ADVERTISING (2)
LESSON
- Ethics and Advertising.
There are many ethical challenges within the advertising industry: there is a lack of diversity
(NYC led a lawsuit against the whole industry for this), there is also a lack of women in the
creative departments (even if women drive more than the 80% of consumption choices)
and there is the ethical issue of the use of consumers’ data.
You want to make an advertising campaign that is breath taking, exhilarating, brilliant, sexy,
smart, hilarious and getting a lot of attention,
But, Can you lie? Use sexist pictures? Promote unhealthy products? Make jokes about
other cultures? Use stu from the internet?
Consumers have become more and more critical, so, being ethical in your work is now
something also related to business (because people will stop buying from you if you
aren’t).
CIGARETTE ADS
During the last century there were still these types of ads and they were completely legal.
There were doctors promoting cigarettes; cigarettes were promoted as a healthy lifestyle
recommended also for pregnant women. But back then the population didn’t know. On
the other hand, the cigarette industry de nitely knew that nicotine was highly addicting.
Right now cigarette packaging warns us from all the possible side e ects and in many
countries cigarettes advertising is illegal or highly restricted.
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CASE STUDY : PIZZA
You work for an advertising rm and you just started, you have 1 / 2 colleagues and you
need money. You are approached by a pizza company. Client wants TV-campaign in 2
weeks.
Alarming facts: client has history of unethical practices, questionable working environment,
cheap ingredients and it emphasises sales over brand equity. The client wants you to
emphasise t, sexy people in the video clip although the pizza has 1056 kcal each. How
do you approach this? Accept, and try to nd a compromise for the TV commercial.
• First layer: the brie ng
• Second layer: how you make the TV-commercial look like
• Third layer: align the value you want your client to see
Remember, you can't change the product, your role is to put it into the market an
communicate about it.
How to talk to the client: there is no budget given, then there is the need to understand
what the client wants from the company.
Advertised pizza to people that need to intake a lot of calories (bulling season), another
idea is to consider this pizza as a pizza to share. It could be a good idea to show how the
pizza is made.
Before working on the assignment, you need to clarify some things such as budget, timing
and target. Then, you need to take into account some ethical considerations and then start
the creative process.
CASE STUDY : SENTENCED TO DEATH, BENETTON
Benetton has been in many controversial advertising. In January 2000, they took photos of
prisoners about to be executed on the death row. They used the controversy about the
death sentence to catch and raise attention. They spent 15 million dollars and it featured
26 US prisoners. Did it catch the attention in the right way? Many says that there’s no
wrong publicity, as far as you catch the attention it’s ne. How far can you go and who
determines that? That’s an ethical issue.
There were widespread protests didn’t think about the victims of the prisoners and the
families of the victims started opposite campaigns because it is disrespectful against the
victims. The e ect was that they lost a lot of business even if everyone was talking about
them. Sales went down. What’s more important? Sales or attention? Of course sales. If
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Benetton was a political party it might have been di erent, but if you sell t-shirts you should
focus on that.
Also, those were illegal pictures, taken with no consent of the people portrayed, so they
had to pay a ne and were considered insensitive towards the families of the victims.
SO WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO BE ETHICAL?
CUSTOMERS’ TRUST
Ethical marketing is very important in protecting customers’ trust. Advertising with
misleading information can create expectations about an o ering which exceed its
perceived performance, which can lead to customer dissatisfaction.
BRAND VALUE
Ethical marketing is key in protecting your company’s brand value. Revealed deceptive
marketing has been shown to have a signi cant negative impact on shareholder value.
DAMAGING A WHOLE INDUSTRY
Damaging information about one company can negatively a ect other companies in the
same industry. That means ethical or unethical marketing not only a ects the credibility of
one company but also that of the whole industry.
DAMAGES CREDIBILITY AND FREEDOM
Since ethical marketing can strengthen a company’s or industry’s credibility, it removes the
need for potentially sti ing regulations on advertising practices. In other words, ethical
marketing can have positive impact on advertising freedom.
IS LESS EFFECTIVE
Ethical marketing is also important in ensuring that an advertising campaign is e ective.
Deceptive advertising contributes to ad scepticism, which basically means that people
begin to distrust advertising claims as a point of principle.
HOW TO SURVIVE IN DANGEROUS WATERS?
