Glocalization of advertising strategy: A content
analysis of television commercials
Mohammad Shadab Khalil
Doctoral Candidate
Business Administration Department, National Central University
no. 300, Chung-Ta Rd., Chung-Li City, Tao-Yuan County, Taiwan 32001
Email: jnu.shadab@gmail.com
Julia Ying-Chao Lin
Associate professor,
Department of Living Science, Tainan University of technology
No. 529, Zhongzheng Rd, Tainan City, Tainan County, Taiwan 71002
Email: juliayclin@yahoo.com.tw
Julian Ming-Sung Cheng
Visiting Scholar
Department of Marketing, Georgia State University
35 Board Street, Suite 819, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA
& Associate Professor
Business Administration Department, National Central University
no. 300, Chung-Ta Rd., Chung-Li City, Tao-Yuan County, Taiwan 32001
Email: mingsungcheng@yahoo.com
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ABSTRACT
The last two decades have witnessed a continuous debate among scholars on the issue
of gl obalization versus loc alization of int ernational bus iness, particularly marketing
activities. Though bot h t he s trategies f ind e xtensive s upport a mong s cholars, there
remains a considerable ambiguity on whether to adopt glocalization or localization in
international marketing activities. This dilemma has led to the formulation of a new
concept i .e., Glocalization. G localization c ombines t he be nefits of gl obalization a nd
localization while m inimizing t he risks a ssociated w ith b oth. T hough gl ocalization,
since i ts co nception, has r eceived cont inuous at tention from schol ars, the ext ant
literature on glocalization of marketing activities is limited. Thus, the current research
is a n a ttempt to f ill th e ga p in global m arketing literature a nd provide im portant
insights i nto t he i ssue. Among t he various m arketing a ctivities, t he c urrent r esearch
focuses on t he advertising of gl obal br ands i n f oreign m arkets, a s the g lobalization
versus localization of advertising is topic of constant debate among scholars.
The research employs content analysis of television commercials of Coca-Cola from
five different countries to study glocalization in advertising. The findings reveal that
Coca-Cola has adopted glocalization strategy for advertising in foreign markets. The
advertisements c ontain t he e lements of bot h gl obalization a nd l ocalization. T he
findings suggest that though Cola-Cola’s glocalized advertisements adapt to the local
cultures an d themes preva lent in f oreign markets, t hey ar e (at t he sam e t ime)
successful in preserving and presenting a global image of the brand.
Academic and
managerial implications of the findings of the current research are also discussed.
Keywords: G localization, gl obalization, l ocalization, i nternational business,
advertising strategy
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INTRODUCTION
An i ncreasing number of firms a cross i ndustries are a dopting so-called “glocal”
(global-local) strategy, a combination between globalization a nd l ocalization (or
standardization a nd a daptation), to launch bus iness i nternationally. Prominent
examples of a doptions i nclude McDonald’s glocalization of its marketing strategies
(Vignali, 20 01), Nestle’s glocalization of its brand and pr oduct s trategies (Young,
2003), a nd L.G.’s glocalized advertising s trategy (Banerjee, 2007 ). The a bove cases
provide evidence of the significance of gl ocal s trategy and its trends in gl obal
marketplaces. Consequently, i n recent ye ars, scholars have al so paid a ttention t o
discuss/explore the use of glocal st rategies in international bus iness. Early i n 2001,
Svensson states that t he ongoi ng trend towards t he globalization of m arketing
activities appears to be a phenomenon of glocalization of marketing activities. Later in
2005, Redmond illustrates how a firm utilizes glocal strategy at a country level, while
in 2006, Tian argues how to use glocal strategy for communication purpose.
The que stion whether t o pursue glocalization becomes eve n more i mportant
within the c ontent of a dvertising, a s advertising i s a f irm’s t ool t o i nform t he
consumers about its product, its features, and its unique value proposition. Moreover,
advertising plays a n i mportant r ole i n ga ining competitive advantage. As consumers
are exposed to advertising on a day to day basis, it becomes imperative to understand
how f irms employ gl ocalization i n t heir advertising strategy. Previous research on
international a dvertising di scusses the use of t otal s tandardization or adaptation of
advertising strategies (Mueller, 1989; Harris and Auttor, 2003). However, the research
on gl ocalization of i nternational a dvertising s trategies ha s ge nerally be en ne glected.
