In other cases, the message relates to a specific product or service marketed by the firm. In either case, the firm will use the services of an advertising agency to determine the appropriate message, advertising copy and make the media placement.

Art Direction

Art direction is concerned with visual presentation- the body language of print and broadcast advertising. Some forms of visual presentation are universally understood. Revlon, for example, has used a French producer to develop television commercials, English and Spanish for use in the international markets. These commercials, which are filmed in Parisian settings, communicate the universal appeals and specific advantages of Revlon products. By producing its ads In France, Revlon obtains effective television commercials at a much lower price than it would have to pay for similar –length commercials produced in US. Pepsi Co has used four basic commercials to communicate its advertising themes. The basic setting of young people having fun at a party or on a beach has been adapted to reflect the general physical environment and racial characteristics of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia,. The music in these commercials   has also been adapted to suite regional tastes, ranging from rock and role in North America to Bossa nova in Latin America to Africa.

The international advertiser must make sure that visual executions are not inappropriately extended into markets. Benetton recently encountered a problem with its “United Colors of Benetton” campaign. The campaign appeared in 77 countries, primarily in print and on billboards. The art direction focused on striking, provocative interracial juxtapositions- a white hand a black hand handcuffed together, for example another version of campaign, depicting a black woman nursing a white baby, won adverting awards in France and Italy. However, because the image evoked the history of slavery in America, that particular creative execution was not in the U.S market

Cultural Considerations

Knowledge of cultural diversity, especially the symbolism associated with cultural traits, is essential when creating advertising. Local country managers will be able to share important information, such as when to use cautions in advertising creativity. Use of colors and man-women relationships can often be stumbling blocks. For example, white in Asia is associated with death. In Japan, intimate scenes between men and women are considered to be in bad taste; they are outlawed in Saudi Arabia.

Advertising Communication System

Advertising communication always involves a perception process and four of the elements shown in the model: the source, a message, a communication channel, and a receiver. In addition, the receiver will sometimes become a source of information by talking to friends or associates. This type of communication is termed word-of-mouth communication, and it involves social interactions between two or more people and the important ideas of group influence and the diffusion of information.

An advertising message can have a variety of effects upon the receiver. It can

Ø      Create awareness

Ø      Communicate information about attributes and benefits

Ø      Develop or change an image or personality

Ø      Associate a brand with feelings and emotions

Ø      Create group norms

Ø      Precipitate behavior

Efficacy – Effectiveness of Advertising on International Markets

 

International Advertising as a Business Practice

International advertising can also be viewed as a business activity through which a firm attempts to inform target audiences in multiple countries about itself and its product or service offerings. In some cases the advertising message relates to the firm and its activities, i.e. its corporate image. In other cases, the message relates to a specific product or service marketed by the firm. In either case, the firm will use the services of an advertising agency to determine the appropriate message, advertising copy and make the media placement.

Advertising has gone through five major stages of development: domestic, export, international, multi-national, and global. For global advertisers, there are four, potentially competing, business objectives that must be balanced when developing worldwide advertising: building a brand while speaking with one voice, developing economies of scale in the creative process, maximising local effectiveness of ads, and increasing the company’s speed of implementation. Born from the evolutionary stages of global marketing are the three primary and fundamentally different approaches to the development of global advertising executions: exporting executions, producing local executions, and importing ideas that travel.

Advertising research is key to determining the success of an ad in any country or region. The ability to identify which elements and/or moments of an ad that contributes to its success is how economies of scale are maximised. Once one knows what works in an ad, that idea or ideas can be imported by any other market. Market research measures, such as Flow of Attention, Flow of Emotion and branding moments provide insight into what is working in an ad in any country or region because the measures are based on the visual, not verbal, elements of the ad.

MEASURING ADVERTISING EFFECTIVENESS

Just as important as creating a strong marketing plan is following through on the results. How will you know which ads are working if you don’t analyze the results? Check the effectiveness of your advertising programs regularly by using one or more of the following tests:

1.      Run the same ad in two different publications with a different identifying mark on each. Ask customers to clip the ad and bring it in for a discount or free sample. Or, if you’re running an ad that asks customers to order by mail, put a code in your company address such as “Dept. SI.” By looking at the marks on the clipped ads or the addresses on the mail-in orders, you’ll be able to tell which ad pulled better.

