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107 It’s all about advertising 09 LANGUAGE SKILLS EXPLORE EXTRAS Present your ad or commercial in class. In your talk, you should:   describe the ad / commercial, its message and target group.   analyse which advertising technique it exploits.   speculate about its success with the target audience.   state why you like it or don’t like it. b Read the text on global advertising below and match the paragraphs with the appropriate headings. a A portmanteau word to describe new developments c Beneficial side effects of a shrinking world b The pitfalls of worldwide campaigns a READING AND SPEAKING 11 Global advertising In groups, think of ads or marketing campaigns that could be used globally. Which ads or campaigns would have to be adapted to local conditions in other countries and why? The internet and social media have paved the way for completely new ads: viral ads. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘to go viral’? What does it mean? 1 If you don’t know the expression, what do you imagine it could mean? 2 If you know any viral ads, tell other people about them. Read the article on the next page. Why are marketing companies excited about viral ad campaigns? Read again, then discuss these questions. 1 The article says viral ads are ‘infectious’. Why is this a good description? What other things can be infectious? 2 Can you remember any other adjectives to describe viral ads? Why do you think these qualities are important? Look at these highlighted words from the article. What do they mean? What mental image do they suggest? a dedicated to unravelling e prior to launch b a new industry has sprung up f businesses want to embrace viral marketing c ‘seeding’ clips on the internet g stellar growth rates d taps into popular culture In what sense is the user ‘in control’ of a viral ad? b READiNg 12 13 a 14 b c (1) Some of the winners of globalisation, where fashions and tastes are becoming increasingly alike and electronic media enable the world-wide dissemination of information within seconds, are international advertisers and big companies. Putting together global campaigns that use the same promotional material in many different countries of the world helps multinational companies to lower costs and to develop a global brand identity. (2) The dangers inherent in using the same promotional material throughout the world are language differences, legal restrictions, religious sensibilities and cultural peculiarities, which, for example, impact on the name of a product, determine what can be shown and how it can be shown as well as conditioning the audience’s response. In some countries, for example, children cannot feature in ads, it is illegal to show alcohol, and scantily-clad women are taboo; finally, what is welcomed as a work-saving device in one culture may be seen as an invitation to laziness in another. (3) In order to avoid embarrassing mistakes and / or expensive legal action, the new keyword for global advertisers is ‘glocalisation’, which means that international campaigns are assessed and, if needs be, modified and adapted to local conditions. This is done by local teams, who know the language, customs, laws and mentality of their compatriots. Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv