MA Advertising

Same Same, But Different:

Diversity in Advertising amidst the rise of Global Consumer Culture

Yoanna Sarigan

September 2013

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Bucks New University

Faculty of Design, Media & Management

MA Advertising

Same Same, But different:

Diversity in Advertising Amidst the Rise of Global Consumer Culture

Yoanna Sarigan

ID No: 21207143

Tutor: Beverley Lyle

Submission: September 2013

Word count: 6101

Module Code: AD705

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CONTENTS

Page n.

Introduction 4

SECTION ONE

Technology, Globalisation and Segmentation 8

SECTION TWO

Diversity toward a multicultural workforce 21

SECTION THREE

State of diversity in the UK ad industry 27

Conclusions 34

Account of Sources 38

Picture credits 40

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Introduction

“You need to encourage diversity and have different viewpoints. What might

work in one culture may not necessarily work in another, but you would not

find out unless you have people of different ethnicities within your workforce.”1

Debarshi Pandit’s (Head of OMG Ethnic, Omnicom Media Group) statement

suggests the importance of diversity and multiculturalism in the creation and

effectiveness of advertising communication. The statement also echoes the

necessity of audience segmentation in terms of consumer culture, focusing on

the global (interchangeably referred to in this study as cross-cultural) but it

does not recognise the possibility of shared “mental complexions” 2 that

consumers across different ethnicities may have in this day of globalisation

and technological advancement. When considered in relation to Steve

Stoute’s (Founder and Chairman of Translation LLC at Wharton) assertion on

“omniculturalism”, the supposition of this possibility becomes apparent:

More than just racial mixing, this is going to produce what I call

“omniculturals”, people of any or many particular races whose cultural

values are not aligned to a box that they can check on any form. These

consumers will be more defined by economic and educational

attainment, lifestyle interests and activities that will not be templates of

our current in-going assumptions of particular racial groups.3

                                                                                                               1 Diversity in Advertising, The IPA, London, Richard Paris Wilson, 13th November, 2012 (video) 2 Stoute, S. ‘Omniculturalism in 2020’, The Wharton Future of Advertising Program, <http://wfoa.wharton.upenn.edu/perspective/stevestoute/> (accessed 22 July 2013) 3 ibid.

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This statement is predictive; yet regard ever-present necessities of defining

the psychographic consumer base toward achieving communication

efficiency. Stoute’s idea also suggests the eventual breakdown of cultural

stereotyping in media, which is “a key consideration for marketers in the

changing face of society, particularly regarding ethnicity.”4

Although the booming multicultural market and continuous refinement of

communication strategies imply that narrowcasting applies to niche

segments,5 advertising agencies lag behind in successfully fostering diversity

and multiculturalism for organisational and economical reasons. The tempting

idea of cross-culturalism—a strategy directed toward multiple segments that

exhibit a global consumer culture positioning (GCCP), has therefore become

an increasingly plausible option.6

Lagging or not, the opening statement’s expression of the demand for

diversity and multiculturalism in the advertising industry must be considered in

line with how messages meaningfully resonate with and represent the target

segment.

While the advertising industry constantly adapts to respond to the shifting

needs of the global consumer, the industry itself recognizes the lack of

                                                                                                               4 Kwai-Choi Lee, C., Martin, B. A.S., Yang, F. ‘The Influence of AD Model Ethnicity and Self-referencing on Attitudes,’ Journal of Advertising, Vol. 33, No. 4, 2004, 27-37, p.31 5 Grier, S. and Brumbaugh, A. ‘Noticing Cultural Differences: Ad Meanings Created by Target and Non-target Markets,’ Journal of Advertising, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1999, 79-93, p.87 6 Puntoni, S., Schroeder, J., Ritson, M. ‘Meaning Matters: Polysemy in Advertising,’ Journal of Advertising, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2010, 51-64, p. 57

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diversity and multiculturalism at present due to hiring and cultural issues.7

Studies also show that there is a very slow transformation at the operational

levels of the industry, while areas of ethnic-shops ownership and skills

development have shown progress.8

Taking into account the importance of unearthing valuable insights to be able

to deliver relevant messages to the growing multicultural market, the purpose

of this research is to investigate:

How are advertising agencies responding to the call for diversity and

multiculturalism amidst the rise of global consumer culture?

The study is mainly a review of related literature, assessment of video

interview answers, as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses of reports

gathered from industry sources. The study aims to discuss topics such as

globalisation and technology, diversity and creativity, and how these factors

are at play in creating advertising messages for different target segments –

global and local.