Glocalization gains i mportance a s m arkets a re c ulturally di stinct; c ulture di ctates
beliefs about consumption and purchase behavior. Using glocal strategy in advertising
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implies that international firms can project a global image of their brands, and at the
same time design their messages in the culturally correct context.
Taking a c ue f rom t he above a rgument, t he c urrent research attempts t o probe
Coca-Cola’s glocalization of its television commercials across a number of countries.
Coca-Cola is the world’s most valuable brand (Business Week, 2005) and its strategy
has seen a transformation from global to glocal approaches (Taylor, 2000). Therefore,
the s tudy of gl ocal a dvertising s trategies t hrough a s tudy of Coca C ola’s t elevision
commercials worthy of i nvestigation s o a s t o pr ovide gui dance f or pr actitioners a nd
advertisers in designing their advertising communication strategies.
In t he f ollowing sections, a literature re view on a dvertising s trategies a nd
glocalization is presented, f ollowed by the r esearch m ethodology. Lastly, the r esults
are di scussed, followed by the conclusions as well as m anagerial implications an d
future research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The concept of glocal strategy
In pr evious s tudies, numerous scholars have cat egorized two aspects of
globalization-standardization v.s . localization-strategy. Porter (1986) indicates that
standardizing marketing, in some cases, can lead to competitive adv antages that
support t he ove rall gl obal s trategy. Domzal a nd U nger (1987) s tate t hat a gl obal
approach emphasizes consumer similarities across geographic borders, and strives for
standardization of marketing strategies, while minimizing local differences. Lewis and
Hennesey (1998) indicate that there are several advantages of standardized marketing
i.e., standardized products, standardized p romotion a nd l ow ne ed f or l ocalized
marketing. On t he ot her ha nd, s ome s cholars s upport the local approach. K oepfler
(1989) c oncludes t hat global strategy must f it produc ts and services t o the prac tices
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and language of different markets, which is inherently difficult. Champy (1997) also
supports t he l ocal a pproach a nd s uggests that firms should value c ulture and e thnic
diversity.
In the context of international advertising, a similar debate is recorded since the
1960s. P roponents of s tandardization a rgue that shared consumer t raits, economic
savings a nd t he be nefits of a s hared gl obal br and point t owards t he i mportance of a
global a pproach (Levitt, 1983) . At t he sam e t ime, the opponents of t he gl obal
approach assert t he d angers of global s trategies due t o different l ocal m arket
conditions and cultural uniqueness (Taylor et al., 1996). Similarly, Orth et al. (2005)
state tha t a dvertisers a re r equired to tailor a dvertisements to re flect the c ultural
context of their target group since individuals respond better to advertising messages
that are congruent with their culture. On the other hand, economies of scale strongly
suggest that adve rtisements us e groups t hat ar e as
large as p ossible, t hus
counterbalancing t he argument s upporting the de velopment o f hi ghly s pecific
advertisements for smaller target groups.
MNCs ha ve c omplex pr oblem of de ciding w hether t o s tandardize t heir
advertising operations across c ountries, t o i ndividualize their c ampaigns w ithin
countries, or to pursue a mixture of both ( Tai a nd Wong, 1998). They found that the
decisions of US firms c oncerning strategic issues (e.g., advertising objectives, target
segment, pr oduct pos itioning a nd main t heme) t end t o b e s tandardized w hile t he
tactical i ssues ( e.g., l anguages, media buy ing and execution s tyles) t end to b e
differentiated. In t he l ine w ith t he a bove, s everal scholars st ate t hat MN Cs can
combine standardizing a nd a daptation strategy. Svensson ( 2001) of fers a the te rm
“glocal strategy”, which in part reflects the aspirations of the global approach, while
the ne cessity for l ocal ada ptations and
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tailoring of bus iness activities ( i.e.
