Interactive Brand CommunicationClass 13

Global Brand Communication Issues

Should you go global via the Net?

Obstacles & Opportunities in Going Global

Message Issues & Tactics

Media Issues & Tactics

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Featuring today . . . .

There should be a market to tap with the use of the Internet

Review your site traffic to see if you have

enough traffic from outside your home market

Review your online sales to see if enough sales is or can be generated among people outside your home country

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Should you go global and online?

The Internet is an efficient and effective way to expand your sales

Examine e-readiness of the market

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)& Pyramid Research in 2003 came up with the 60 largest economies on “e-readiness” E-readiness refers to the extent to which a country’s

business environment is conducive to Internet-based commercial opportunities

The top thirteen e-business leaders were USA,

Australia, UK, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Hong Kong

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Should you go global and online?

The Internet is an efficient and effective way to expand your sales

Examine e-readiness of the market

(continues ..)

The EIU research employed six categories to come up with the e-readiness score for a market: Internet connectivity (30%), general business environment/strength of economy (20%), consumer and business adoption of e-commerce (20%), legal and regulatory environment (15%), supporting e-services (10%), and social and cultural infrastructure (5%)

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Should you go global and online?

Technological/Economical Obstacles

The Internet penetration varies widely from less than one percent in most of the underdeveloped countries to 40% to 70% of the market population in most of the developed countries

The cost of Internet use is often too high in many countries for individuals to use on a daily basis or for more than minutes

The lack of choice or competition in ISPs keeps prices high and access limited

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Obstacles & Opportunities in Going Global

Legal/Regulatory Environment

The legal and regulatory environment varies widely across national borders

Just because you can do something in one

country doesn’t mean you can do it elsewhere

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Obstacles & Opportunities in Going Global

Social/Cultural Differences

There are notable cultural differences across nations

The marketer should understand the cultural

differences when they advertise their products or services on a global basis

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Obstacles & Opportunities in Going Global

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions 

Individualism/Collectivismthe orientation to personal or group achievements

Time Orientationa culture’s emphasis on patience

Gender roles: Masculine vs. femininethe degree to which a culture separates or does not separate traditional gender roles

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Obstacles & Opportunitiesin Going Global

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (continued)  Power Distance

the extent to which people accept social hierarchies and the power gaps they create

Uncertainty Avoidance

the degree to which a culture is uncomfortable with ambiguity and seeks certainty

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Obstacles & Opportunitiesin Going Global

To learn more about cross-national differences in culture and advertising approaches, refer to

Zandpour, F., Campos, B., Catalano, J., Chang, C., Cho, Y., Hoobyar, R., Jiang, H., Lin, M., Madrid, S., Scheideler, P., & Osborn, S. (1994), "Global Reach and Local Touch: Achieving Cultural Fitness in TV Advertising," Journal of Advertising Research, 34 (5), 35-63.

Albers-Miller, N. & Gelb, B. (1996) Business advertising appeals as a mirror of cultural dimensions: A study of eleven countries. Journal of Advertising, 25 (4), 57-70.

Kuen-Hee Ju-Pak (1999), Content Dimensions of Web Advertising: A Cross-National Comparison, International Journal of Advertising, 18 (2), 207-231.

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Obstacles & Opportunities in Going Global

Standardization vs. Localization Strategy Same message across markets vs. customized

message to each market Previous literature supports localization

approach on the ground of cross-national differences in culture, economic, legal, and media environment

“Market globally, think locally” in the Internet -- a challenge

The Need for a cost/benefit analysis to achieve flexibility & profitability

How much to localize advertising depends largely on cross-cultural differences

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Message/Creative Issues

Language Translation Methods Using automatic translation software

simplest approach to translation Example software: V6 from Vignette; Teamsite by

Interwoven; VIP Enterprise from Gauss, Documentum 4i

your translation software should have: a version control mechanism that allows multiple

language versions of content to coexist a strong, yet flexible templating mechanism workflow that can manage every step of the process

offers cost advantages, but lots of room for errors

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

Language Translation Methods Use of global outsourcing agencies

SDL of Plano TX, and GlobalSight, Bowne Global Solutions to find more about the agencies and the industry,

check out the website for the American Translators Association and the Localization Industry Standards Association

work with an agency that has experience in handling Web localization

ask them how they measure and control quality of the translation

quite effective, but costly approach

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

Language Translation Methods

Have translators on staff

being able to speak a language does not necessarily make you a good translator

  

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

General Tactics Write in simple, short sentences, with

substantive headlines Avoid technical jargons, specialized terms Test the market audience to speak their

language correctly & to avoid culturally misleading innuendos

How much to translate should be based on local interest and ROI

Think globally even at the development of the ads and web site

Provide customer service in multiple languages

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

General Tactics Offer multiple channels for communication:

If possible, give them a local phone number, fax number and mailing address

If local contact is not feasible, offer your international customers e-mail communication only, and have native speakers handle all communication and translate the questions and answers

Make information in own website easily searchable and printable

Provide FAQs 

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

Design Tactics Visuals and design elements should be

localized Be aware of the look of the local language

and understand the impact of text expansion or contraction on the design of your ad or site

When a block of text is translated into another language, it tends to expand or contract, depending on the target language

Avoid embedding text into graphics Do not use flags but use the word to

indicate the local language

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

Design Tactics Don’t draw lines on diagrams Brand names, slogans, logos, colors, and

navigation items could be constant Other variables may be localized:

measurement & sizes, prices & currencies, dates, calendars, time zones, product selection, contact info, images & icons, forms and input fields

Read “Are you cultured” by Aaron Markus in the readings list

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Localizing The Website, Ads, & Customer Services:

Find out where your audience goes and advertise there

Use high target traffic sites for a branding campaign; use more targeted approach (e.g., keyword search) for a direct marketing campaign

Start with portals and search engines that offer global reach (e.g., Yahoo!, MSN)

Use of multinational ad networks is a good idea

Test the sites before a big buy

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Media/Placement Issues