Secondly, this research aims to observe and offer examples of how the

advertising industry employs mainly globalised strategies across different

markets, i.e. advertising classified as exhibiting cross-culturalism.

                                                                                                               7 Bush, M. ‘Sorry State of Advertising is Not Just Hiring, But Culture Problem’ Advertising Age, Vol. 82, No. 5, 31 January 2011, p. 0004 8 Duffett, R.,G,. Van der Heever, I,C., Bell, D. ‘Black Economic Empowerment Pprogress in the Advertising Industry: Challenges and benefits.’ Southern African Business Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2009, 86-118, p. 112

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Finally, this study aims to explore the current state of diversity and

multiculturalism in the advertising industry in London, United Kingdom and

what initiatives are being done to address the situation.

Findings that emerged from this research can be used as a means to identify

recommendations for further study on diversity in advertising, and how factors

involved are relevant to different global consumer markets which are, as the

popular expression in emerging cultures goes, “same same, but different.”

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SECTION ONE

Technology, Globalisation and Segmentation

According to Steenkamp and De Jong, a “progressive global marketplace

incited by three things – one of which is the rise of media that is accessed

worldwide through the internet. The other two are the increase in international

travel in the past years”9 and growth in international trade and investment. All

three are “important challenges that companies around the world are

constantly encountering.”10

The former CEO of H.J. Heinz Co. talks about the Internet and cable TV as

being channels which are “powerful enough to cover immense areas, and

personal enough to reach the individual consumer…a technology that is

changing all the rules of global advertising.”11 This statement shows how

technology is so powerful and useful for companies in creating a global brand

that can shape different consumer preferences. As Duffet notes, “global

companies are shaping the perceptions and aspirations of citizens of various

nations, wherever they live.”12

                                                                                                               9 Steenkamp, J. P. and de Jong, M. G. ‘A Global Investigation into the Constellation of Consumer Attitudes toward Global and Local Products’, Journal of Marketing, 2011, 74 (6), pp. 18-40. 10 Iversen, N. M. and Leif E. ‘Reciprocal transfer effects for brand extensions of global or local origin: evidence from Norway’, International Marketing Review, 2011, 28 (4), pp. 365 – 411. 11 O’Reilly, J.F. ‘The Emergence of the Global Consumer’, 1991. 12 Duffet, R. G. ‘Employment equity issues in the Cape Town advertising industry: A Black economic empowerment perspective’, African Journal of Business Management, 2011, 5(15), pp. 6271-6286.

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As a result, consumers around the world are buying electronically - a

possibility that makes different target markets more sophisticated and

demanding. This is something advertisers have always been keen to adapt

with, as these new tech-savvy global consumers value a fast and concise

response and expect high quality product or service delivery.

In effect, companies and corporations are paying more attention to cultural

diversity on a global as well as local scale. Ways in which marketing and

advertising should adapt to the different cultures present in both global and

local marketplace are becoming subjects of discourse and conferences. The

importance of unearthing specific cultural insights is highlighted in agency

workshops, as well as how global advertising messages work when various

cultural patterns are assessed.

With the aim of increasing growth and staying globally relevant, companies

are also looking at identifying common consumer traits and patterns that exist

across world cultures. As Alden pointed out, “the expansion of the global

marketplace has driven brands and corporations to seek global consumer

segments, i.e. niche markets across different countries who perceive patterns

of similarities in values and meanings of things, places, and people.”13

To address this emergence of a global consumer culture, Alden presented

and substantiated the idea of global consumer culture positioning (GCCP), or

in industry terms, “cross-culturalism”, as a strategy to reach global consumer                                                                                                                13 Alden, D. L. and Steenkamp, J. B. and Batra R. ‘Brand Positioning Through Advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The Role of Global Consumer Culture’, Journal of Marketing, 1999, 63 (January), pp. 75-87.

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markets. On the other hand, they identified a strategy in contrast with GCCP,

the local consumer culture positioning (LCCP), 14 which posits that the

advertising strategy should be tailored for each specific ethnic market.

Alden discovered that either of these two types of consumer segmentation

and positioning is demonstrated in over 85% of advertising messages. In the

application of either of the two strategies, it is of course necessary that

advertisers recognize and identify which strategy appropriately corresponds to

the identified target audience.15

The consumers, being at the centre of this global marketing and advertising

strategy repositioning, is considered within a cultural context in their

involvement in the points and processes of purchase.16 McCracken promotes

the idea that "meaning moves from culture to us through goods.” 17

Advertising, in this respect, has the responsibility for being a means of

transposing values and meanings from a specific cultural context to products

and brands, which makes the purchase more relevant to the consumer.

