Deck 16: Integrated Marketing Communications and International Advertising

Question 1

What special media problems confront the international advertiser?

Answer 1

Advertising stands for the promotional activities that an organization undertakes for creating awareness of its products and services in the minds of the potential customers using various mediums like television, print media like newspapers, radio, bill boards etc.
International advertiser might face the problems of media like an advertiser might be in a dilemma to choose among various options of media availability to advertise its products and services. An advertiser might be confronted with advertising mediums like TV, radio, print media like newspapers, magazines, journals etc. and has to determine the best suitable medium to introduce its product in the foreign place.
To resolve this issue, an advertiser can make use of research tools and undertake analysis of that area and opinions of people related to the medium which they find most suitable and easy to get access to. This way it could be possible for the advertiser to determine best media alternative for its product and its promotion in the foreign location. By doing this, the advertiser would be able to solve the special media issues that he might face in a foreign location.

Question 2

After reading the section in this chapter on direct mail, develop guidelines to be used by a company when creating a direct mail program.

Answer 2

Guideline for direct mail should be the same as for any advertising program, i.e., identify the target market, select a medium that reaches the target market, develop a message that communicates how the attributes of your product fit the needs of the target market. On this last point is the issue of translation. You want to avoid the mistake a catalog producer, R.R. Donnelley, made when a collection of a dozen American catalogs sent to Japanese consumers received only modest responses and orders. Failure to receive sufficient response may have reflected more on the American Showcase package than on the success of direct mail in the Japanese market. Even though the covering letter and brochure describing the catalogs were in Japanese, the catalogs were all in English. This error was further amplified by the fact that the mailing list did not target English-speaking Japanese. In addition to these general issues, special attention needs to give to characteristics of mail. Are mailing lists that include your target market without excessive coverage of non-target market recipients? Does the mailing system impose some additional burden on the recipient? For example, the situation in Chile where the person receiving mail must pay a portion of the postage.

Question 3

Will the ability to broadcast advertisements over TV satellites increase or decrease the need for standardization of advertisements? What are the problems associated with satellite broadcasting? Comment.

Answer 3

Advertising stands for the promotional activities that an organization undertakes for creating awareness of its products and services in the minds of the potential customers using various mediums like television, print media like newspapers, radio, bill boards etc.
The ability of broadcasting advertisements over TV satellites will decrease the need for standardization of advertisements. This is because satellite TVs are capable of reaching different countries at the same time providing advertisements and information in several languages catering the needs and demands of different cultures and different legal systems. This technology could be effectively used and harnessed by a company in making its product advertised at global platform and creating awareness of its offerings to the world population.
The problems that are associated with satellite broadcasting could be explained by stating that when a company by making effective use of satellite TVs could provide the information of its products and services to the people of different cultures, languages, and legal systems. Like, when a company launches its telephone handsets to a foreign country it has to cater the needs and beliefs of the people residing in that country. The language in which the product is advertised should be common to the people in that country; the kind of scenes and information depicted in that ad should sync with the beliefs of the people; alongwith conforming the legal requirements of that country. This way different languages, legal systems, and cultures might pose problem for an advertiser advertising a standardized ad in different countries.

Question 4

In many of the world's marketplaces, a broad variety of media must be utilized to reach the majority of the market. Explain.

Question 5

Cinema advertising is unimportant in the United States but a major media in such countries as Austria. Why?

Question 6

"Foreign newspapers obviously cannot be considered as homogeneous advertising entities." Explain.

Question 7

Borrow a foreign magazine from the library. Compare the foreign advertising to that in an American magazine.

Question 8

What is sales promotion and how is it used in international marketing?

Question 9

Define the key terms listed above.

Question 10

Show how the communications process can help an international marketer avoid problems in international advertising.

Question 11

"Perhaps advertising is the side of international marketing with the greatest similarities from country to country throughout the world. Paradoxically, despite its many similarities, it may also be credited with the greatest number of unique problems in international marketing." Discuss.

Question 12

Take each of the steps in the communications process and give an example of how culture differences can affect the final message received.

Question 13

Someone once commented that advertising is America's greatest export. Discuss.

Question 14

Discuss the problems created because the communications process is initiated in one cultural context and ends in another.

Question 15

With satellite TV able to reach many countries, discuss how a company can use satellite TV and deal effectively with different languages, different cultures, and different legal systems.

Question 16

What is the importance of feedback in the communications process? Of noise?

Question 17

Outline some of the major problems confronting an international advertiser.

Question 18

Defend either side of the proposition that advertising can be standardized for all countries.

Question 19

Review the basic areas of advertising regulation. Are such regulations purely foreign phenomena?

Question 20

How can advertisers overcome the problems of low literacy in their markets?