It is almost inevitable for a firm to disregard business opportunities in foreign land, especially when competing in todays growing global world. I believe the key to developing a successful marketing strategy is understanding the core values that lie in one’s culture, and influences it has on individuals.  People tend to base their preferences and consumption on cultural influences such as: value, symbols, rituals and thought process.

I would like to focus a little on Japanese adverts and why they are viewed as “weird”. I believe, in specific, it is the values within a culture that set aside the difference in how the message is conveyed through adverts. Values dictate what is acceptable or not within a society.  Countries such as the United States where people are individualistic, purchasing decisions are more based on consumer preferences. On the other hand in Japan, where consumers are more passive and base their values on the welfare of the group, it is more important to target the group rather than individuals. Having briefly covered the difference in values, below is a “well-known” Japanese advert of Mcdonalds’ spongebob happy meal set.

“The Japanese culture places a great emphasis on the community”, in other words, the attempt for marketers to position their brand and allow consumers to talk about their product is what differentiates their brand in Japan.  The mere attention commercials receive will highly influence the purchasing trend of that product.  Therefore, the many “absurd” or “weird” adverts Western people view as, was in actual a fact a promising marketing strategy, as it is. Because consumers in Japan adhere to the social group rather than themselves, it is important for the product to be talked about, whether it be viewed as weird or eccentric from other viewers outside Japan.

For those of you who have not already heard through Facebook,  Twitter, or any other social media, last sunday approximately 108 million people tuned in (with an audience ratings of 48.2%) for the annual championship game of the NFL; also known as super bowl sunday. While it’s an exciting annual event for family and friends to get together, it is also the one occasion that marketers can impress and show a wide variety of audience what they have to offer, with a whopping 3.7 million dollars per 30-second slot.

It is time to question however whether ads,“including the over-the-top Super Bowl spots, have become too entertaining,” says Thales S. Teixeira, an assistant professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School.

Audi’s commercial was set at prom, and Volkswagon’s ad was highly dependent on such humor of the viewer that could empathize with ethnic dialects. Entertainments in commercials varied from  Vegas showgirls introducing Coca-cola, to international pop celebrity’s such as Psy inducing us to “pistachio style”.

However some analysts say commercials were disappointing; by only entertaining a certain generation, and not taking advantage of the wide variety of audience. Ads that are noticed by consumers because they are funny or entertaining often fail to deliver a unique or memorable brand message. As you may notice, on an event where hundreds of millions of viewers in the world are tuned in, it is fairly difficult to entertain every single viewer. It is in fact a challenge to try to even appeal to the general audience, especially with such diversity. Therefore I believe in occasions like the super bowl, it is key to keep ads simple. Entertainment will not only get attention but will also deviate attention from their brand. Therefore it is important for marketers to not dwell but utilize entertainment efficiently to optimally promote their brand, leaving an impact on consumer minds.