This is also in agreement with the assertion made by Alden that advertising

strategies and segmentations intend to imply the correlation that every

consumer in the planet purchases a specific brand, or that the brand is a

“conduit to feeling at one with the global culture.”18

                                                                                                               14 ibid. 15 ibid. 16 McCracken, G. Culture and Consumption II Markets, Meaning, and Brand Management, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2005. 17 ibid. 18 Alden, op. cit., p. 77.

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Some popular and successful examples of brands that have been using this

global consumer strategy include Levi Strauss (“Fit For Everybody”) (2010),

which indicated the brand’s expansive ventures in Asia as the brand offered

jeans sizes for consumers with a smaller physique; Johnnie Walker (“Keep

Walking”) 1999, with its universal message that successful men are not

judged by where they are but where they are heading; Benetton ("The United

Colors of Benetton"), with its slogan and portraits that exhibit the oneness of

humanity; Philips ("Let's Make Things Better"), which candidly employed

people with different nationalities and skin colour, which was also noticeably

employed by Benetton; and Coca-Cola’s on-going Happiness campaign,

which taps into one positive universal emotion and expresses the idea that a

moment of happiness can bring the world closer together.

Global Brand and Consumer Identity

Robertson defines globalisation as the "crystallization of the world as a single

place"19 and "the emergence of the global human condition".20 This means

that conceptualising the world as a single place then drives people to create

their own identity or perception of him or her self, in terms of relating to the

world culture they belong to, whether global or local. Moreover, Robertson’s

findings show that the development of such identities is influenced by

personality traits. Interestingly, brands can be seen in the same light: “…in a

world ruled by competition, brands bring clarity, safety, consistency, status,

                                                                                                               19 Robertson, R. ‘Globalization and Societal Modernization: A Note on Japan and Japanese Religion,’ Sociological Analysis, Vol. 47, September 1987, 35-43, p. 38 20 ibid.

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membership—meaning everything that a human being needs in order to be

able to define itself. Brands mean identity.”21

Consumers easily perceive brands as something that possesses universal

human characteristics and traits that form its identity.22 As explained by

Kapferer23, brand personality must be just one of the main aspects of brand

identity. To illustrate, Kapferer depicts the brand identity model as seen in this

figure:

Fig. 1 Kapferer’s brand identity model. The figure has four main elements that are paired in

two separated poles: picture of sender to picture of recipient, and internalization to

externalisation. 1992.

The elements related to the sender are the personality and the physique,

whereas moving clockwise to the right side it can be observed that the

                                                                                                               21 Olins, W. On Brands, Bucharest, Romania: Comunicare.ro, 2003. 22 Calkins, T. ‘Kellogg on Branding’. New Jersey, USA: Kellogg School of Management, 2005. 23 Kapferrer, J.N. The New Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, London, UK: Kogan Page, 2004, p. 107.

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personality aspect is closely related to the internal dimension while on the

opposite side the physique is linked to the externalisation. Elements perceived

by the recipient, such as reflection and self-image, are situated at the bottom

of the diagram. Again, self-image is linked to internalisation, and the element

of reflection to externalisation. However, the central part shows that elements

such as relationship and culture are found to be common between both

sender and recipient. These two elements are present in every dimension,

which can then be understood as connecting elements to the two main

elements found vertically.

In this diagram, culture plays an important role in the internalisation side of the

diagram. It serves as a bridge between the types of personality that the

sender wants to express to transforming it to the kind of self-image perceived

by the recipient, both being dependent on the type of culture that is being

considered. Relationship, on the other hand, is the link between physique and

the external reflection that the recipient exhibits.

Applying the principles of this model to how the examples of global brands

mentioned earlier are faring, it can be quickly observed that the universal

message that the target consumer received are the values and traits that the

sender or the company stands for. As an immediate case in point, Benetton’s

images that send messages of cultural harmony and racial unity still resonate

among a general-market segment until today, where forces of nationalism as

well as racial violence and war have always been on-going. Thus, it can be

argued that the connection between Benetton and the public is based on the

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effort of raising awareness towards serious issues that happen in the world

today.