3 LAYERS OF RULES
1. GOVERNMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS: Is it legal or illegal: the law in the
speci c country or region. You might get ned or prosecuted
2. BUSINESS SELF-REGULATIONS: chamber of commerce that deals with selfregulatory rules for companies
3. COMPANY CODES: rules speci c for your agency
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FALSE CLAIMS/BRAGGING
• FALSE CLAIMS: no go, people will nd that out
• PUFFERY: common tactic to tout your greatness. it is not a false statement, but it is
based on exaggeration. This tactic can be used because the court assumes that
consumers should know that there is always a little bit of exaggeration. Therefore,
exaggerations are acceptable even if they are lies until someone can prove that the
claim was meant to be a fact. Sometimes the pu ery can be incorporated into a slogan
and this can even further blur the actual intent
• LIFESTYLE CLAIMS: your life gets better with this, it might be true for some people but
still it gives people false hopes, it deception. This claim may be direct or implied.
Moreover, since the bene t of something are usually very subjective, the interpretation of
the claim is usually given more latitude.
Examples:
• SKECHERS: shape-up shoes suggested that people could lose weight without ever
hitting a gym just by wearing these shoes = deception
• RED BULL: claimed that his drink gave a better boost than ca eine, without any
scienti c proof = an unsubstantiated claim
SUBSTANTIATION (validation) means that you can, and must be able to prove what you
claim (before you start the campaign). If you want to base your campaign on a claim, it
must be substantiated (validated).
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COPYRIGHTS
It is the exclusive right granted to authors, artists and composers to protect their original
work from being plagiarised, sold, or used without their permission. A published work
remains protected for the lifetime of the creator + 70 more years (if it was published
anonymously it is protected for 95 years after its publication). This method applies only if
the idea has been published.
How?
• The work must be produced and published (not just an idea)
• Bottom line (especially on the internet): never display copyrighted text and images on
the internet without permission
• “Work for hire“ means that the creator signs their right to given work away to an
employer. As employee of an agency you don‘t own your work, the agency does
FAIR USE is the exception (news, teaching, scholarship, research), with credits/sourcing. If
you do not use it for pro t it allows you to enter the wiggle room. Also check rights for
archive photos, photography for hire and voice talent.
Music is also licensed. Owning the CD or having the Spotify list etc… does not mean you
own the song.
Celebrity and politicians are as well protected from using their names or pictures or
commercial use (unless newsworthy).
LIBEL AND SLANDER (DEFAMATION)
Especially American, talking bad about people. It is a false or misleading statements about
people, false statements communicated by the media. It’s not an opinion, it is a claim. In
order to be a libel the person has to be identi able, that causes an actual injury or nancial
loss. If there is a negligent or malicious intent.
PAID POSTS AND ONLINE ENDORSEMENTS
They are useful to regulate social media platforms to protect users from misleading ads by
celebrities, bloggers, vloggers or in uencers. It must be presented in a way that you can
understand that they are sponsoring a product and that they are PRs.
“All influencer marketing communications should therefore be designed and presented in
such a way that that the audience immediately identifies them as such. This identification
can be done by various means (as discussed in the following section) as long as the public
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is made aware of the existing engagement or agreement between the advisers and the
influencer each time the commercial message is being shared”
- Source: EASA
EXAM-LIKE EXAMPLES
EXAMPLE: HOT DOG
• MISLEADING CLAIM: Only OM wieners prevent cancers
• SUBSTANTIATED CLAIM: A healthier alternative to fast food. OM Wieners have less fat
and more protein than a quarter pounder
• PUFFERY: Paradise on a bun. Little bit of heaven in every bite. We have been on a roll
for 75 years
• CORRECTIVE ADVERTISING: OK so it won’t cure cancer. But it sure does taste great.
EXAMPLES OF MISLEADING: SAMSUNG/SFR AND EDF
• SFR/SAMSUNG: it was ruled that the presentation of the o er did not re ect its
characteristics truthfully. The price actually amounts to 192€ when you add the required
service (€8/month for 24 months), and the reference to “revient à” does not assist in
clarifying an otherwise ambiguous or incomprehensible o er. The relevant details are
mentioned only in very small text next to a very large “0€” that might possibly mislead
consumers
• EDF: In the poster, the nuclear cooling tower is depicted to be similar to a waterfall and
in harmony with the surrounding natural environment. It was ruled that the illustration
gave the impression that production using nuclear energy had no negative impact on
the environment, and hence was misleading about its environmental characteristics
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LESSON
- Corporate Social Responsibility.