2.      Offer a product at slightly different prices in different magazines. This has the added benefit of showing whether consumers will buy your product at a higher price.

3.      Advertise an item in one ad only. Don’t have any signs or otherwise promote the item in your store or business. Then count the calls, sales or special requests for that item. If you get calls, you’ll know the ad is working.

4.      Stop running an ad that you regularly run. See if dropping the ad affects sales.

5.      Check sales results whenever you place an ad for the first time.

6.      Checks like these will give you some idea how your advertising and marketing program is working. Be aware, however, that you can’t expect immediate results from an ad. Especially with small ads—the type most entrepreneurs are likely to be running—you need to give the reader a “getting to know you” period during which he gets to feel comfortable with your business.

METHODOLOGY

The manager needs to engage in situation analysis with respect to the market conditions that are operating at the time and to assess the consumer/market, competitive, facilitating agency, and social legal, and global factors that will affect decision making and the development of the plan. It is vital that the advertising plan be developed so as to mesh with and support the various components of the marketing and communications mix such as personal selling, pricing, public relation, and promotion. The advertising manager also needs to know the major areas of his or her planning and decision-making responsibilities.

There are three areas of major importance:

Ø      Objective And Target Selection,

Ø      Message Strategy and Tactics,

Ø      Media Strategy and Tactics.

Consumer and Market Analysis
A situation analysis often begins by looking at the aggregate market for the product, service, or cause being advertised: the size of the market, its growth rate, seasonality, geographical distribution; the possible existence of different segments; and trends in all of these aggregate market characteristics.

Competitive Analysis
Advertising planning and decision-making are heavily affected by competition and the competitive situation the advertiser faces. Competition is such a pervasive factor that it will occur as a consideration in all phases of the advertising planning and decision-making process. A type of market structure analysis that involves the development of perceptual maps of a market, for example, attempts to locate the relative perceptual positions of competitive brands.

Situation analysis should usually include an analysis of what current share the brand now has, what shares its competitors have, trends in these shares, reasons for these trends, what share of a market is possible for the brand, and from which competitors an increase in share will come. The planner also has to be aware of the relative strengths and weaknesses financial, production, and marketing of the different competing companies, and the history of competitive moves and objectives in the product category.

 
The Marketing Plan
Advertising planning and decision making take place in the context of an overall marketing plan. The marketing plan includes planning, implementation, and control functions for the total corporation or a particular decision-making unit or product line. The marketing plan will include a statement of marketing objectives and will spell out particular strategies and tactics to reach those objectives. The marketing objectives should identify the segments to be served by the organization and how it is going to serve them. The needs and wants of consumers on which the firm will concentrate, such as the needs of working men and women for easily prepared meals, are identified and analyzed in a marketing plan.

There are several marketing tools that can be used to help an organization achieve its marketing objectives. Most people are familiar with the “4 Ps” the marketing mix which includes product, price, place, and promotion. A marketing plan formulates the strategy and tactics for each of these.

Message Strategy and Tactics

The actual development of an advertising campaign involves several distinct steps. First, the advertising manager must decide what the advertising is meant to communicate by way of benefits, feeling, brand personality, or action content. Once the content of the campaign has been decided, decisions must be made on the best and most effective ways to communicate that content.

Media Strategy

Although there are many rules of thumb often used to decide how much money to spend on advertising, the soundest rules involve beginning with a detailed specification of what a corporation is attempting to accomplish with advertising, and the resources necessary. It is only when the job to be done is well specified that the amount and nature of the effort the amount of money to be invested in advertising can be really determined.