Taking into account the whole sender-receiver process and the way

messages are delivered, perceived and reflected, Kapferer’s brand identity

diagram can be a useful means of determining how global brands (sender)

adapt and customise advertising strategies and messages to make it relevant

to both global and local consumers (recipient).24

Global Advertising and the Cross-cultural approach

Alden25 notes that GCCP vs. LCCP should not be confused with standardized

vs. adapted marketing strategies. While GCCP or cross-cultural strategy is

found to be more feasible to use across different markets than LCCP, these

two do not operate in the same equivalence. Thus, cross-culturalism may be

used as a standardized marketing strategy that advertisers employ, but not

automatically necessary.

Given this, the following discussion and examples will be founded on the

“same same, but different” idea, related to global and cross-cultural

advertising, as this research has been inspired by the idea that the global

marketplace is quickly growing, and that consumers’ insights and tastes are

converging, in a paradoxical state demanding for unity in diversity. Therefore,

it is necessary to underline one of the project’s limitations: the details of the

localized version of global advertising messages will not be developed more

                                                                                                               24 ibid. 25 Alden, op. cit.

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in depth, but some examples are mentioned.

Advertising is such a worldwide industry that acts as “the most visible

manifestation of the globalisation of business in general and of brands in

particular.” 26 Jones states that the term ‘global advertising’ is commonly

applied “to advertising for universally ubiquitous brands, such as Coca-Cola,

Marlboro cigarettes, Kodak photographic film, Benetton apparel, Gucci

accessories, Sony home electronics, and Perrier bottled water.”27

In addition, global advertising campaigns are launched by big companies with

competitive sales and are spread in a large number of countries. This means

that to be able to develop and implements a global advertising strategy, the

brand must adhere to “certain basic commonalities of consumption patterns

and demographic, psychographic, sociological, cultural, economic, and

lifestyle-related factors among its target consumers in each country where it is

marketed.” 28 Furthermore, Jones states that it is not easy to find these

commonalities, but similarities can be detected based on the several factors

mentioned above. Encapsulated in the “same same, but different”

catchphrase is the notion that an effective and relevant global advertising

campaign focuses on similarities but simultaneously acknowledging the

differences that exist.

A good primary example is BBH London’s Johnnie Walker campaign [Fig. 2],

as mentioned earlier. When the Johnnie Walker brand suffered a decline in                                                                                                                26 Jones, J.P. International Advertising. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2000. 27 ibid. 28 ibid.

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the 90s, BBH was tasked to come up with an advertising strategy that will

adapt to both global and local consumer cultures. BBH explains that the

"Keep Walking" campaign was based on the “universal idea of personal

'progress'.” The campaign showcases the breadth and depth of "Keep

Walking," providing cultural diversity for the Johnnie Walker brand.”29

Fig. 2 The “Keep Walking” campaign. Implemented in 120 countries where value and volume

sales spiked up 48% and 94% respectively.

                                                                                                               29 Johnnie Walker campaign, BBH London’s website, <http://www.creativebrief.com/agency/work/686/12> (accessed 12 August 2013).

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Global advertising is assumed to be effective in a culture where consumers

are empowered and have the freedom to be selective of the ads they pay

attention to, as well as the brands they affiliate themselves with. This idea

perfectly fits the “Keep Walking” campaign ideals, and relates to the belief that

“at the heart of global campaigns is the insight that human beings everywhere

share similar aspirations, desires, and outlooks”30 - an assumption which is

the driving insight for the Johnnie Walker campaign strategy.

Another example is BBDO New York’s Gillette global advertising campaign,

as it showcases both a functional and psycho-emotional aspect. The slogan

“The best a man can get” [Fig.3] addresses the two key benefits of the

product: the buyer looks his best and simply affords it. Applying Kapferer’s

model, Gillette as the sender of the message succeeds in portraying itself as

“the world’s leading male grooming authority”31 , while at the same time

reflecting universally accepted values among its target audience

(achievement, success, manliness), therefore perceived as cross-culturally

relevant.

                                                                                                               30 O’Barr, W. and Moeira, M. and Lazarus, S. ‘Advertising and society review’ – Global advertising, E-ISSN: 1534-7311, 2008. 31 Gillette, ‘Gillette launches New Global Brand Marketing Campaign’, Gillette’s website, 1 July 2009, <http://news.gillette.com/press-release/product-news/gillette-launches-new-global-brand-marketing-campaign> (accessed 23 August 2013).

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Fig. 3 Gillette’s global brand campaign “The Best a Man Can Get.”

