Chapter 19 – International Advertising and Promotion
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CHAPTER 19
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the student to the role of advertising and promotion in a
company’s international marketing program. We discuss the growing importance of U.S. companies
being able to compete in the global marketplace and the importance of international advertising and
promotion. The international environment and the major factors influencing marketing and promotional
Learning Objectives
2. To review the various factors in the international environment and how they influence
advertising and promotion decisions.
4. To examine the various decision areas of international advertising.
5. To examine the role of other promotional mix elements in the international integrated
marketing communications program.
Chapter and Lecture Outline
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Throughout this book attention has been focused on the development of promotional programs for
products and services sold to the U.S. market. However, many companies are recognizing the
opportunities that foreign markets offer for new sources of sales and profits as well as the necessity of
marketing their products internationally. Today, world trade is driven by global competition among global
Professor Notes
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II. THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
Advertising and promotion are important parts of the international marketing program of firms competing
in the global marketplace. While the United States still leads the world in terms of advertising,
expenditures outside of the U.S. have increased dramatically over the past decade and are now nearly
$446 billion annually. It is worth noting and discussing the importance of large foreign-based
multinationals such as Unilever, Nestle, and Toyota Motor Corp. and their high level of advertising
spending in the international marketplace as shown in Figure 19–1.
Professor Notes
III. THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Just as with domestic marketing, companies engaging in international marketing must carefully analyze
and consider the major environmental factors of each market in which they compete. Consideration of
environmental factors is important, not only in evaluating the viability and/or potential of each country as
a market, but also in designing and implementing a marketing and promotional program. Figure 19-2
shows some of the factors marketers must consider in each category when analyzing the environment of a
country or market. The major environmental factors that must be considered include:
A. Economic Environment—a country’s economic conditions indicate its present and future
potential for consuming. Marketers must consider the economic infrastructure or the
B. Demographic environment—international marketers must also examine the demographic
C. Cultural environment—an aspect of the international marketing environment that is very
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D. Political/legal environment—the political and legal environment is one of the most important
factors influencing advertising and promotional programs of international marketers. Government
regulations and restrictions can affect a variety of aspects of a company’s advertising program,
including:
• the types of products and services that can be advertised in a country
• the content or creative approach that may be used in advertisements
• the media that all advertisers are permitted to employ
IV. GLOBAL VERSUS LOCALIZED ADVERTISING
In recent years a great deal of attention has been focused on the concept of global marketing whereby a
firm utilizes a standard marketing plan for all countries in which it markets its product or service. Global
advertising falls under the umbrella of global marketing as a means of implementing this strategy by
using the same advertising approach in all markets. The theorizing of Harvard professor Theodore Levitt
A. Advantages of Global Marketing and Advertising—The use of a global marketing and advertising
program offers numerous advantages to a company including:
• Economies of scale in production and distribution
• Lower marketing and advertising costs as a result of reductions in planning and control
B. Problems With Global Advertising—While the concepts of global marketing and advertising
have received a great deal of attention recently, not everyone agrees with this strategy. Some of
the problems with global marketing and advertising include:
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• Differences in culture, market and economic development, consumer needs, media
availabilities and legal restrictions make it extremely difficult to develop an effective
universal approach to marketing and advertising
C. When Is Globalization Appropriate? – While many advertisers view globalization of advertising as a
difficult task, some progress has been made in learning what products and services are best suited to
worldwide appeals. Products and services that can take advantage of global marketing and advertising
opportunities include:
1. Brands that can be adapted for a visual appeal that avoid the problems of trying to translate
3. High-tech products coming to the world for the first time; new technology products coming
on the world at once and not steeped in the culture heritage of the country.