STANDARDISATION VIS A VIS LOCALISATION

Adaptation as a general tendency of the cross-national advertising literature

The feasibility of ad standardization depends on variables related to the economic,

technological, legal, social, and cultural environment. Within a homogeneous environment advertising standardization is recommendable. If, on the contrary, environmental variables across markets are heterogeneous, customized advertising should be favored. Reviews of cross-national advertising studies, either regional or global generally conclude in favour of adaptation. Standardized advertising is hindered if the use of certain media or execution elements is restricted, for instance in countries such as Malaysia which prohibits the use of foreign models in advertising.  In a similar way, a heterogeneous economic environment across countries makes advertising standardization more difficult. Advertising execution has to take into account the education, literacy, and income levels of target groups. The competitive environments as well as the actual life cycle stage of a product are further factors in favor of adaptation. The cultural environment is seen as the highest barrier against standardized advertising. Differing needs, traditions, consumption habits, religion etc. make the use of an identical advertising approach across markets difficult.

On average, the cross-national advertising literature leans towards adaptation rather

than standardization of advertising worldwide.

Change over time

Many studies point to the persistent need of ad adaptation . For instance, an  analysis of U.S. companies operating in Europe showed that, between 1963 and 1983, advertising  was more resistant to standardization than product or brand policies . However, there are many arguments in favour of a trend towards advertising standardization, especially due to strong globalization over the last 20 years. A number of developing countries have been accessing the status of advertising intensive countries. China and India are  a case in point for a dramatic change in the place of advertising in the overall business and consumer scene. Authors coming from the corporate world, either advertisers or agencies, have consistently argued in favour of ad standardization  and the possibility of putting up a global message with localized communication . Furthermore, rapidly changing communication technologies (Internet ads, satellite TV) influence global advertising: media overlaps push companies to more standardized advertising approach.

: Advertising standardization is increasing over time due the globalization trend.

Adaptation to local contexts still needed

 Religion act as filters of advertising messages, transforming factual information into culturally interpreted meaning.

: Culture and local customs are positively related to adaptation recommendation

 Advertising strategy versus advertising execution

Advertising content consists of two major elements: strategy and execution. Although there is obviously some overlap between both categories, advertising strategy comprises ‘what is said’ and execution concerns more ‘how it is said’.  Degree of adaptation should increase over a continuum of four levels: mission (long term, identity and vision of the communicator), proposition (campaign themes), creative concepts (how themes are translated in the language and cultures of the target groups) and execution. While mission and proposition can rather easily be globalized, execution will need much local tailoring.

: Advertising strategy is more standardization prone than ad execution.

Influence of product category on the degree of standardization Of international advertising

Product type may have an influence on advertising standardization. Products satisfying

fairly universal needs whose ad messages mostly carry rather context-free information cues are  easier to standardize. Ads for certain product categories may be easier to standardize because they correspond to global (airlines, tobacco, banks,) rather than multidomestic industries (food, motor insurance,).

: The level of advertising standardization is contingent on product category

i’m lovin’ it”:   An International Motto 

 For example, McDonald’s launched a new – and for the first time, global – marketing strategy in Germany at the beginning of September. The campaign focuses around the motto, “i’m lovin’ it” and it is part of a new and broader marketing approach that McDonald’s calls Rolling Energy. The company says this approach will revitalize the brand in the entire world, unify its messages and integrate all its marketing moves.

 “McDonald’s realized that it can save money. To create a campaign of this sort, which is not individualized for each country and each market and which is going to use the same slogan, presumes a terrific cost savings that could have an impact on [McDonald’s] accounting results.”

Despite the benefits that this campaign offers, “it contains the risk of not being able to adjust to the peculiarities of each individual market” . “The value shared by the youths in different countries makes it possible today more than ever to create global campaigns with a same message”.

In fact, the strategy of unifying a campaign behind the same message for the brand is nothing new. Nike, with its “Just Do It” slogan had already done that, and enjoyed very good results. When Nike launched its campaign, “in some countries they had to change the fundamental image of the advertising because of cultural questions. That’s the most that can happen to McDonald’s in its global campaign.”