Dove is representative of another successful global campaign. 32 Shelly

Lazarus, chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, expresses that the Dove

campaign called “Real beauty” [Fig. 4] represents a universal truth, and that

what Dove stands for “can be related to, everywhere”:

Fig. 4 Dove Real Beauty. The campaign emphasizes women’s beauty in all shapes, color, and sizes.

                                                                                                               32 Dove, ‘Real Beauty,’ Dove UK’s website, 18 October 2010, <http://www.dove.co.uk/en/Our-Mission/Our-Vision/default.aspx> (accessed 23 August 2013).

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“It’s about natural, real beauty. It’s not about the super made-up and

exaggerated beauty that cosmetics brands encourage. It’s about a woman’s

beauty, real and better.33 There’s nothing that links Dove to a particular

geography.”34

Global advertising thus has become a very plausible option for communication

strategy, but it’s not easy. It requires keenness to find inspiration, consumer

insight intelligence, cultural sensitivity and on the part of the agencies,

management skills. James Gregory concisely indicates necessary factors for

global operational success when he suggested that advertisers should

“determine first which characteristics of the key geographical markets are

similar; on that basis, a unified advertising campaign that addresses all issues

can be developed.”35 This then translates to important factors such as the

client’s request, available resources, assigned budget, product features, and

creativity of workforce, which must all be carefully sorted out in order to shape

an effective and efficient global advertising campaign.

In any case, the importance lies in the intrinsic understanding of the

universality of the brand – how and why it resonates among diverse cultures

through specific human insights.36 Effectively communication these universal

yet targeted advertising messages across global and cultural boundaries thus

represents the significance of a global advertising campaign.

                                                                                                               33 Whittemore, C., ‘Dove – What is Real Beauty?’, Flooring the Consumer website, 1 July 2009, <http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.co.uk/2006/12/dove-what-is-real-beauty.html (accessed 23 August 2013). 34 Lazarus, op. cit. 35 Gregory, J.R. Branding Across Borders, New York, USA: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 36 Lazarus, op. cit.

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However, there are brands of all sizes, they can be specific or generic,

national or global, cheap or expensive, but what makes them powerful is what

they represent and not at all, what they are.

However, Cox37 proposes that one of the global trends that has something to

do with achieving diverse insights in different markets is the shift in diverse

workforces, which is also a function of globalisation.

Having discussed the factors and processes that lead to a cross-cultural

advertising of a global brand, the discussion goes further into exploring the

importance of cultural diversity in the advertising workforce and how it might

be reflective of the creative outcome of a global advertising campaign

strategy.

                                                                                                               37 Cox, J. The multicultural organization. Executive (19389779), 5(2), 1991, pp. 34-47.

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SECTION TWO

Diversity toward a multicultural workforce

“Employees are not only an important target audience, they are a channel of

communication, and, in reality, part of the company message itself.

Employees can make or break the brand.”38

Cox39 argues that due to effects of globalisation, rapidly growing diversity in

companies’ workforces all over the world will be experienced. The

heterogeneity, Cox adds, will be seen in terms of such as nationality, ethnicity,

race, and gender. Furthermore, possible advantages of this diversity should

involve improved decision-making, better levels of innovation and creativity, a

more significant impact in marketing to global, local, foreign and ethnic

segments, and a more egalitarian allocation of economic and social

opportunities. However, Cox also notes in contrast that “cultural differences

can also increase costs through higher turnover rates, interpersonal conflict,

and communication breakdowns.”40

Hoffman in Mannix and Neale41 presented a united, although somewhat

obvious assertion, regarding the importance of value of diversity in

                                                                                                               38 Gregory, op. cit. 39 Cox, op. cit., p. 34. 40 Ibid., p. 34. 41 Mannix, E. and Neale, M. ‘What differences make a difference?’, Psychological Science in the Public Interest (Wiley-Blackwell), 6(2), 2005, pp. 31-55.

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workgroups and their creative outputs. The proposition is founded on the

strength of different points of view. Considering the notion that diversity is a

concept that every group possesses and no individual does, this notion can

then be stretched to the reasoning that the intelligence that the masses do

have at present is starting to strengthen due to the Internet as a global village.

Mannix and Neale42 further stretched this argument to the effectiveness and

efficiency of diverse groups in relation to creatively challenging tasks. The

results conveyed that diverse groups were able to come up with better

problem-solving processes and more convincing solutions than undiversified

teams.