“glocalization”) i s s imultaneously a cknowledged. T he c oncept of gl ocal m arketing
recognizes t hat t here ha s t o be a b alance and harmony between standardization or
adaptations, homogenization or tailoring, similarities or differences, concentration or
diffusion, dependence or independence, synchronization or flexibility, and integration
or separation of marketing activities. Svensson ( 2006) also provides t he c oncept of
born glocal hi ghlights, that t here is a cr ucial co ntinuum t hat shoul d be addressed i n
the m arketplace. It goe s f rom loc ally-related issues and concerns of w orldwide
strategies a nd bus iness ope rations on t he one side, a nd g lobally-related issues an d
concerns on the other side. He also points out that the definitional boundaries of the
concept of bor n gl ocal exist w ithin a c ontinuum f rom loc al to global is sues a nd
concerns of business operations.
Thus, a glocal approach is a combination of different levels, from local to global,
of strategic approaches, with the awareness of the significance of adaptation to local
markets, a nd i t a ttempts t o m aintain a ba lance be tween gl obal hom ogenization a nd
local customization (Robertson, 1995; Svensson, 2001; Maynard, 2003).
Glocal advertising in global marketplaces
Advertising elements in global marketplaces are of immense important. Firms can
use different el ements of a dvertising to communicate w ith customers and deliver its
brand’s i mage. Most MN Cs usually apply the st andardization appr oach to some
elements of a dvertising. Nelson a nd P aek ( 2007) s tate that c ross-cultural st udies o f
global brand advertising often show that spokespersons in commercials are the most
easily standardized advertising element across firms. The reason behind standardizing
spokesperson across campaigns is primarily due to costs (e.g., the cost of hiring local
actors; W hitelock a nd Rey, 1998) or other strategic r easons ( e.g. a st andardized
spokesperson c an dr ive gl obal b rands). In the case of Revlon (a glo bal cos metics
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brand), it believes that “a single model can project a universal image of beauty” (Seitz
and Johar, 1993). Mueller (1989) compares lots of advertising elements in television
and print advertising. Mueller states that some elements of message are standardized,
while othe rs ar e spe cialized. The da ta r eveals l ess t han one-fifth of pr int c ampaigns
include at l east on e f ully standardized element. O n t he o ther ha nd, i n t elevision
sample, more than half of the campaigns use at least one standardized element.
Factors influencing the glocal advertising strategy
Culture is of immense importance in international advertising. Hofstede's (1991)
work on c ultural d imensions h as be en f requently u sed t o c lassify c ultures a nd
countries, a nd i t is a lso used as a ba sis f or unde rstanding cultural dif ferences.
Hofstede i dentified f ive c ultural di mensions ( power distance, i ndividualism,
masculinity, unc ertainty a voidance, a nd l ong-term or ientation) th at di stinguish
different c ultures a nd r anked 56 c ountries a ccording t o e ach of t hese dimensions.
According to Hofstede, individualism is present when people in a society focus more
on i ndividual a chievement r ather t han on g roup goa ls, w hich a re t he f ocus i n
collectivist cultures. A pe rson in a c ountry that r anks h igh on i ndividualism i s
expected to look after him or herself. Based on Hofstede's (1984, 1991) dimensions of
culture s cales, where c ountries w ere giv en scores f rom 1 -100, t he U S a nd F rance
culture were given a higher individualism score while the Asian society were found to
be significantly less in dividualistic society (Bang et a l., 2005).Cultural d ifferences
have be en e xamined i n some c ross-cultural adv ertising studies, particularly content
analyses an d between E astern (e.g. Japan, C hina, and Korea) and
Western
(predominantly USA) countries (Hetsroni, 2000). Zandpour et al. (1992) undertook a
three-country s tudy ( USA, F rance, and Taiwan), discovering that U S co mmercials
generally addressed specific cons umer pe rsonal ne eds and problems. US adve rtisers
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used celebrities, credible sour ces and product users t o convey specific be nefits o f
products t o consumers s uch a s nu tritional va lues, s afety f eatures of t he product etc.