Axe Chocolate-man Ad Banned

Axe ad is a classic example of standardization vs localization debate.  Keeping in line with its crackdown on suggestive advertisements being televised.The Indian government has taken strong objection to the AXE chocolate deodorant ad .Ministry of information and broadcasting has regarded the ad as indecent ,vulgar and repulsive. It clearly reflects the importance of understanding cultural sensitivity in advertising.

Facilitating Agencies

Another external factor involves the agencies that facilitate advertising and provide the means to advertise. From a situation analysis viewpoint, the advertiser basically needs to know what kind of facilitating agencies exist and the nature of the services they can provide. From a planning viewpoint, much local advertising, for example, is done without the services of an advertising agency or a research supplier. A national advertiser, on the other hand, may have under contract many different agencies and research suppliers, each serving one or more brands in a product line made up of several products.

Many advertising decisions involve choices among facilitating agency alternatives. What advertising agency should be chosen? What media should be used? What copy-testing supplier will be best for our particular situation? Concerning the question for agency selection, for example, Cagley and Roberts found that the people factor” tends to dominate in agency selection. Characteristics such as the quality of personnel, reputation, integrity, mutual understanding, interpersonal compatibility, and synergism were very important.

Fact file

Ø      The majority of large advertising agencies are headquartered in the US. Of the ten largest advertising agency groups, seven are headquartered in the US, and one each in the UK, France and Japan, although WPP, the British agency holding company, is made up of two large US-based agencies.

Ø      With the exception of Dentsu, the Japanese agency, most other agency networks generate the majority of their revenues outside their home country.

Ø      The largest agency group, Omnicom, places over billion of advertising for its clients around the world and derives half its revenue from outside the US.

Ø      US-based advertising agencies and their subsidiaries are responsible for most of the advertising throughout the world.

China is the next largest advertising market and is also growing rapidly

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AS A SOCIAL FORCE

In the view of the advertiser the primary objective of advertising is to sell products or services. In achieving this primary goal, there are often profound secondary consequences. Advertising exerts a formative influence whose character is both persuasive and pervasive. Through the selective reinforcement of certain social roles, language and values, it acts as an important force fashioning the cognitions and attitudes that underlie behavior not only in the market place, but also in all aspects of life. In an international setting, advertising has an important social influence in a number of ways. First, much international advertising is designed to promote and introduce new products from one society into another. Often this results in radical change in life-styles, behavior patterns of a society, stimulating for example the adoption of fast food, casual attire or hygiene and beauty products. International advertising also encourages desire for products from other countries, it creates expectations about “the good life”, and establishes new models of consumption. Advertising is thus a potent force for change, while selectively reinforcing certain values, life-styles and role models.

Often the symbols, ideals and mores that international advertising portrays and promotes are those of Western society and culture. Through the reach of advertising, brands such as Levi’s, Nike, Marlboro and McDonalds are known by and have become objects of desire for teens and young adults throughout the world. Similarly, images and scenes depicted in much international advertising are either Western in origin or reflect Western consumption behavior and values. Even where adapted to local scenarios and role models, those shown often come from sectors of society, such as the upwardly mobile urban middle class, which embrace or are receptive to Western values and mores.

Consequently, a criticism frequently leveled at international advertising is that it promulgates Western values and mores, notably from the US, in other countries. This is viewed particularly negatively in societies with strong religious or moral values, which run counter to those of the West as, for example, Islamic societies in the Middle East. When Western advertising depicts sexually explicit situations or shows women in situations considered as inappropriate or immoral, it is likely to be considered a subversive force undermining established cultural mores and values. Equally, in some countries such as France, there is a strong negative reaction to the imposition of US culture, values and use of English in advertising. Promotion of tobacco products by US and UK companies in countries where there is no legislation regulating or banning cigarette advertising has also been criticized.

