Cultural Dimension in Advertising - Essay Example

?Introduction The most important paradigm of the business is that it is intrinsically linked to the needs and requirements of the people. Its successrelies heavily on the impact that it makes on them within the broader context of conceived social fabric. Thus, advertising of products and services becomes one of the most popular and also the most vital tool of market strategy. They are designed to influence the segmented target and their effectiveness is reflected in the increased brand equity and sale of the product. In the era of globalization and increasingly changing format of societal format, contents and format of advertisements have become critical elements of market strategy. The products need to encompass global values to attract customers from pluralistic society. The paper therefore, would use global theme. It would evaluate three advertisements based on the broader context of global values and analyze the changing perception of the people vis-a-vis impact of socio-cultural paradigms on the perceived value of the product. Description and semiotic analysis of Advertisements 1. Axe products Currently Axe products from Unilever, especially men’s deodorants are one of the most popular brands of men’s grooming. The products have established excellent track records in the innovative marketing and advertising world. All the advertisements of Axe are highly global in theme and target the men’s segment and are broadly designed to highlight their sex appeal for opposite sex. The vibrantly displayed contents of the text and its background landscape are highly appealing for both men and women cutting across the divide of culture, race and nationality. Unilever has adopted a creative market mix strategy for its Axe products to maintain competitive advantage in the global market. The advertisement targets men within the age group of 16-25 and subtly links its use as a portent means of attracting the opposite sex. The success of the advertisement lies in the glamour and humor of the contextual content that is very appealing. Indeed, Axe’s advertising targets adventurous young men and sends a subtle message that using it would make them not only more confident but also more popular amongst the fairer sex. Axe website on the whole, is a brilliant example of ecommerce activity that serves multiple purpose of advertising, marketing and selling of Axe products. 2. McDonald’s The company has been a world leader in the fast food category which has now incorporated ‘I’m lovin’ it’ within its logo also. The mission statement of McDonald’s, ‘To be our customer’s favorite place and way to eat’ is reflected in all its advertisements and campaigns highlighted by cliche “I’m lovin’ it’. The company has established its brand equity by using common advertisement in all its food chain across the globe. The advertisement targets the demographic segment comprising of children, young adults and working people who relish food. The advertisement of its new product, ‘Angus Snack Wrap’ gives the opportunity to buyers to prepare the snack as per their palette taste. Indeed, a very innovative and tempting offer that is hard to ignore! The internet based website advertisement is not only greatly interesting for letting the customers create their own concoction of AngusWrap but concept of letting them have their own personal axiom to define their Wrap is par excellent. The advertisement again, portrays global values and helps transcend socio-cultural misgivings by encouraging customization of the products as per the taste and design of the individual. At the same time, it has successfully influenced the perceived value of its product of the customer by encouraging proactive participation in creating their own snack. Indeed, by catering to the demands of people coming from cross cultural background, it has been successful in adopting global values. The advertisements show Customers have remained its main focus and their satisfaction is ensured through customization, value and highly personalized service. 3. Nokia phones Nokia mobile has maintained its unique position in the telecommunication industry. The advertisements have followed a highly successful communication strategy that significantly impacts the psyche of the target group. ‘Connecting people’ is one of the most creative advertisement messages that is global in essence and is able to touch the heart of the people. The various other advertisements on the website are also highlighted by the uniqueness of the messages that are closely aligned to the contents displayed by human interaction that proves the validity of the same. The impact of visual and textual content is linked to human behavior and promotes relationship building. Including people from diverse background, the advertisement reflects the global value of the company and its intention to target the system rather than a specific community or group. The advertisements of Nokia are prolific in their messages that target human psychology. At the same time, it is also able to raise its brand equity by providing value on its various products. By showing people from diverse demographic segments, it also ensures satisfaction as it follows the strategy of differentiation based on pricing, lifestyle and features on its wide range of mobiles. Indeed, the most distinguishing feature of Nokia advertisements is that it has effectively crossed the barrier of culture, race and nationality. It showcases how the product helps fulfill the dreams of common man and hence their global appeal. Analysis of advertisement based on human psychology to influence individual perception In the highly competitive environment of global business, advertisements are crucial elements of promotional tools. Wernick (1991) believes that advertisements represent the wider aspect of cultural commodification of goods to compete in the current market conditions. The advertisements represent commodities that are perceived to hold some value for the consumers and therefore target defined segment to influence their purchase behavior. The common feature of all the mentioned advertisements was their intention to target common man and stress global values by showing people from diverse background in their visual. The pluralistic societies around the globe have provided the global business with viable economic option to advertise their products and services in the same common format across geographical boundaries. Baker and Hart (2007) have convincingly argues that people need to become intrinsic part of advertising and market because businesses fundamentally cater to the changing preferences of the people. It is for this reason that promotional techniques focus on human needs. McDonald’s, Axe and Nokia, all three companies have been significant in their effort to project their products as per the needs and demands of the people. Goldman and Papson (1996) think that advertisements redefine mechanics of social construction. It creates an image of a product with a background of success and happiness that promises to fulfill the defined desires of people on