Taiwanese commercials ge nerally l inked the p roduct to the cons umer's t raditional
Chinese values, such as respect for authority and family relations. The other dominant
trait of Taiwanese commercials was a promise of immediate reward in the form of free
offers and special deals through hard-sell lecture. In comparison, for TV advertising in
UK and USA, Nevett (1992) also concluded that there were substantial differences in
information content and use of humor between US and UK television advertising. Due
to hi gher i ncome a nd e ducation levels, gr eater travel oppor tunities and e xposure to
different cultures, individual Asian markets are becoming much more similar in terms
of personal aspirations and spending behavior. Many multinational firms are applying
regional st rategies acr oss A sian markets ( Tai e t a l., 1998 ). Some scholars al so
emphasize "plan globally and act locally" (Blackwell et al., 1991) and "think globally,
act locally and manage regionally" in the Asian markets.
Psychic distance also plays an important role when advertising in global market.
Sousa and B radley (2005) s uggest that there exist s a relationship be tween psychic
distance and int ernational m arketing strategy. Yeniyurt e t a l. ( 2007) a lso poi nts that
psychic d istance is an important factors t hat i nfluences MNCs’ globa l st rategy.
Alexander et al. (2007) state that culture plays a fundamental role in determining the
direction of expansion. This has important implications for the way psychic distance
is unde rstood a nd how f irms r espond to psychic dis tance.
Psychic dist ance is
suggested to influence MN Cs’ strategies in global marketplace, a nd thus m ight a lso
explain the adoption of glocalization by MNCs.
METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this article is to understand how a MNC, that is Coca-cola, uses
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glocal a dvertising strategy a nd to e xplore what kind s o f el ements are used f or
pursuing global, local, or glocal strategies.
To meet with the above objectives, a content analysis of television commercials
in 5 different c ountries, e .g., USA, J apan, F rance, T aiwan a nd H ong K ong, was
undertaken. While the USA and France represent the western culture, Japan, Taiwan,
and Hong Kong are representative of the eastern culture. The data was collected from
more than one country in each of the cultures so as to gain insight into the individual
differences among the countries with similar cultural background.
Coca-Cola was ranked as the world’s number one brand with the largest brand
value of USD 68 ,734 m illion (Business Week, 2009) . Given t hat Coca-Cola is the
most va luable br and i n the w orld and ha s be en t hrough t he s trategic transformation
from a gl obal s trategy a pproach t o a gl ocal s trategic approach (Taylor, 2000 ),
understanding how Coca-Cola a dopted gl ocalization (Tian, 2006) is w orthy of
investigation. Coke-Cola strives to glocalize its marketing communications strategy as
it needs to consider the consistency of its brand image together with paying attention
to the enormous range of cultural and other differences that it faces in other markets.
This article chooses one of the popular TV commercials of Coca-Cola i.e., “Happiness
factory”, because this is aired in several different countries. This article compares this
commercial in different countries.
Measures
In order to understand the T V commercial elements’ degree of gl ocal in each
country, specific elements of advertising borrowed from Whitelock and Rey’s (1998)
work were i nvestigated. The f ollowing elements i n TV advertising were ta ken into
account:
 Characters
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We obs erved w hether the fi rm uses the sam e spokesperson or not i n different
countries’ commercials. The characters’ ac tions in the c ommercials was also
investigated to find differences among countries..
 Length
This element represents the length (in time) of the commercial.
 Music
We obs erved w hether the m usic was the sa me or different not in different
countries’ commercials.
 Screen captions/setting
If the screen captions were translated then we consider it as standardized. If the
screen captions were translated, but with some differences from the original, then we
consider it gloc alized. If t he scr een capti ons were to tally different, we considered i t
under localization.
 Scenic background
Visual background was the same or not in different countries’ advertising.
 Slogan
The basis of differentiation was similar to that of screen caption. Text
 Story of commercial:
The whole story of these commercial was considered..
