Each of these three advertisements came from the Emerald Rugby Magazine. They all carry the same values of standing out and being above the competition. The first ad is from Heineken and can be found on the back cover of the magazine. It says "back to back success"" with two beers back to back. It is obviously talking about the Leinster team for their back to back success in championships, but the double entendre makes Heineken seem like the best choice. It values success above its competition. The second ad is similar when it comes to values as "the best". As one can see in the big print, it says that Bus Eireann is "Ireland's Biggest", hinting to consumers that it's better than all of the rest in size, customer base, and overall success. Its values include success, standing out, and being the better and bigger business in the market. The third ad is for a Tommy Hilfiger wristwatch. It say almost nothing in the ad, but from the picture you can sense a cool type of style that is desirable to men who want to look good while wearing a watch. Being a masculine culture, it is easy to see the masculinity in these ads. They are all promoting the biggest and the best and top notch of the business and their products. The low UAI is also seen in each of these because there's not to much information or explanation going on in the ads. There's no need for fact or reasoning to back up the opinions, the Irish culture tends to embrace it. Hofstede's other dimension of cultural individuality is also present in the ads, for they each try to separate themselves from the competition. Heineken is the best in success, Bus Eireann is the biggest in Ireland, and Tommy Hilfiger is the best looking and most stylish out of all other designers. They actually are all very similar to the U.S. ads as you will come to find out shortly.
U.S. Advertisements
These three ads are from the Sports Illustrated Bruins Stanley Cup Championship Edition. Each have similar elements to those of the Irish, seeing as though Ireland and the U.S. do share some cultural similarities. The first ad is for John Hancock Insurance. It is portraying the values of a championship. "sweat, blood, tears, and champagne". All elements of winning and being the best. It is a congratulatory advertisement to the Boston Bruins, however, by expressing the affiliation with the world champion team, the insurance company is connected with top notch success and being the best of the best, or at least partners with them. It is success by association. The second ad is for Geico insurance. It is also advertising based on sports. This one is about golf. Having a perfect swing is hard to do, but getting good insurance isn't. The speed and quality you can get insurance is what's being advertised. great quality that can help you shows Geico being better than something that is difficult, such as signing up with other companies. The values in this ad are superiority and quality assurance. The third ad is from Reebok. Much like the first ad, it is making an affiliation in a congratulatory ad. The affiliation gains Reebok the credibility of success being a sponsor, therefore them and their product is superior to others. Each ad shows off the Hofstede dimensions as well. The U.S. scores as individualist on the IDV category, meaning people don't tend to collectively identify with others outside of immediate family (however it can be different in some situations). This being said, in each ad, one can see that each company separates itself form the competition. there's no collectivism going on. In the MAS category, the U.S. is masculine much like Ireland. This can be seen in the advertisements through it's "blood sweat and tears" and their attributes pertaining to being better than the competition. Like Ireland, the U.S. also has low UAI, so they don't need to much explanation or reasoning behind what they are presented with. They will embrace it for what it is. The last thing I would like to discuss in the Hofstede Dimensions for the U.S. is long-term/ short-term orientation. The U.S. has short- term orientation and this can be seen specifically in the Geico ad when it says it only takes 15 minutes to save on the car insurance. Doing it now rather than later is a perfect example for short-term orientation.
The reason I believe these magazines are so similar are not only because they are both sports magazines and will be read mostly by males of the same market group, but the fact that both countries are very similar in terms of Hofstede's cultural dimensions. The same cultural values and personalities can easily explain why the ads are virtually very similar.
China Advertisement
I am going to also throw China in on this to make the advertising spectrum a little more diverse. This is a Chinese advertisement is for the Beijing Olympics back in 2002. There are a few connections that I can make with this based upon the Hofstede dimensions. The first connection I can make is with is the MAS category. China scores a 66 in this, meaning they focus on masculinity in their advertisements. This can be found in this advertisement with all of the athletes on the pages. They are the best of the best, and even though I can't read what's on the ad, I know it is about watching the Olympics and seeing all of the world's finest athletes compete in the world's biggest tradition of excellence. The next category is UAI. Like Ireland and the U.S., China also has a low UAI, therefore there is no need for too much information on the ads to explain what is going on or what the product being sold is. In this case, the consumers will see the ad and embrace the idea of watching the Olympics, a fine and traditional competition. The only connection I can make with LTO, which China is very high in, is that the glory in victory that China may get from the Olympics is certainly long term for the Chinese and their pride. Therefore, this ad presents a feeling of glory that comes along with the Olympics and the Chinese will want to keep that with them for the long run.
No comments:
Post a Comment