WHAT IS CSR?
Bottom line: people, planet, pro t; brands that showcase CSR win big. It is against slavery,
child labour, it is about the customers, all the stakeholders, fair trade and pro ts. Pro t is
never the reason why an enterprise exists; it can be the result. If you have a business you
must ask yourself what you can do for the planet, for people and sustainability
(sustainability is not just about the environment, but also about gender equity and equality,
it’s a wider topic). CSR most of the times is not neutral because they follow the UN
principles which states that economic and social development depend on inclusivity and
are against discrimination.
EXAMPLES OF CSR
• Pro bono work: fundraising for victims of a disaster or pandemic
• Raise awareness: You can’t change the world through advertising but you can start
avoiding adding to current problems, stay sensitive to the impact your work has beyond
the obvious audiences, consumers may have totally di erent (cultural) perspectives
If the product you sell is not good quality people won’t buy it even if you are socially
responsible. The quality is beyond anything else.
CSR initiatives are convenient only when they support views that are mainstream among
their target customers? YES, because you need to know your target audience, understand
them and know their desires.
WHERE SHOULD WE START?
Many companies and organisations take in consideration the goals set by the UN in order
to be socially active. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, UN: they were de ned a
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couple of years ago, the members of the UN agreed to ful l them by 2030; they are highly
innovative, it’s not about hugging trees. Sustainability, as a matter of fact, doesn’t concern
just the environment but all the topics involved in this project. Some examples are:
• JUMBO commercial: mainstream supermarket. Especially in the Netherlands gender
roles are really well de ned, so seeing a man cooking for his wife that is working behind
a laptop is something unusual. This commercial stands for gender equality, it ghts
patriarchy and shows women in a professional role. Sustainable development goal:
gender equality
• ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU, NIVEA: we see people with di erent sexuality, ethnic groups
and genders. It was broadcast all over the world, changing every time the actors and a
di erent celebrity. Sustainable development goal: reduce inequalities, gender equality
• BEN&JERRY’S: founded by two school friends, one of them has a handicap where he
can’t taste food and di erent plates, he can’t tell the di erence between chocolate and
strawberries. They work with fair trade raw materials. They launched certain avours and
connected with di erent movements (BLM, LGBTQ+) which is risky. They were not
established yet, they were not famous like Nike so it was even riskier than the thing Nike
did, because Nike had a strong reputation, they didn’t. This company was so
successful thanks to this strong connection with the movements. The founders were
two “losers” one dropped out of medical school, but in the end they started a really
successful business, so their support to minorities and to not privileged people was
really coherent.
There are also some negative ones:
• PEPSI COMMERCIAL with Kendall Jenner: how you should not do it. They wanted to
reproduce diversity, but they did it wrong, it was constructed they didn’t understand the
concept of diversity: they just casted a black guy, an Asian one a woman with a
headscarf and they were just put there, not combined. It was really super cial. Then the
commercial referred to a protester that was later arrested in 2016 so, many people were
o ended by that, as if a Pepsi can could solve all the issues with the police or racism in
the US. The reaction and the apology video of Kendall in tears, didn’t improve the
situation. An advice for Pepsi is that they should have thought twice before
commercialising a political movement
• COLIN KAEPERNICK commercial, NIKE: Colin was at the end of his career and he
started protesting against racism and Donald Trump. Nike supported him, but then
people with di erent political views started to boycott Nike. There were protests against
Nike were people burned Nike clothes and posted that. The reaction from Nike was
genius: how to burn our product safely. They stand their ground with also some
humour, people who relate with this mind-set will love their brand forever; it is risky but if
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it works you create a connection with your customers. At the end especially last year
with the BLM protests their sales ourished again, since they always actively supported
the movement
THE BASICS FOR CSR, DO’S AND DON’TS
DO’S
• Respect people
• Respect the planet
• Respect your business and its pro t
• Consider the archetype of your product or service
• Tell beautiful stories
• Reconcile cultures
DON’TS
• Do not just use people
• Do not exploit the planet just for pro t
• Do not neglect pro t
• Do not make people hate your product or service
• Don’t be a bore, bring some light to the end of the tunnel
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THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, SIMON SINEK
This concept was elaborated by Sinek, an advertiser. He wanted to understand why some
brands are good at connecting with customers and other not. Why people prefer a brand
over the other if they have the same quality? Most of the preferred brands, didn’t talk about
the product itself and the unique selling points, but, they were all about the purpose and
the belief. What drives you?