 Voice-over or dialogue
If the re was any voice-over or di alogue in a c ommercial, we compared these
elements to know its degree of glocalization.
For the purpose of classification, the elements were divided into three categories
i.e., gl obal, local, a nd g local. If the a dvertising e lement was completely different, it
was cl assified “local”. I f t he advertising element was partially different, it w as
10
classified “glocal”. If it w as similar, it w as c lassified “global”. For e xamples, w hen
evaluating the s logan e lements, i f t he s logan i s t otally di fferent, t he s logan e lement
was cl assified “local”. If t he s logan w ere w ith s imilar l anguages a nd di fferent
meanings, it would be classified “glocal”. If the slogan is exactly the same, it would
be classified “global”. As Coca-Cola is based in the USA, all commercials from other
countries were compared to the commercial aired in the USA.
RESULTS
The f indings a re pr esented i n Table 1. In characters e lement, only F rench
commercial uses the original commercial aired in the U.S.A. In Taiwan, Hong Kong,
and Japan, Coca-cola uses more than one person in the commercials. Coca-cola uses
Asians in these commercials.
In the length element, only French one is different from the original version. In
music element, only Hong Kong is different from the original one.
In the setting element, the setting of inside factory is the same in every country.
However, the setting in front of vending machine is not same.
In the text of commercials, there are two part discussed. First one is story element.
French one is the same as the original one. Others are almost the same, but there are
some differences. Voice-over o r di alogue i s a nother e lement. T here a re onl y s ome
commercials with voice-over, and voice-over is always in the local language.
Screen caption and slogan are all different in each language. That is because it is
hard t o translate i t di rectly i n d ifferent c ountries. H owever, t hey have similar
meanings. All mean bring happy and a Coca-Cola lifestyle.
Insert Table 1 here
After ana lyzing these commercial, We use Mu eller’s (1992) way t o gi ve all the
element a score to see the degree of glocalization.
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From the results, the elements found standardized more often are length, music,
and setting el ements. Least of ten st andardized are scr een caption and
slogan.
Glocalized are characters and text of commercials elements.
Insert Table 2 here
This s tudy re veals th at Coca-Cola pr actices gl ocalization in its advertising
strategy. From Tables 1 and 2, we can clearly observe the degree of glocalization in
each advertising element.
In character el ements, with a n e xception of France, Coca-Cola uses dif ferent
models in different countries. Coca-Cola uses local spokesperson in each country. It
can give the local people a sense of familiarity. France is a w estern country like the
United States, so Coca-Cola uses the same spokesperson in France. In Asian countries,
Coca-Cola us es more people in its te levision commercial. Although C oca-cola us es
different people in different countries, these characters have similar actions. They all
put a coin into a vending machine to buy a Coca-cola, then, they drink it. This element
is m ore glo cal b ecause C oca-cola use l ocal pe ople w ith similar act ions t o present
commercials
In the length e lement, only F rance has i ts ow n s horter ve rsion. Most c ountries
have the same length version similar to the original one. Although French commercial
has a different length, its content is almost the same as the original one. This element
is more standardized.
In the music el ement, with t he e xception of Hong-Kong, Coca-Cola uses t he
same music i n most c ountries. Although Hong Kong us es di fferent music, its music
sounds slightly like the original one. Music i s the most st andardized part i n
Coca-Cola’s commercial. W ith standardized music, audiences w ill ha ve t he s ame
image about Coca-Cola.
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The setting e lement matches the ch aracter element. It show s dif ferent s ettings
with characters in the beginning and the last part in the commercial. However, in the
middle of the commercial, the setting is same in all the countries. Further, though the
beginning part and the last part are different in most countries, there is an important
similarity—the settings are all in front of a vending machine. Coca-Cola uses different
settings to show the local touch but there are some similarities in these differences.