On the same note, Joshi and Roh43 examined diverse teams in service-

oriented jobs and observed the advantage that diverse teams have in catering

to diverse customers. Findings identified that a diversified consumer market is

more likely to be drawn to a shop that reflects the same characteristics, i.e.

having a diverse crew. So it can be assumed that if a brand intends to

broaden its reach beyond sales, it would then make sense that the target

segment would relate and respond better to an advertisement or product offer

from a spokesperson with whom they identify more closely with.

Therefore, a workforce that reflects the demographical make-up of a particular

market has benefits and advantages.44 As King argues, the composition of a

                                                                                                               42 ibid. 43 Joshi, A. and Roh, H. ‘The role of context in work team diversity research: A meta-analytic review’, Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 2009, pp. 599-627. 44 King, E. and Dawson, J. F. and West, M. A. and Gilrane, V. L. and Peddie, C. I. and Bastin, L. ‘Why organizational and community diversity matter: Representativeness and the

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workforce must be consistently linked with the demography of the segment of

the community wherein the workforce operates. “In light of global trends

toward increasingly diverse communities and workplaces, it is imperative that

management scholars and practitioners attend to demography both within and

outside of organizations.”45

In the same light, King also points out that workforces that do not represent

the community in which they work in may cause conflict and an inclination to

regress to stereotyping by way of social categorisation.46

“The results of the current study suggest that when organizations do not

reflect the demography of the communities in which they are embedded,

dysfunctional social categorization processes and manifestations of negative

intergroup behaviours can emerge.”47 Although this may not necessarily be

the case in every cultural context and community, there is a possibility of the

advertising message being misunderstood or perceived in an unintended way

may render the campaign efforts futile or worse, offensive.

Furthermore, whether a creative team or any other workgroup in an

advertising agency is highly diverse or not, there is still the possibility that the

organisational structure exhibits a dominant in-group. It would make sense to

posit that members of the in-group would demonstrate a higher degree of

identifying with the organisation than non-members of the said in-group.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              emergence of incivility and organizational performance’, Academy of Management Journal, 54(6), 2011, pp. 1103-1118. 45 ibid., p. 1114. 46 ibid., p. 1114. 47 ibid., p. 1114.

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“Organizational identification refers to the extent to which a person personally

identifies with, and tends to define himself or herself as a member in the

employing organization.”48

Such situation is observed in the case of Shadi-Sade Sarreshtehdarzadeh,

Junior Strategist at BBH London. Sarreshtehdarzadeh relates how being the

only Asian member in her team results in outsider-member categorisation:

I remember when I came here feeling very different. I felt really aware

that I am brown. There aren't many other Asian people particularly in the

teams that I’m on, and I’m the only girl who doesn't have blonde hair on

my table.”49

As a big advertising agency that is also known for servicing brands that cater

to a diverse and global market, BBH London50 can then be seen as an agency

that is yet to move from a dominant in-group culture toward a more

multicultural one. Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director of BBH,

echoes the same thought about the advertising industry in general when he

expressed that it would be unsubstantial to assume that the industry “can

continue to be successful and continue to be effective if it doesn't in some

way reflect the audience it is talking to.”51

                                                                                                               48 Cox, op. cit., p.36. 49 IPA, Diversity in Advertising, The IPA, London, Richard Paris Wilson, 13th November, 2012 (video). 50 BBH London, 60 Kingly St, London, W1B 5DS, visited 17 April 2013 51 ibid.

 25  

Cox52 puts forward that it would be implausible for an organization to have a

very uniform and all-inclusive organisational culture, when it must head

toward multiculturalism by means of a phase of growing acquiescence as well

as tolerance in order to arrive at a multicultural company culture. This then

connotes that it is necessary for an agency to promote incorporation of other

cultures that should consequentially eliminate partiality.

This is also for the purpose of facilitating the belongingness and

categorisation of minority or underrepresented demographic groups in order

to start having role models. Sarreshtehdarzadeh explains that being aware

that she is the only Asian member in her team is not a problem, but rather the

categorization arises from her awareness of her “history in general” 53

pertaining to having a social orientation that was accustomed to consider

socially and historically familiar career paths. The gravitas is more apparent

when Robin Wight, President of Engine and WCRS, expresses it succinctly:

There is terrible lack of diversity because lots of young people from

ethnic minority backgrounds do not know anything about advertising;

they don't have role models. They might know about finance, or sport,

but not advertising.54

Having looked into this matter, the research delves further into the state of

diversity in the advertising industry, focusing on agencies in London and how

                                                                                                               52 Cox, op. cit. 53 IPA, Diversity in Advertising, op. cit. 54 ibid.

 26  

advertisers want to create a work environment that would maximise culturally

creative potential to impact the overall diversity in the industry.