The most important thing is the WHY and then trust comes; the why is the driver, you
need to nd the why and then build everything else around it.
• Few people or organisation know why they do what they do. WHY do you do what you
do? What is your purpose? (not pro t!)
• Some people or organisation know how they do (that make them special). HOW do you
do what you do?
• Every organisation knows what they do. WHAT do you do?
WHAT DRIVES A GOOD REPUTATION?
• O ers high quality products an services
• Good value for money
• Meets customers needs
• Stands behind products
• Have a positive in uence on society
• Behave ethically
• Be fair in the way it does business
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LESSON
diversity.
- International audiences and
WHAT IS DIVERSITY?
“The fact of many different types of things or people being included in something: a range
of different things or people”
- Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of diversity
Advertising agencies who work on diversity and employ people with di erent backgrounds
and cultural diversity truly thrive because they can understand di erent audiences really
well. Diversity helps us to connect better with audiences, it is an enriching factor.
Until the 1960s advertisers must have thought that the typical consumer was straight,
married and white because they marketed every product for people with these
characteristics. The change in attitude is shown in the choice of spokespersons and
models: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the highest paid actor in Hollywood and the
ambassador of many brands.
There has been an important debate on what strategy is better to use between:
• the multicultural strategy, that segment the audience for cultural factors because it
assumes that cultural di erences a ect the decision making of a person
• the cross-cultural strategy that suggest to combine cultures, so, it increases the
diversity between one single segment and at the same time it reduces the number of
the segments
PIZZAGATE
Dolce and Gabbana, during the Shanghai Fashion Week, showed a Chinese woman
eating pizza with chopsticks and showed a very stereotypical version of the woman who
looked really stupid; they lost a lot of clients in China, closing stores and cancelling
runways. They got the wrong type of attention.
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CULTURE, HOFSTEDE
“The collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or
category of people from others”
He sees culture just like a software that drives our minds that you were born with, culture
does not have anything to do with nationality. Culture distinguishes members of one group
or category of people but he doesn’t talk about nationalities just about a general group of
people. The rst 6 years of our life determine our culture, it’s not in our DNA.
MR GOLDFISH: METAPHOR
When we are little we swim in this water but we are not aware of the water we are
swimming in (cultural background we’re born in). When we grow up, we try to jump out of
the water and we discover that for all our time we were surrounded by water, our own
culture. Only the gold sh that jumps out of its water becomes aware of culture, because
the one that always stays in its water will always think that the water it swims in is the only
thing that exists.
CONNECTING WITH DIFFERENT CULTURES
How do you connect with di erent cultures? Skim assumptions and talk with people in
your target audiences. Go in the direction of empathising with people and nd common
ground. Always keep in mind that you have to be respectful (di erently from what Dolce
and Gabbana did).
• Skip assumption and prejudices
• Talk to people in your target audience
• Don’t stereotype
• Expect variation
• Empathise = nd common ground
• Be respectful
HISPANIC
Today over 53 million Hispanics live in the US (so, they are the 17% of the population),
especially in LA, NYC and Miami. The word “Hispanic” is usually preferred by the older
generations, whereas the word “Latino” is preferred by the younger generation.
The top 3 countries of origin are Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico and marketers need to
pay attention to this because a lot of Hispanics prefer to identify themselves only with their
actual country. Many Latinos prefer to consider themselves as bicultural but they are still
more in uenced by advertising in Spanish (so, Spanish-language media are more caliente).
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The 60% of Hispanics are under the age 33, so, they are millennials and Hispanic
millennials are even bigger media users than the non-Hispanic millennials. With all of that
being said, the Hispanic media spending is up and TV is still the king even if social
networks now have a very big role. Family-focused activities are essential to Hispanic life
as well as humour, sports and music. An example of this could be:
• An ad where the man develops a rush from nylon shirt and abruptly scratches it and
remains shirtless and the healthcare arrives. Hispanics are always portrayed as sports
fans, with strong family values, self-e acing humour. Here the ad is positive because it
plays with positive stereotypes in a non-o ensive way
ASIAN
Asians are not the same, China and India are di erent, there is also the stereotype that
they can’t be bicultural and international or in general that they are really close minded
about di erent cultures, which is just limiting and o ensive. They are also seen as digital
media savvy.