In the text of the commercials, we discuss two elements. The first element is the
story. In the story element, they are almost the same. However, in the first and the last
part, there a re s ome di fferences. To fit w ith the local m arket, Coca-Cola uses local
characters to display it, but all the characters use vending machine to buy Coca-Cola,
and in the last part all the characters drink Coca-Cola happily. The second element is
the Voice-over or the dialogue. There is no d ialogue between persons in the original
one, and also not in the other countries’ ones. There is no voice-over in the original
one but in French one t here i s vo ice ove r. O nly t he F rench c ommercial ha s t his
difference. The t ext element of the commercial is glo calized. The s tory element is
between global and local.
In the screen caption and
slogan element, these t wo el ements are less
standardized. These two elements are in fact inexpensive to alter. Slogans are known
to be one o f t he most di fficult i tems t o s tandardize s ince t hey a re s upposed t o be
eye-catching. It is the refore di fficult to re nder the s ame s trength in two different
languages through literal translation. All the slogans and screen captions have similar
meaning with the original one — Coca-Cola’s side of life.
As shown in table 2, length and music are more standardized in the commercial,
while screen caption and slogan are less standardized. For the other elements, a glocal
strategy is implemented.
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As can be seen from t he r esults, Coca-Cola’s communication is di fferent in
different c ountries, and it c ombines the global a nd the local st rategies. C oca-Cola
changes so me pa rts of its commercial to meet the local ne eds but f ollows some
standardization to maintain its global brand image.
One thing we can see is that there is a same spokesperson/character in USA and
French commercials. However, in A sian countries, the co mmercials h ave dif ferent
spokespersons. In Asian commercials, we can see that the characters are shown a s
friends. This supports Hoftede’s culture dimension of individualism and collectivism.
The US a nd the F rench cultures were g iven a h igher i ndividualism s core while t he
Asian cultures were found to be a collectivist. As Coca-Cola uses only one person in
the US a nd French commercials, it reflects Hoftede’s cult ure d imension of
individualism.
The findings suggest that physical environment also affects how a com mercial is
glocalized. For e xample, In t he F rench, the Japanese, and t he U S commercials, t he
characters wear clothes with longer sleeve when compared to the Taiwanese and the
HK ones. The weather in HK and Taiwan is hotter than that in the USA, France, and
Japan.
CONCLUSIONS
Coca-Cola uses glocal strategy in advertising. In this article, we can see coca-cola
presents similar advertising in different countries. In previous literature, we can know
that c oca-cola adopt s gl ocal st rategy. And some ar ticle di scussed how coc a-cola’s
website pr actices gloc al st rategy. This ar ticle p rovides a real ca se abo ut coca-cola’s
advertising and its glocal strategy.
This ar ticle al so supports t hat som e el ements ar e l ess st andardized. In screen
caption and sl ogan element, these t wo elements ar e l ess st andardized. This i s not
14
surprising since language is different. Many elements in these commercials are used
glocal strategy. Setting elements and characters and story elements are partially global
and pa rtially l ocal. In doing s o, C oca-cola c an communicate w ith local pe ople in a
global image well.
And this a rticle also st ates coca-cola us es glocal a dvertising strategy to
communicate i ts cons umers i n worldwide. Coca-cola us es l ocal pe ople i n different
countries to have local touch. However, in these advertising, these people have similar
activities to maintain coca-cola gl obal i mage. These gl ocal a dvertising strategy is
alike “think gl obal, a ct l ocal”. This company uses glocal s trategy in a dvertising t o
communicate with local people. And this “Happiness factory Commercial” practices
glocal strategy clearly. We can see how a big company like coca-cola advertises and to
combine its global image and local touch.
This a rticle also s upport gl ocal a dvertising va ries i n s ome c ountries be cause of
culture dif ference. In a collectivism society, a multinational c ompany c an us e m ore
than one pe rson i n advertising. And i n a n individualism society, a m ultinational
company can use one person in its glocal advertising.
Psychic distance and physical environment also affect a multinational company’s
glocal advertising strategy. The de gree of gl ocalization o r which e lement s hould be
global or not, it is affected by these two factors.