 27  

SECTION THREE

State of diversity in the UK ad industry

Advertising messages are perceived and digested in a subjective manner,

and oftentimes in a cultural way, through culture lenses. The audience taps

into their concept of self, as well as their identity as an individual and as a

group member when it comes to interpreting the advertising message.55 This

is emphasised in a highly diverse society such as the Great Britain.

The rate of ethnic diversity in Great Britain is constantly increasing. It is

estimated that by 2051, Wales and England will be as diverse as London is at

present.56 According to the 2009 report of the Office for National Statistics,

Nearly 12% of England and Wales’s population is from an ethnic minority

background [Fig. 5]. “The largest non-White ethnic groups are the Indian

(accounting for roughly 3% of the population), Pakistani and Mixed (each 2%),

followed by the Black African (1.5%) Black Caribbean, Bangladeshi and

Chinese populations (each around 1%).”57

                                                                                                               55 Grier, op. cit., p. 87 56 Creative Brief, ‘Can Advertising be Truly Diverse?’ Creative Brief Website, 21 November 2012 <http://www.creativebrief.com/blog/2012/11/21/can-advertising-become-a-truely-diverse-industry/> (accessed 29 August 2013) 57  Ethnicity UK ‘Facts and figures about ethnic difference and inequality in the UK’ Ethnicity UK website <http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/population/size.html> (accessed 25 August 2013)    

 28  

Fig. 5 The non-white population by ethnic group, 2009. Office for National Statistics

In relation to this statistics, the Office for National Statistics also reports that

there are 300 languages spoken in London alone, but this is not reflected in

the workforce of advertising agencies across London and the Southeast. In

addition, the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) Report 2012

states that ethnic minorities in the UK are estimated to have a collective

disposable income worth £300 Billion.58 With all these figures, it can be clearly

argued, albeit already heavily agreed on and supported by advertising

practitioners in the UK themselves, that there is indeed a lack of diversity in

the ad industry, especially in London.

If we were again to bring up King’s argument on how the composition of a

workforce must be consistently linked with the demography of the segment of

                                                                                                               58 IPA, Diversity in Advertising, op. cit.

 29  

the community wherein the workforce operates,59 it would seem that the UK

advertising industry is really lagging behind. Patrick Burgoyne, Editor of

Creative Review supports this claim when he stated “that ad agencies are

largely based in London and in the southeast where the non-white population

is high, it shows that ad agencies are not representative of the communities

that they come from.”60

In addition, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has reported in 2011

that 90.6% of the advertising industry staff come from a white background.61

However, the counter-argument to this is that when the white population in

England and Wales62 [Fig. 6] as reported as well by the 2009 report of the

Office for National Statistics is juxtaposed with this figure, it would make

sense:

Fig. 6 The population in England and Wales by ethnic group, 2009

                                                                                                               59  ibid., p. 1114.  60  ibid., p. 1114.  61  IPA,  ‘The  IPA  Report  2011’  Institute  of  Practitioners  in  Advertising  Website  <‘http://www.ipa.co.uk/UserAccount/RoadBlock.aspx?contentid=2021&redirect=http://www.ipa.co.uk:80/Page/Finance-­‐Departments-­‐Benchmark-­‐Surveys?menu=open&monetised=False&viewable=2>  (accessed  28  July  2013)  62  Ethnicity UK, op. cit.  

 30  

Again, applying Grier and Brumbaugh’s assertion that targeted advertising

messages are seen to be resonating to the audience more due to the fact that

the messaging has been crafted to the perceived characteristic of the target

group,63 the figure reported on the IPA in relation to the figure reported by the

Office for National Statistics on white population in England and Wales is

somewhat proportional and can be argued that the advertising industry in GB

is actually representative of its population.

Every advertising practitioner interviewed on the Diversity in Advertising

video, including Sir John Hegarty, argues the antithesis of the previous

paragraph. This leads the assumption that the issue of lack of diversity in the

advertising industry in the UK does not necessarily pertain to ethnic diversity

alone.

That is to say, the lack of diversity could also have something to do with other

factors such as educational background or more likely, gender. The IPA

Agency Census 2011 reports that “85% of all advertising and marketing

messages are aimed at women,” while “90% of all communications

campaigns are created by men.”64

According to Emma Sexton, Director of SheSays, women are under-

represented at advertising agencies as well as the brands and clients that the

agencies are servicing. “When you look at statistics, 80% of consumer

purchasing power is led by women, so what we see is a lot of advertising that

                                                                                                               63  Grier, op. cit., p. 87  64  IPA, Diversity in Advertising, op. cit.  

 31  

is not impacting or resonating with a female audience.”65 Laura Jordan-

Bambach, Creative Director at Dare, echoes the same sentiment when she

related that she tried to address the “imbalance between men and women

particularly in creative and planning” departments when she set up SheSays.