3. Products with nationalistic flavor if the country has a reputation in the field such as Swiss
chocolate, Italian shoes, French wine, or German beer or automobiles. These products
4. Products that appeal to a market segment with universally similar tastes, interests, needs and
Chapter 19 – International Advertising and Promotion
D. Global Products, Localized Messages—While the pros and cons of globalized marketing and
advertising continue to be debated, many companies are taking what might be called an in-between
approach by standardizing their products and basic marketing strategy but localizing their advertising
messages to appeal to the local realities and conditions of each market. This approach has been given
different labels such as “Think global, act local,” or “Global vision with a local touch.” Although
some marketers use global ads with little or no modification, most companies adapt their messages to
Professor Notes
V. DECISION AREAS IN INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING
As with domestic marketing, certain organizational and functional decisions must be made by companies
developing advertising and promotional programs for international markets. This section examines these
decision areas.
A. Organizing for International Advertising—One of the first decisions a company must make when
it decides to market its products to other countries is how to organize the international advertising
and promotion function. There are three basic options for organizing this function.
1. Centralization—all decisions and planning is done at the firm’s home office. Complete
2. Decentralization—marketing and advertising managers in each market have the authority to
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3. Combination—many companies actually use a combination of the first two approaches
whereby the home office will have the most control over advertising policy, guidelines and
B. Agency Selection—One of the most important decisions a firm engaged in international
marketing must make is the selection of an advertising agency. The three basic alternatives in
selecting an agency include:
1. Choosing a major agency with both domestic and overseas office. A number of multinational
companies are consolidating their advertising with one large agency to develop a consistent
2. Choosing a domestic agency that is affiliated with agencies in other countries or belongs to a
3. Selecting a local agency for each national market in which the company sells its products or
services. Some companies prefer to use local agencies because they often provide the best talent
in each market. This also increases the morale and involvement of local managers by giving
them input into the agency selection process.
• Criteria for agency selection—the selection of an agency or agencies to handle a firm’s
C. Advertising Research—Research is used in the development of international advertising and
promotion programs to help managers make more informed and better decisions. However, many
companies do not conduct marketing research in foreign markets because of high costs and
budget limitations. Areas where information from research on foreign markets can help firms
make intelligent advertising and promotional decisions include:
• Information on demographic characteristics of markets
• Information on cultural differences such as norms, lifestyles, and values
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D. Creative Decisions—Creative strategy development for international advertising is basically
similar in process and procedure to domestic advertising as communication objectives must be set
based on the marketing strategy and market conditions for each market, major selling ideas must
E. Media Selection—One of the most difficult decision areas for international advertisers is that of
media strategy and selection. U.S. firms usually find that there are major differences in media outside
this country and media conditions may vary considerably from one area to another, particularly in
developing countries. Problems and differences include the types of media available, the
characteristics of media, availability of media information, and restrictions from one country to
another. Media planners have two basic media options available.
1. Local media—using the local media of a country to reach its consumers, such as local
magazines, newspapers, radio, billboards, direct mail and, where available and/or permitted,
television.
Professor Notes
VI. THE ROLE OF OTHER PROMOTIONAL MIX ELEMENTS
The focus of this chapter has been on advertising since it is usually the primary element in the
promotional mix of the international marketers. However, as in domestic marketing, promotional
programs for foreign markets will generally include other elements such as personal selling, sales
promotion and public relations. The role of these other promotional mix elements will vary depending on
the firm’s marketing and promotional strategy in foreign markets.