Managerial Implications
As t he use of glocal strategy c ontinues t o g row w orldwide, know ing how t o
implement a glocal strategy is critical. Countries and cultures are in different physical
environments and are different along Hoftede’s cultural dimensions. These differences
affect t he de gree of gloc alization. Psychic distance al so affects t he de gree of
glocalization. The dist ance be tween U SA and Taiwan, HK and Japan is farther than
15
that between USA and France. That can explain the different degree of glocalization
in these co untries. Psychic dist ance i s an important factor w hich affects a MN C’s
decision on its communication strategy.
Decisions r egarding the de gree o f gloc alization affect how messages ar e
conveyed i n di fferent m arkets. Advertisers c an use glocal a dvertising t o f it in a
country’s c ulture while pr eserving t he br and’s global i mage. Advertisers ca n
understand how to modify advertising element to design a glocal advertising strategy.
The glocal approach, which integrates the global and the local strategies in the global
marketplace, indicates the directions for future advertising in both theory and practice.
16
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22
Appendix 1: The Content Analysis Model
For print media( Haris and Attour’s model)
(1)picture (40 points)
(a) visual background(20)
Local (10)
Total Different(20)
(b)models / spokesperson(10)
Local (5)
Total Different(10)
C. modification(10)
Minor (10)
Major(20)
(2)Text(32 points)
(a) headline(10)
Same language/ different meaning(3)
Translated / same meaning(6)
Completely different (10)
(b) subhead(6)
Same language/ different meaning(2)
Translated / same meaning(3)
Completely different (6)
(c) body text(10)
Same language/ different meaning(3)
Translated / same meaning(6)
Completely different (10)
(d) slogan(6)
Same language/ different meaning(2)
Translated / same meaning(3)
Completely different (6)
Minor difference(5)
(3) general layout(10 points)
Major difference(5)
23
Different in size(1)
(4) product portray(6 points)
Different in number(1)
Replaced by local(2)
Other difference(2)
Different in size(1)
(5)product packaging(6 points)
Different in number(1)
Replaced by local(2)
Other difference(2)
Colors V.S. B/W(1)
(6)colors of advertising(3 points)
Different colors(3)
As original + extra section(1)
(7)size of advertising(3 points)
Different size(3)
60. Source: Haris and Attour (2003)
24
Table 1. Coca- cola ~Happiness factory Commercial
Characters:
USA
France
Taiwan
A young
A youn
man(Westerner)
(Westerner)
A young boy (Asian)
Imaginary creatures
Imaginary creatures
Imaginary creatures
Imaginary creatures
A group of young A
g
man A young girl (Asian)
Hong Kong
Japan
A young man (Asian) Two
people
young
men(Asian)
young
women(Asian)
Imaginary creatures
Length:
60’’ or
46”
60”
60”
90”
Different
same
90”
Music:
Same
same
Same
Setting:
Vending machine
Vending machine
Vending machine but not Vending m
Inside factory
Inside factory
the sam e as A merican but not the s ame a s not t he sam e as
achine Vending machine but
one
American one
American one
Inside factory
Inside factory
Inside factory
25
Text of commercial:
Story
A young m an put a A young man put a
coin i
n ve
nding coin i
n ve
nding the
machine t o buy a
machine t o buy
coke-cola.
coke-cola.
Then, inside a Coca
Cola ve
Then, inside a Coca and puts a coin for her.
how a bot tle of C oke bottle of
magical w
revealed w
imaginary
orld
machine. is
Then, i nside a C oca
here where i
to
people young girl talk to
buy
a vending
coca-cola.
machine.
Another young man
Then, inside a Coca walks to the vending
Cola ve nding machine Cola ve
nding machine and puts a
C oke i s it's revealed how a bottle machine it's revealed coin to buy a cola.
delivered. A magical of C oke i s delivered. A
is world
waiting
A young man and
a And a boy who plays the feels hot. He puts a each other near the
nding Cola vending machine
livered. A
vending
A young boy who
skateboard closes to her coin
machine i t's r evealed it's r evealed how a
is de
A girl wants to use
is re
vealed magical w
orld is
maginary revealed w
is de
livered. A
here magical w orld
creatures creatures transport the imaginary
transport t he empty empty bottle, it is transport t
how a bottle of Coke
creatures revealed w
he
Then, i
Coca C ola ve nding
is machine i t's r evealed
here how a bottle of Coke
empty imaginary creatures is de
livered.