The Asian American demographic shows that this is a very diverse group even if there are
some cultural similarities. They tend to live in urban centres like LA and NYC and they are
the fastest growing multicultural segment in the US.
For Asian American the one thing that dominate their social life is food, then we have
books and clothing. They are more educated than any other multicultural segment in the
US.
Asian tend to consume the same media of non-Asian but through digital platforms
because there are very propense to innovation (even if the in-language media are still the
most e ective, in fact in LA there are 33 Asian TV broadcasters). Asian Americans spend
over 12 hours a month watching videos which is twice the ration of general market. They
have big Luxury brand awareness, their college education is on the rise, and they are
known for the fusions with other cultures.
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
The advertising for African Americans didn’t take o until the 1970s with the trend that
made black people look like “dark-skinned white people” (this made some black people
angry but also some black people happy because it was their rst representation).
When connecting to a multicultural target you have to approach to cultural knowledge with
sensitivity and respect; moreover, there are also many celebrities that are used as vehicles
to do bring awareness without falling into stereotypes (Beyoncé, Kevin Hart…).
In any case, you have to have some type of demographic data, so, you have to use these
questions: where the people of you target tend to live? For black people the answer is
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NYC, Chicago and Atlanta. How important are women in their spending culture? A lot.
Should you use slang? It is better to avoid it with black people. Do they enjoy music? Yes,
it is essential for them.
ARABS
Not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs. Brands need to act ethically and
proactively by respecting all religions.
NATIVES
Native Americans have been subject of un attering media stereotypes for many years and
they are also rarely cast in mainstream advertising.
SOCIOLOGICAL GROUPS
Groups which share the same behaviour that belong to the same culture or subculture
(LGBTQ, women, generations) How do we connect to diverse in advertising respecting all
cultures? You can use diversity in a useful way. Get to know your audience and what they
like, don’t fall on bad stereotypes.
LGBTQ+
Google Ad with a gay couple not depicted according to the typical gay stereotypes but in
a normal and not stereotypical way = usual family performing day-to-day activities.
It is smart way to connect to the audiences through LGBTQ+ people also for business
reasons because people belonging to this group tend to have a high level of education
and a more disposable income than average household.
WOMEN
They are always treated as a niche market but it is not true = not a minority since we make
the most of decisions of purchasing. It is important to connect to women because we
have high spending power. Still 50% of product purchases are still marketed to men even
though women in uence the 68% of car purchases and 80% of health-care decisions.,
91% of home purchases, 92% of vacations.
MEN
There are some common portrayals like the handsome hero, the bumbling doofus, the
sports junkie, the computer expert. By reinforcing these stereotypes some advertisers can
alienate the group that they are trying to hook. Men tend to make decisions in a linear way
so, to appeal to men, advertising should state facts that a man can evaluate quickly.
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PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Every disability represents a di erent challenge and before the 1970s people with
disabilities were nearly invisible for advertising but representing them is not only the right
thing to do it is also a legal obligation in countries like England.
GENERATIONS
BOOMERS
To target products to them use traditional media:
• All of them still read newspapers
• Prime-time television
• Savvy digital media users
• Facts and credibility
• Matures: personal life-changing events
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GENERATION X
To target products to them use:
• Independence
• Clear o ers, no gimmicks
• Suggestions, not rules
• Go online
MILLENNIALS (GENERATION Y)
You should target them through:
• Texts, mobile phone
• Traditional media (most of all TV)
• Online shopping
• Social network sharing
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GENERATION Z
To target them we have to consider that they:
• Independent, diverse
• Entrepreneurial
• Super tech savvy
• Value social responsibility
• Reality over perfection
• Dislike for ads
• Fondness for video
OTHERS
• CHILDREN: they can in uence their parents. They usually are engaged by repetitive
content but advertising to children is something that is full of ethical dilemmas
• THIRD CULTURE KIDS: however, there are a lot of mixes. An example is “third-culture
kids”: they identify with several cultures and if you ask them where’s your home they will
answer “where my family is NOW”. They connect easily with people but don’t feel
speci c connection to any place
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LESSON - In uencer Marketing and
International audiences.