A. Sales Promotion—many companies rely on sales promotional tools and techniques to help sell
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• Economic development—the ability to use various sales promotion tools can be influenced
by the stage of economic infrastructure and stage of development of a country
• Market maturity—the stage of development of the market for the product or service within a
country. Different types of sales promotion tools are needed to introduce a product or service
versus competing in a mature market
B. Public Relations—public relations plays an important role in supporting and enhancing the
marketing and advertising efforts of companies involved in international advertising. Public
relations activities are needed to deal with local governments, media, trade associations and the
general public. The job of PR agencies in foreign markets is not only to help the company sell its
C. Internet/Digital Media—use of the Internet by consumers as well as marketers is highest in the
United States and Western Europe. In the Asia/Pacific region, Internet use is high in China,
Taiwan, South Korea as well as several European countries where there are considerable numbers
Professor Notes
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Teaching Suggestions
In this chapter we turn our attention to the area of international advertising and promotion. We feel that it
is very important to cover this area as many U.S. companies are finding that our domestic market offers
them limited opportunity for expansion due to slow population growth, saturated markets, and intense
competition. Moreover, imports are taking a larger and larger share of the domestic market for many
products and are likely to continue to do so. American companies must learn how to defend against
foreign inroads into their domestic markets and how to market their products and services to foreign
countries. We are living in very fascinating and rapidly changing time with respect to developments in the
Answers to Discussion Questions
1. The opening vignette to the chapter discusses how many multinational companies want to turn many
of their products and services into global brands. Discuss some of the challenges marketers are
facing from regional and local brands and how this might impact their efforts to develop strong global
brands. (L01, 03)
Many multinational companies have heeded the call for globalization and are now selling their brands
around the world. A true global brand is one that has transcended its cultural origins to develop
relationships with consumers across different countries and cultures. As noted in the Chapter opener,
the number of truly global brands is quite small as only around 5 percent of the world’s brands are
marketed in more than six countries. Many of these global brands are marketed by major
Chapter 19 – International Advertising and Promotion
2. Discuss how the consolidation taking place in the beer industry might impact the marketing strategies
of major brewers such as Anheuser Busch-InBev or SAB Miller. What are the implications of the
consolidation for their IMC programs? (L01)
There has been a considerable amount of consolidation in the beer business over the past decade. In
2002 the Miller Brewing Company was purchased by South African Breweries and six years later
SAB Miller acquired Molson Coors Brewing Co. and combined their U.S. operations with Miller to
3. Why are so many multinational companies are expanding into China. What challenges do marketers
and advertising agencies face in developing IMC programs for the Chinese market? (L02)
China has become such an important market for most multinational companies for a number of
reasons. First, with 1.3 billion people, China has become one the world’s largest and fastest growing
consumer markets. China has been experiencing tremendous economic growth, particularly in the
urban areas that are home to more than a third of the country’s population. Political and economic
Marketers face a number of challenges in developing IMC programs for the Chinese market. While
China has been experiencing strong economic growth, the per capita income of the country is still
below that of most industrialized countries. Even in the major cities, where the standard of living is
higher, disposable income is still not that high and the purchasing power of most consumers is still
limited. Foreign companies also face cultural barriers and political/legal restrictions in developing
marketing programs for China. The government does not want advertising to affect the political,
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4.. Global Perspective 19-1 discusses how many multinational companies have been focusing more
attention on the 4 billion consumers who live in the remote, rural communities of developing
countries. Discuss the challenges companies face in marketing their products to the world’s poorest
consumers. How do they have to adapt their IMC programs for these countries? (L02)
Marketers face a number of challenges in marketing their product to the world poorest consumers.
Many of these 4 billion people live in remote, rural communities of developing countries such as
India or China. The tiny villages where many of them live are in remote areas that are beyond the
reach of mass media and distribution. Many of these people live in severe poverty and are illiterate or
5. Why are international markets becoming so important to companies in the United States as well as
other nations? Discuss the role of advertising and other forms of promotion in international marketing
programs of multinational companies. (L01)
There are several reasons why international markets are becoming so important to U.S. companies
such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, Ford, Coca-Cola and many others. The U.S.
market offers limited growth potential to many firms because of slow population growth, saturated
markets, and intense competition. Also, in some industries such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco,
socio/cultural and regulatory trends are causing many markets to stagnate or even decline. U.S.
