10.0 Introduction

Marketing communications—the promotion P of the marketing mix—includes advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling. When a company embraces integrated marketing communications (IMC), it recognizes that the various elements of a company’s communication strategy must be carefully coordinated. Advertising is a sponsored, paid message that is communicated through nonpersonal channels. Global advertising consists of the same advertising appeals, messages, artwork, and copy in campaigns around the world. The effort required to create a global campaign forces a company to determine whether or not a global market exists for its product. The trade-off between standardized and adapted advertising is often accomplished by means of pattern advertising, which can be used to create localized global advertising. Many advertising agencies are part of larger advertising organizations. Advertisers may place a single global agency in charge of worldwide advertising; it is also possible to use one or more agencies on a regional or local basis.

The starting point in ad development is the creative strategy, a statement of what the message will say. The people who create ads often seek a big idea that can serve as the basis for memorable, effective messages. The advertising appeal is the communication approach—rational or emotional—that best relates to buyer motives. Rational appeals speak to the mind: emotional appeals speak to the heart. The selling proposition is the promise that captures the reason for buying the product. The creative execution is the way an appeal or proposition is presented. Art direction and copy must be created with cultural considerations in mind. Perceptions of humour, male-female relationships, and sexual imagery vary in different parts of the world. Media availability varies considerably from country to country. When selecting media, marketers are sometimes as constrained by laws and regulations as by literacy rates.

A company utilizes public relations (PR) to foster goodwill and understanding among constituents both inside and outside the company. In particular, the PR department attempts to generate favourable publicity about the company and its products and brands. The PR department must also manage corporate communications when responding to negative publicity. The most important PR tools are press releases, media kits, interviews, and tours. Many global companies make use of various types of corporate advertising, including image advertising and advocacy advertising. Public relations is also responsible for providing accurate, timely information, especially in the event of a crisis.

Core Principles of International Marketing – Chapter 11 by Babu John Mariadoss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.