FAILURES
Credibility is something an in uencer needs, otherwise advertisers won’t want the
in uencers anymore. Therefore, faking something on socials is not a great idea (fake
followers, fake in uencers,“insta-whores”…).
TIFFANY MITCHELL
She is a model that posted these pictures on Instagram and she said it was after an
incident but it seems faked because the bottle of water was too well positioned, everything
seemed too much photogenic, it matched her feed… she denied that was staged and
she said it was not sponsored. Anyways this has created a huge lack in her credibility.
#SHAMEONYOU: ANNA NOOSHIN
She collaborated with Shell, the oil company brand by taking a photo on the beach with a
reusable bottle of water and by saying “big change with small actions”. The #shameonyou
was shared many time, not in a positive way after this.
UHHHHH
A girl promoted a bikini post with a story of relatives that have passed away. This was
considered tasteless.
INFLUENCER MARKETING IS NOT CELEBRITY
ENDORSEMENT
• In uencer marketing = when you look for people that your target connects with
• Celebrity endorsement = when you take a celebrity to promote your products to every
target). For example:
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- Eva Longoria did a home-style video where she dyes her hair for grey roots, and it
was successful because it is relatable and there’s brand honesty and self-irony
YOUTUBE
How do you make money on YouTube?
• Become a YouTube’s partner and earn money from ads in your videos
• Sell products or merchandise
• Once you have a fandom you can, crowd-fund your next creative project. Let your
audience support your work through “fan funding”
• License your content to the media
• Work with brands as an in uencer or a liate
• You need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past year to join the
YouTube Partner Program and earn money from ads
How much you earn depends on the audience demographics, the content quality, the
uniqueness and pro tability of your niche, but we can say that a mid-level YouTuber earns
$2000 per 100.000 subscribers but it varies widely.
INSTAGRAM
How do you make money on Instagram? The same criteria are used for Instagram (your
unique brand of Instagram content, your audience, your level of commitment).
So, the ways to make money are:
• Work with brands or sponsored posts
• A liate marketing
• Open your own store
• Sell your photos online
• Combine revenue streams
Many Instagram’s in uencers charge around a $200 per post even when they are very
small.
In uencers can give followers di erent options in order to receive their money:
• Share rst, charge later = where in uencer rstly share some free content and then they
ask people to pay.
- Example: Keto Meal Prep Pro, that gives you a lot of free content and recipes but
after a lot it asks you to pay for a coaching plan
• Give away for free, add merchandise = where they make money through their
merchandise
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- Example: Adriene Mishler, that shares yoga content always for free, but she sells
some merchandise made by local artists and community
• A liate links = are the advertising you get at the end of each post
• Ads
• Amazon cooperation = when in uencers have their own Amazon Shop link
KEYS TO HAPPINESS
Sanne Knoben, marketing director at 3sixty ve a rms:
• companies should use in uencers primarily for brand and brand awareness, not
necessarily for conversion (sales)
• they shouldn’t only take into consideration generation Z
• focus on fashion and beauty
Daan Sip, SocialReblz a rms:
• companies should use someone who has said something positive about the brand or
product earlier
• they should also consider micro-in uencers (credibility)
SOCIAL LISTENING
The most important thing that a company should do is still “social listening” because it
helps you understand what drives the conversation through:
• Benchmark your share of voice
• Capitalise on pain points
• Take the guesswork out of it
• Identify keywords and hashtags
• Develop accurate personas
• Understand the impact of crisis
• Engage with new people
• Use your superfans
TOP TIPS
1. Find in uencers which are authentic
2. Avoid those with fake followers
3. Consider combinations of microin uencers (less than 1000 followers)
4. Compensation varies wildly
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5. How to nd a suitable in uencer? Research and monitor.
6. They have to mention their sponsors/supporting brands
BAD CAMPAIGNS
Some examples of bad campaigns that were not successful. Advertising is not made of
words, but made of culture so, the mere translation of something is not enough (you
should try to understand a culture and avoid cultural crushes by working with locals).
SUNDAE BLOODY SUNDAE - MCDONALD’S
Very controversial campaign because in Britain “Bloody Sunday” inadvertently invokes
painful chapters in Irish and British history = when British paratroopers shot demonstrators
at a civil rights march in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in January 1972. 13
men were killed.