For European companies such as Nestle, Unilever, Nokia, and Samsung, foreign markets are vital to
their success. These companies are based in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland and South Korea
respectively which are relatively small in size and without foreign markets these companies would
not have the large enough market nor economies of scale to survive against larger U.S. and Japanese
Chapter 19 – International Advertising and Promotion
6. What are some of the cultural variables that marketers must considering in developing advertising and
promotional programs in a foreign market? Choose one of these cultural variables and discuss how it
has created a problem or challenge for a company in developing an advertising and promotional
program in a specific country. (L02)
Cultural factors influence the development of advertising and promotional programs for foreign
markets in a number of ways. Advertisers must consider the language, customs, tastes, attitudes,
7. Evaluate the “Cleansing Power of Sport” global advertising campaign being used by Asics which is
discussed in Global Perspective 19-2. Do you think it is appropriate to use a global advertising
campaign for Asics running shoes? Why or why not? (L03)
The “Cleansing Power of Sport” campaign is designed to better define the brand and position Asics as
one of the leading performance innovative sports brands in the world. The Vitro agency decided to
use an imagery–based campaign that shows a runner going through walls of water and the “Sound
mind, sound body” tagline By using imagery, the global campaign can connect with consumers in
8. What is meant by a country–of-origin effect? Discuss the implications of the results found in the
survey by Andersen Analytics (discussed in Global Perspective 19-3) which shows that college
students have limited knowledge of the country-of-origin of most brands. (L03)
A country-of–origin effect refers to consumers’ general perceptions of quality for products made in a
given country. For example, Germany is known for its excellent automotive engineering and brands
such as Mercedes or BMW are generally perceived as being of higher quality because they are from
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9. What is meant by a global market segment? Provide an example of a company that has identified a
global market segment and advertises its product or service the same way around the world to this
market. (L03)
A global market segment is a group of consumers who are alike in certain ways and will respond
similarly to some aspect of marketing strategy such as advertising. Global market segments have been
identified on the basis of demographics, socioeconomic characteristics or lifestyle. Global
segments and discussing how they can reach them with a global marketing and advertising campaign.
10. Discuss the problems and challenges international marketers face in developing media strategies for
foreign markets. (L04)
Companies face a number of problems in developing media strategies for foreign markets. First, the
types of media available in each country are different. For example, TV sets are not as prevalent in
11. Discuss the evolving role of the Internet and other digital media in the IMC program of international
marketers. How can marketers make effective use of digital media in marketing their product and
service in various countries? (L05)
The Internet is becoming an important IMC tool for companies around the world as more businesses
and homes become connected to it. There are nearly 2 billion Internet users around the world with
the largest number in Asia followed by Europe and North America. Digital media are becoming an
integral part of international marketers IMC programs at a global, regional and local level as they are
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Additional Discussion Questions (not in text)
12. The text discusses how the New Balance 576 model running shoe became very popular as a fashion
item in France. Do you think New Balance can maintain the popularity of its shoes as a fashion brand
in the French market? What risk might this pose for the company regarding its positioning as a
manufacturer of high-quality running shoes, both in France and in other countries? (L02)
The tremendous popularity of the New Balance 576 running shoe as a fashion brand in France is a
very interesting phenomenon. The company and the buyers from the trendy shops in Paris help make
the brand popular among the city’s fashion elite by limiting distribution to a few elite stores and
increasing the price to give the brand an aura of exclusivity. They also kept introducing new colors
New Balance is confronted with an interesting positioning problem as the company has always
positioned its running shoes a high quality, high tech brand for the serious runner. New Balance
refused to hire athletes to endorse its brand until recently and even ran ads with headlines that read
“Endorsed by no one” and copy that notes how the company invests in manufacturing and product
quality rather than paying athletes or celebrities to endorse its shoes. The company let the local
13. Discuss the arguments for and against the use of global marketing and advertising. What types of
products and services are best suited for global advertising? What developments have taken place in
recent years that support the use of global advertising and what factors might make this approach
more difficult to use effectively? (L03)
There are several advantages to global advertising including lower advertising production costs, the
ability to exploit good creative ideas on a worldwide basis, the opportunity to have a consistent brand
and/or company image all over the world, and the simplification of coordination and control of
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Products and services that can take advantage of global advertising include the following:
• brands that can be advertising using primarily a visual appeal and thus avoiding the problems of
translating words into various languages
Advances in technology such as the Intent, telecommunications, cable and satellite television, travel
and other areas are making the use of global marketing more feasible. Consumers around the globe
are exposed to the same music, movies, TV shows, sporting events and web sites. Advances in travel
are making it possible for consumers to visit other countries and experience their culture. One thing
that is making global marketing more difficult is the trend in many countries to return to more
14. What is meant by the “think global, act local” approach to global marketing and advertising? Discuss
some of the ways marketers can adapt their advertising to local markets. (L03)
Proponents of global marketing such as Professor Theodore Levitt argue that the worldwide
marketplace is becoming homogenized and the basic needs, wants and expectations of consumers
transcend geographic, national and cultural boundaries. They argue that consumers around the world
are very similar with regard to tastes, needs, wants, preferences and emotional desires and motives.
