Cultural influences on advertisement
Mar 9th, 2011 by jenniferchen
Growing up in Taiwan, I was exposed to a very different lifestyle than in Canada. Compare to the North American and European countries, Asia is much more conservative and values things much differently.
When I first came to Canada, hugging was something that I am not used to. We are more aware to physical distances and perceive maintaining personal distances as a form of being polite. We still express our excitements, just not through hugging.
It is important for not only individuals, but companies to understand the difference between cultures to market their product and services effectively.
Chanel, the queen of fashion, invited Keira Knightley to campaign for their fragrance,Coco Mademoiselle. The interesting thing is, the same billboard picture of Keira, is very different in Asia and in Europe.
Can you tell which one is used in while demographic region?
In one of them, Keira is obviously showing less skin while the other is exposing A LOT.
People from Europe or North American may find that the amount of skin exposure is acceptable, however, by taking into account of the culture influences, the first picture could generate negative public reaction.
Just imagine, this half naked Keira ad on a billboard in Saudi Arabia?! The public might be furious since in the culture, women are not allowed to show more than their eyes when in public.
Next time while traveling to a different country where the cultural differs a lot from Canada, pay attention to the advertisements. It might interesting to find how people perceive things differently and how companies changes their strategies accordingly!