bottle, it is f illed up filled up a nd c apped bottle, i t i s filled up a nd transport th e empty magical w
26
nside a
orld
A
is
and c apped by ot her by other creatures and capped b
y ot
her bottle, it is f illed up revealed w
creatures and
then then cleaned by f luffy creatures and
cleaned b
luffy white an imals. The cleaned by fluffy w hite creatures a nd then transport th e e mpty
yf
then and c apped by ot her imaginary
here
creatures
white an imals. The bottle is th en chilled animals. The bot tle is cleaned b y f luffy bottle, it is f illed up
bottle is then chilled in a w hite s nowy then chilled in a w hite white an imals. The and c apped by ot her
in a w hite s nowy world be fore goi ng snowy w
orld be
fore bottle is th en chilled creatures a nd t hen
world be fore goi ng through a parade to be going t hrough a pa rade in a w hite s nowy cleaned b y
fluffy
through a parade to be delivered back to th e to be de livered ba ck t o world be fore goi ng white anim als. The
delivered ba ck t o t he man w aiting outside, the
people
man w aiting out side, who i s ob livious t o outside,
who i s obl ivious t o this magical world.
this magical world.
After tha t,
man ge
ts t
After tha t,
the man ge
ts t
who
waiting through a p arade t o bottle is th en chilled
are be de livered ba ck to in a w hite s nowy
oblivious to this magical the
the world.
he
boy
outside,
After that, they get oblivious
waiting world be fore goi ng
who
to
he coca-cola. After that, coca-cola and drink it magical world.
coca-cola. After that, he gets the cola and happily.
27
is through a parade t o
this be de livered ba ck t o
the
boy
After that, he gets outside,
waiting
who
is
he gets the cola and drinks it. He looks at
the cola and drinks oblivious
drinks it. He looks at the vending machine
it. He looks at the magical world.
the vending machine behind him.
vending
behind him.
behind him. Then , the cola and drinks
machine
to
this
After that, he gets
his friends arrives it. He looks at the
and says hello to vending
him.
machine
behind him. Then he
and other two people
leave together.
Voice-over or
Voi ce-over: no
dialogue
Dialogue: M
creature’s di
not hu
language.
Voi ce-over: prends la Voi ce-over:
coca-cola Voi ce-over: no
agic vie cote coca-cola(use adds happiness to your Dialogue: M
alogue, language : French)
man’s Dialogue: M
creature’s di
not hu
life.(Use
not hu
agic language.
man’s creature’s di alogue, no t
28
agic Dialogue: M
agic
language: creature’s di alogue, creature’s di alogue,
agic Chinese1)
alogue, Dialogue: M
Voi ce-over: no
man’s not hum
language.
an’s
language.
Screen caption:
Welcome to coca-cola prends la vie cote coca-cola
side of life
Slogan:
human’s language.
happiness
to
language : French)
life.(Use
language: limitless(Use
your happiness
language: Chinese 2
www.coca-cola.com.tw
)
adds Input
happiness
to
language : French)
life.(Use
language: limitless(Use
29
The coke side of life
Coca-cola
coca-cola, The coke side of life
coca-cola(use
可口可樂，為生活加樂
投入 coca-cola 精采無邊
and
uplifting
Chinese 1)
Chinese)
2
coca-cola, Refreshing
coca-cola(use
Welcome to coca-cola prends la vie cote coca-cola
side of life
1
adds Input
your happiness
language: Chinese)
Table 2. The classification of each element
France
Taiwan
Hong-Kong
Japan
Characters
global
glocal
glocal
glocal
Length
local
global
global
global
Music
global
global
local
global
Setting
global
glocal
glocal
glocal
Story
global
glocal
glocal
glocal
Voice-over or dialogue
glocal
glocal
global
global
Screen caption
local
local
local
glocal
Slogan
local
local
local
glocal
Text of commercial
30