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15. Many large multinational companies are consolidating all of their worldwide advertising with one
large agency. Evaluate the pros and cons of this approach. (L04)
A number of factors are driving this consolidation trend. Major corporations recognize they must
develop a consistent global image for the company and/or its brands and speak with one coordinated
voice. This can be very difficult to do if a company is working with numerous agencies around the
The risk of the consolidation decision is that one centralized agency may not be able to develop as
effective advertising in many foreign markets as a local agency. Local agencies often have a better
understanding of the marketing and advertising environment in their country or region and thus may
be able to develop more effective advertising than a large multinational agency. Using a single agency
and local country managers who may not like having control of advertising taken from them.
16. What are the three basic options a company has for organizing its international advertising and
promotion function? Discuss the pros and cons of each. (L04)
There are three basic options for organizing the international advertising and promotion function
including centralization, decentralization or a combination of the two. The centralized organizational
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17. Discuss the role of sales promotion tools such as sampling and coupons in international marketing.
What challenges might marketers face in using these tools in various countries around the world?
(L05)
Sales promotion tools such as sampling and coupons basically play the same role in international
marketing as they do in a domestic marketing program. Samples can be a very effective way to get
consumers in foreign markets to try a new product and realize the benefits of using it. As noted in the
text, a number of companies such as WD-40, Haagen-Dazs, and Nestle have used extensive sampling
programs to generate trial of their products. Coupons can be very important in encouraging
18. The text discusses the public relations problem Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been facing in India
resulting from accusations regarding the level of pesticide residue in their products. What are some
of the ways these companies might deal with the PR problem they are facing in India? (L05)
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been facing major public relations problems in India resulting from
accusations regarding the level of pesticide residue in the products. Both companies have repeatedly
Chapter 19 – International Advertising and Promotion
Public relations activities in foreign markets are often needed to deal with local governments, media,
trade associations, and the general public as these groups may feel threatened by the presence of a
foreign multinational in their country. A major focus of the public relations effort in foreign countries
IMC Exercise
Find an example of a company or brand that is using a global advertising campaign. Does this company
or brand fit in one of the five categories discussed on p. 656 regarding when globalization might be
appropriate? Evaluate the global advertising campaign being used for this company/brand. Do you think
it is appropriate to use a global campaign or could the advertising message be improved by adapting it for
specific regions or countries?
AdForum Exercise: “Comparing adidas Soccer Commercials Used in Various Countries”
(See Advertising and Promotion Playlist, Chapter 19)
The plalylist for this chapter contains commercials used by the global sports company adidas, which is
based in Germany, to promote its soccer shoes, ball and apparel in various countries including Germany,
the United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, France and the United States. Watch the six commercials and
answer the following questions:
1. Evaluate the commercials used by adidas in each of the six countries and discuss the similarities and
differences among them. What aspects of each spot (if any) do you think are unique to the country
where the commercial is used?
2. Discuss whether this commercial can be used outside of the country where it is being used? What
3. Discuss whether a company like adidas can use a global advertising campaign to promote its soccer