consumption of the same. While ‘I’m lovin’ it’ is the popular epithet of McDonald’s that has attracted customers from wide segment, ‘connecting people’ is highly indigenous in breaking the barrier of race, culture and color. The success of these advertisements is not only in the value of the products but in addressing people from across the culture and nationality. They reinforce the reality of global values where equality and diversity is intrinsic part of social structure. The human behavior has become the mainstay of these advertisements and relies heavily on influencing the socio—psychological needs of the customers. McDonald’s strategy to customize its items as per the fancy of the customer is very commendable because it eliminates differences of class and culture and focuses on customer satisfaction in general. The advertisements are broadly designed to influence the self concept and personality traits of the people. Theory of cognitive learning is the major psychological paradigm that is used in advertisements to impact the behavior of the target group. Hearn (2008) has asserted that in the contemporary times, the concept of self branding to reconstruct the image of self as per the cultural meaning and images drawn from visual codes of mainstream industry is increasingly being exploited by the advertisements. The impact of visuals and textual content are critical elements that motivate the viewer to become consumer. Indeed, many times the strong visual and textual content are able to divert committed clients. Axe advertisements highlight the gender relation and exploit the same to create universal appeal for their products. In fact some of its advertisements are so absurd but highly entertaining that sheer humor of visuals tends to increase its consumption perception. The one advertisement where the girl leaves her fiance for the man who uses Axe product is absurd but it irretrievably sends the message that using Axe would definitely increase the sex appeal of men. Thus, the power o subtle humor is huge and therefore, is often used in contemporary advertisements to lure new customers. Arnould et al. (2004) assert that motivated behavior is prompted by a yearning that is need driven. Products which are bought as a lifestyle statement have a motivated goal. It defines and determines how people would like to spend their time and money and to what extent, they are ready to change their personality to suit their changing environment. Luxury brands and changing trends indicate the changing lifestyle patterns of individuals who like to keep abreast with the changing times. While McDonald’s advertisement is able to influence the perception of fast food amongst the masses by visuals that show groups enjoying its products, Nokia and Axe advertisements target the subtle needs of the people to turn them into consumers. Motivation factors like personal wellbeing, environment, developmental issues etc. have increasingly become strong elements to influence the buying behavior for goods that facilitate these factors. Indeed, it is noticeably influenced by personality and self concept of the consumer. While self concept is the way one perceives or likes to perceive himself, personality describes the way other people see them and interpret the person’s overall appearance as it is exhibited. In the contemporary times, people are influenced by the changing trends in the society and cultivate traits and adopt lifestyles that reflect their evolving values, tastes and personal preferences. All the advertisements of the three companies discussed herein, are exemplary examples of influencing the personality of the people. Advertisements are adept at exploiting the purchase behavior process of the customers by highlighting the perceived need and method of fulfilling it. The visual display is tempered with textual content so as to address the requirements of people from diverse background. This has been the most effective tool for McDonald, Axe and Nokia which they have judiciously used to target the vulnerable customer base. The strong messages, subtle as that in Axe advertisements and clearly discernable ones as in McDonald’s and Nokia advertisements have been very effective in impacting the socio-psychological behavior of the target group. The intensity of appeal of the message, both visual and textual is immense as they are able to convey the satisfaction of the products. The dissemination of information is over-ridden by the need to make the advertisements target the human relationship on the wider context of influencing human behavior. Interestingly, advertisements serve as one of the most important tools of communication to create need and act as catalyst to the process of purchase which may or may not lead to buying decision. On the more positive side, their impact on the target is significantly boosted by the socio-psychological paradigms of the transforming societies across the globe. Global brands offer equity vis-a-vis products and quality that is attractive to people, especially from emerging new economies who are increasingly attracted towards the ‘foreign’ goods. The perceived value for the brand that could possibly add value to the lifestyle greatly helps in generating an attitude amongst the consumers for the products. If the advertisements are able to deliver the promises made, the satisfied customers not only promote retention but also attract new customers. The success of McDonald’s, Axe and Nokia is testament to the effectiveness of their advertisements. Conclusion One can therefore, conclude that concept of marketing has undergone tremendous changes. The market has increasingly become need driven and advertisements try to lure customers through promises to fill those needs. Understanding consumer psychology and correlating it with the products has become critical part the emerging new market environment. While succinct textual content of the advertisements is used to disseminate information about the product, the visual becomes extremely important to convey the satisfaction after consumption. The visuals also become important because it helps the people to identify themselves as part of wider global family. Indeed, Axe, McDonald’s and Nokia, all three companies have used effective advertisements to shape consumer behavior and gain competitive advantage in their respective industries across the globe. (words: 2083) Reference Arnould, Eric & Price, Linda & Zinkhan, George. (2004). Consumers. 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill. United States. Axe TV commercial. Retrieved from: Baker, M.J. and Hart S.J. (eds) (2007). The Marketing Book 6th edition, Butterworth-Heinemann. Goldman, Robert and Papson, Stephen. (1996). Advertising in the Age of Accelerated Meaning. The consumer Society Readers, p81-98. Hearn, Alison. (2008). Meat, Mask, Burden` : Probing the contours of the branded self. Journal of Consumer Culture 2008 8: 197. McDonald TV Commercial. Retrieved from: Nokia advertisement. Retrieved from: Wernick, Andrew. (1991). Promotional culture: Advertising and Symbolic Expression in Late Capitalism. SAGE publication. Read More