Ads that travel well begin with an insight (i)

A frequent question I hear from senior global marketers is, “how can I maximise adtransference?” It’s a sensible question. As zero-based budgeting grows in popularity,the opportunity to save costs by producing one ad that can be used in many countriesis compelling. But there is the risk that making an ad work across multiple countriesmay not be the best way to maximise ROI.

Benefits and Risks of a global approach

In many ways, the world is getting smaller and brands are becoming more international.  Advertising produced and deployed globally has the potential to be a huge cost saver formarketers. But the odds are against the ad working effectively globally, so marketers needto know when a global ad is the best option and when it would be best to take a global ideaand execute locally. And often, local marketers will say they can create better copy locally,which will more than cover the incremental production cost. So who’s right?

Few ads transfer successfully

Only 38% of the ads tested by Kantar Millward Brown that are strong in one country are strong in another. And only 20% of ads run that are strong in one country are strong in another.  With evidence like that, you would be inclined to side with the local brand director and allow production of new creative.

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

Because many brands are international and consumers are geographically mobile, giving creative control to local markets does run the risk of presenting non-unified brand associations. At worst, consumers could be confused about what a brand stands for.

Guide from the centre, execute locally

Some of the best global advertising we see has centrally defined ‘foundations’ with localexecution. Giving the local team a framework to work within allows them to develop a briefwhich considers the brand’s status in that country. This is the biggest factor affectingwhether or not an ad can cross borders successfully. It also means that local specificsaround receptivity to advertising and any ‘red flags’ around cultural sensitivities can beaddressed.  Some marketers might argue that this approach is too time consuming and too costly, but if the foundations are strong, they’ll only need to be revisited every few years. And, following the global lead doesn’t have to add time to the development process (to be continued next week)

Daren Poole

Global Brand Director, Creative Development, Kantar Millward Brown