I LOVE CUM - LOCUM
In 1991 the Swedish company Locum sent out a Christmas card to their customers,
featuring a redesigned logo that looked like it said “I love cum”.
IKEA
Somehow agreed upon the name "FARTFULL" for one of its new desks.
TRAFICANTE
It was a name for Italian mineral water. In Spanish it translates as "drug dealer".
SHARWOODS
A UK food manufacturer spent £6 million on a campaign to launch its new Bundh sauces.
But “bundh” sounds just like the Punjabi word for "arse".
HONDA
Introduced their new car "Fitta" into Nordic countries in 2001. But " tta" refers to a
woman’s genitals in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish.
In the end, they renamed it "Honda Jazz”.
KFC
When KFC rst entered the Chinese market in the 1980s, their slogan was mistranslated
into Mandarin as: "Eat Your Fingers O .”
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NOT WORDS, BUT CULTURE
“Translating advertising copy is like painting the tip of an iceberg hoping the whole thing will
turn red.“
“Advertising is not made of words, but made of culture.”
- de Mooij, 2019
AVOID CULTURAL CLASHES
If we want to avoid cultural clashes, we should:
• Use cultural knowledge, not just translate (badly)
• Respect people
• Not just use them
• Do not stereotype
• Not use them to sell stu
• But yes, we can tell beautiful stories
THE CULTURAL ONION
The Onion Model of Culture shows how culture has a number of layers. There are a
number of interpretations of this model but the simplest one consists of four key layers:
1. The outer layers represent cultural artefacts or SYMBOLS such as ags, architecture or
traditional clothing
2. HEROES make up the next layer, such as Winston Churchill in the UK, and tend to
represent many of the culture’s values and beliefs
3. The next layer is composed of common RITUALS and traditions. This could include
how people greet each other, eat meals, get married or practise their religion
4. In the centre of the onion are the underlying VALUES and cultural assumptions which
in uence all of the other layers. These beliefs, norms and attitudes are much harder to
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recognise without a deeper analysis and thorough understanding of each of these
layers and how they interact.
Cross-cultural training (PRACTICES) can help anyone working across cultures see past the
outer layers and understand the why, what and how behind each of them. When doing
business in Japan, for example, people will avoid making direct eye contact with anyone
more senior than them. Understanding that this is because of important Japanese values
such as face and hierarchy is essential for anyone doing business with Japan.
So, we can understand that culture is something that you have to keep in mind when you
select your target marketing:
• LOCAL = in here we can usually nd retail brands with small footprints or B2B brands
• NATIONAL = in here we can nd brands that are connected to a single country, they
tend to use a tonality that can be the echo of the national cultural norms, moreover, we
usually nd retail and B2B brands (even if, in the last period, we have seen a new
phenomenon of brand expanding their geographic borders in their economically friendly
neighbours)
• REGIONAL = in here we nd brands that advertise within speci c regional clusters
• INTERNATIONAL = in here we nd brands that have a broad geographical distribution
and they usually use standardise marketing
• GLOBAL = in here we see multinational brands that are hyper consistent in their
branding
CULTURE IS
• NOT
- In your DNA
- Genetically inherited
- Right or wrong
- Connected to your passport
• YES
- A collective programming of your mind
- Learnt, acquired
- Passed on from one generation to the next
- A group: thing, distinguishing one group of people from another
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HIGH/LOW CONTEXT CULTURES (HALL)
• High-context = where the meaning of a message is rarely explicit and so, it becomes
nearly inaccessible from an outsider
• Low-context = where the meaning of the message is more transparent, explicit
There are 6 cultural dimensions are essentially six categories which marketers have to use
to understand nuanced cultural dimensions:
1. Power distance
2. Individualism vs collectivism
3. Masculinity vs femininity
4. Uncertainty avoidance
5. Long- vs short-term oriented
6. Indulgence
COMMUNICATION STYLES
• Verbal personal style: covers individual-centred languages; enhances the “I” identity, is
person-oriented. It is linked with low power distance, individualism and low context.
• Verbal contextual style: covers role-centred languages; emphasises context-related role
identity. It is linked with high power distance, hierarchical relationships, collectivism, and
high context
• Elaborate verbal style: refers to the use of rich, expressive language
• Exacting or precise style: no more or no less information is given than required
• Succinct or understated style: includes the use of understatements, pauses and
silences. Stretches of silence carry meaning
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