At the same time, international advertising also acts as an integrating force across national boundaries. It disseminates messages using universal symbols and slogans, and establishes a common mode of communication among target audiences in different parts of the world. At the same time, multicultural values are reinforced by advertisers, who adopt images incorporating peoples of different nations and diverse cultural backgrounds, as, for example, the Colors of Benneton campaign or the British Airways “Peoples of the World” campaign. The impact of such campaigns is further reinforced by the growth of global media such as Star TV, CNN, MTV or print media that target global audiences worldwide. Consequently, while, on the one hand, international advertising can be viewed as a colonizing force propagating Western values and mores throughout the world, it is also an important force integrating societies and establishing common bonds, universal symbols and models of communication among peoples in different parts of the globe.

CONCLUSION

Thus we see advertising has multiple layers to it. A lot more than what actually meets the consumer’s eye goes into creating a successful advertisement or an advertisement campaign. In today’s era of consumerism the need for advertisements to break the clutter and stand out becomes absolutely imperative. Advertising has multiple media at its disposal with each having its respective strengths and limitations. For instance radio still has a reach to rural India like no other medium can. Also it overcomes the barrier of illiteracy in a developing country like India. On the other hand mailers pop ups are an excellent way to remain visible to the urban techno- savvy Internet using consumers. Depending on the target audience the medium best suited should be exploited to the hilt.

Digital media advertising (internet, mobile and digital signage) is expected to emerge as the medium of choice for advertisers. Of the available media, it was the fastest growing segment in 2008. Its better return on investment and the comparative ease with which its efficacy can be measured will ensure that the trend continues, say analysts. Rising interest in social networking in 2008 has made brands think seriously about online advertising. According to a Ficci-PwC report, it is expected to touch Rs 1,100 crore in 2011 from the current Rs 300 crore.

In terms of marketing it is a very potent tool to create awareness and lure the consumer to buy the product. But one must not underestimate the discerning capacity of the buyers. Advertisements must achieve the difficult task of creating the world of possibility at the same time living up to what they promise to the consumer. Else, it may backfire. The common traps in marketing are promising something and then not delivering it. Therefore, along with your marketing strategy, it’s also important to service other not so obvious touch- points so as to provide a consistent 360-degree brand experience to your consumers.

International advertising is a creative and cultural challenge. Before conveying any message one must have a fair idea about the sensitivities that are specific to every culture. For instance, different cultures have different flavours of humour. An Indian advertisement cannot humour the elders as it would offend the cultural beliefs that the country represents. A good positive example of this would be “                 ” which captures the spirit how money has different cultural connotations to it in India.

Clients increasingly working in global matrix structures expect their service providers to mirror those structures. With the market maturing, international expertise has become imperative at the local level. Globalisation, too, has opened up opportunities for Indian professionals.

An advertisement campaign is a big challenge. The critical part of making an advertising campaign is determining a campaign theme, as it sets the tone for the individual advertisements and other forms of marketing communications that will be used. The campaign theme is the central message that will be communicated in the promotional activities. The campaign themes are usually developed with the intention of being used for a substantial period but many of them are short lived due to factors such as being ineffective or market conditions and/or competition in the marketplace and marketing mix. The Vodafone campaign is yet another classic example of the same.

Getting celebrities who have attained iconic status is a popular way to endorse a brand. But what makes it break the clutter is the fact how one creatively leverages the presence of a celebrity. This is exactly where Amir Khan with his Coca Cola campaign achieved wonders. His each character catered to different cultural ethnicities that India comprises of.

Celebrities are seen to covertly endorse brands as well. For example, one observes product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, VAIO, BMW and Aston Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale.

It is seen that after United States, China is the next largest market in terms of advertisement. But India too is not far behind as some its advertisements have got noticed in the international community.

Advertisement is therefore, has elements of both an art as well as science. The art comes in the creativity and visualization. While the other bit is taken care of in terms of consumer behaviour comprehension in marketing. A good example of this would be Virgin Mobile, a brand targeted at the youth, the learning was that Indian youth are not out and out rebellious, but work around problems to get their way. Or, as one teenager put it, their mantra is “jugaad”. This was expressed evocatively as “inventive thinking that breaks the firewall of sanctions”.

A final word of caution by David Ogilvy a Scottish born British military intelligence officer and later top advertising executive “Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine.”

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