Advertising Around the World

        In 2008, advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations and sales managers accounted for about 623,800 jobs in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Overall, employment for these positions is expected to increase by more than 13 percent through the year 2018 because of increasing competition and the need to break through the clutter of the marketplace.  According to Plunkett Research, global advertising spending reached $445 billion in 2009 and this number is expected to increase, as well.   
        While advertising is an important aspect around the world, there are noticeable differences and similarities within the field from country to country.  For example, Michael Kimmelman wrote in the New York Times how  “American commercials go from the head to the wallet, British ones from the head to the heart, French from the heart to the head." Money in France typically implies corruption and the French view advertising as a kind of manipulation.   In the United States, advertising is meant to inform and persuade, but advertising in France is meant to fascinate, charm, entice or tempt.  Unlike in the United States, advertisers in France are not allowed to attack their competitors and they usually do not include a direct-response phone number. Romance and humor are major qualities of French advertising.  Hard-sell tactics, which are often used in the United States, do not go over well in France and culture is stressed in every advertisement.   For example, French advertisements often depict images of French food, restaurants, specialty stores or well-known celebrities.  Sex and wit are often emphasized because “advertising is about presenting an idealized view of its audience.  And this is who we would like to think we are” says Stephane Martin, director of the French Union for Television Advertisements.
        At the Sciences Po University lecture in Paris, Bernard Volker explained that the public relations school is separate from the rest of the journalism courses.  While public relations is included in the Strategic Communications emphasis area at the University of Missouri, public relations, in France is not associated with journalism. 
        Another major advertising difference is that digital media is still not utilized fully because of the fact that France is such an old country.  One example of this is the Paris Opera, which controversially uses traditional advertising in attempt to raise money in order to renovate the building. Currently, hanging on the outside of the beautiful opera house is a giant Ralph Lauren advertisement.  It is understandable that the renovations will cost a huge amount of money, but in this day and age there must be a different way to raise money, other than an unattractive advertisement on the outside of such a magnificent building.  
        Furthermore, the advertising in Rome, Italy has several similarities and differences compared to the advertising market in the United States, as well. For example, Italian advertising focuses on design and views the image as everything.  Unlike advertising in France, Italian advertisers are investing more and more in online campaigns.  Their love of images and aesthetically pleasing content, though, often make the websites slow to load and difficult to navigate, which tends to irritate the consumer.
        Also in Rome is Vatican City, which houses the Vatican Radio.  It was created in 1931, offers broadcasts in 47 different languages and has more than 200 journalists located around the world.  In May 2009, it was announced that the Vatican Radio would begin broadcasting commercial advertisements in July for the first time in order to meet the rising costs.  All advertisements must be carefully chosen and meet the “high moral standards” of the Vatican Radio.  Furthermore, outside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, there was an interesting advertisement displayed.  It was a giant billboard that was primarily white space, with one line of text.  Our guide, Father John, explained that the advertisement was simply asking for money for the church.  
        Another interesting form of advertising found in Rome was one that is rarely seen in the United States. The cafes and bistros around the city each had their menu outside for pedestrians to look at and decide if they wanted to eat there.  Most restaurants even had an employee standing outside trying to convince passersby to enter the establishment.  This type of advertising by the company means that the employees must promote the brand image well and be able to sell their products to individuals who have not yet stepped foot inside the business.  This type of advertising was also prominent with the street vendors.  Tourist shops around the city would create displays outside of their doors in order to entice individuals to enter and look around. 
        Brussels, Belgium also has interesting similarities and differences in their advertising industry.  One reason for this is the fact that Belgium has two official languages: French and Flemish.  Advertising agencies generally have to create advertisements in both.  At the Belgium Communications School, our lecturer, Gareth Harding, explained that there is a major tension between the French and Flemish populations.  In order to create a campaign, two teams work independently on the project--one group in Flemish and the other in French.  They compare their campaigns and decide which is the best to fulfill the client’s needs.  Although Belgium is a small country consisting of 10 million people, many nationalities are represented.  In the advertising industry, all cultural attitudes must be accommodated and represented, because the people of Belgium see themselves as belonging to either the Flemish culture or the French culture, but not to a general Belgian culture.  Advertisements have to use distinguishing qualities and characteristics in order to describe cultural differences.  The only visible difference between the French and Flemish is their way of dress (the French tend to have a more sophisticated style).  Topics such as food and lifestyles are treated differently in advertising for the two cultures, as well.
        Furthermore, at the Czech Media Scene Talk at Charles University, Jan Kirak explained that there is an ongoing tension between journalism, public relations and marketing communications in the Czech Republic.  Universities do not encourage the study of these fields together because of the strong ethical tension, much like in Paris. There is also a high level of skepticism about advertising in the Czech Republic because of the communism propaganda emphasized in previous decades.  Because of this, society has a very weak identification with journalism.  Typically, a job in journalism is a good start in order to make contacts, but it is considered a real failure in life to retire as a journalist.  On the other hand, the advertising market is very stable and constantly increasing.  
        McCann-Erickson has been one of the leading communications agencies in Prague, Czech Republic since 1926 and it upholds many of the advertising ideologies that we promote in the United States, as well.  McCann-Erickson operates creatively using the “Truth Well Told” slogan and the agency uses strategic integrity in every aspect of their work.  At McCann-Erickson, Vladka Dolezelova explained that their mission is to “create solutions that will give you more than five minutes of fame” and they believe that “a good idea doesn’t know who thought of it,” meaning that everyone in the agency participates in the creative work.  The key point of the work done at McCann-Erickson is to listen to the consumer and understand the client’s needs in order to effectively sell their product.  Insights, or views into the consumers’ mind, lead to the creative ideas.  The agency believes that a “brand footprint” must always be utilized in order to project the brand onto the consumer and successfully position the brand.  They also believe that marketing is not a battle about products, but instead a battle about the consumer’s perception.  In the end, an intense emotional experience is what wins the battle of consumers’ perception.
        In general, direct, simple messages are the most desirable advertising in the Czech Republic and humor and clever approaches are very important.  Czech consumers increasingly feel that they are exposed to too many television commercials, print and direct mail advertisements.  One major difference between advertising in Prague and the United States is that Czech advertising is known for its collectivistic themes.  In the United States, consumers want to see how a product or brand will better themselves and increase independence, while the Czech population prefers to see what they can do with a group and how a brand will help to better their relationships.
        Advertising around the world varies from country to country.  Having the chance to immerse myself in these different cultures gave me a better understanding of the nuisances that cannot be learned in a textbook or classroom.  Learning about advertising overseas increased my understanding of advertising in the United States and will improve my work in the field.                                                                                                      


Sammie Powell 
University of Missouri-Columbia
Strategic Communications Major
Business Marketing Minor