Bambach adds that the industry is still prevailed by men, mostly white, middle-

upper class.

On the other hand, Jonathan Akwue, Partner at Engine, proposes that it could

also have something to do with class. He furthers that most advertising

agencies offer entry-level positions that are not well compensated, and that it

would help to have a supportive family environment that could provide enough

money when starting a career in the advertising industry. “If you don't have

access to that kind of capital, then it is very hard to get into this industry.

Actually, I think it has more to do with class than it is to do with race.”66

What’s Being Done?

Going back to Wight’s proposition in the previous pages and relating it to the

previous paragraph above, it can be assumed that one of the main problems

with this lack of diversity is awareness among the youth. Relating this to

Francher's content analysis of TV advertisements, he posits that the language

of the agency with regard to youthfulness shows that this quality of the

workforce was necessary for the creative insights pertinent to creating

                                                                                                               65  IPA, Diversity in Advertising, op. cit.  66  IPA, Diversity in Advertising, op. cit.  

 32  

effective advertising messages, both global and local.67

Given all these raised concerns, the advertising industry together with the IPA

discussed possible pathways to achieving solutions to this problem of lack of

diversity during the launch of the Diversity in Advertising video in November

2012. The first major point that was raised was that majority of the work

"needs to be doneat schools to make students aware that the advertising

industry is an option for them."68

This also goes hand in hand with Rob Norman’s (CEO of WPP's Group M

North America) statement regarding raising awareness among the young

population with regard to attracting a diverse group of talent:

Not only do you have to recruit people that are diverse, you have to

create environments under which those people are comfortable

working in. The hardest thing is making people aware that our industry

exists, that it's open to a broad range of talent and it's a credible

profession for people to seek out.69

Thus, hiring is clearly part of the problem. The failure to retain minority talent,

which many believe is due to the lack of an encouraging environment, is

another issue. In conjunction with Sir John Hegarty’s statement regarding

hiring diverse talents, the discrepancy becomes more evident:

                                                                                                               67  Francher, J. S., “It's the Pepsi generation: Accelerated aging and the television commercial.” International Journal of Aging and Human Development, No. 4, pp. 245-255 68 Burgoyne, P. ‘How Can Advertising be More Diverse?’, Creative Review, 14 November 2012 <http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2012/november/diversity-in-advertising> (accessed 29 July 2013) 69 Bush, M. op. cit.    

 33  

It's odd to me that in an industry that is probably the most egalitarian

you can ever work in because this is an idea's industry, all it cares

about are ideas. Do you have a good idea or not. Whatʼs the idea?

And we don't care where the idea comes from. It can come from

anywhere. There is no barrier, so you wonder why are not more diverse

people coming to our industry? Is it that we're not looking? Is it actually

that they're not being exposed to what we do?70

In any case, it can be concluded that if brands and advertisers, especially in

the UK where diversity in the social and economic population is high, cannot

communicate effectively to its ever-changing consumer market, they will find

themselves losing in the market. With ethnic minorities in the UK currently

estimated to have a disposable income of £300 Billion, this issue of lack of

diversity for sure will become more relevant in the coming years as more and

more consumers are becoming increasingly diverse, multicultural, and global.

                                                                                                               70  IPA, Diversity in Advertising, op. cit.  

 34  

Conclusion

We live in a very diverse world, and it’s an imperative for business success to

ensure that representation of the target segment is reflected in each brand,

advertising message, and workforce. The rapid evolution and spread of

technology also opens up all the possibilities of the emergence of a global

consumer and a global culture. This paper explored these drivers as key

factors in the evolution and impact of global brands upon consumers and how

technology is so powerful and useful for companies in creating a global brand

that can shape different consumer preferences. Reiterating Duffet’s

assumption, “global companies are shaping the perceptions and aspirations of

citizens of various nations, wherever they live.”71

As globalisation intensifies our awareness of different cultures around the

world and the interconnectedness among them, consumers as individuals

thus consequentially develop views of themselves in relation to the rest of the

world. Global and personal identification are among the possible self-views,

which can then serve as a basis for target segmentation.

The cross-culturalism positioning of examples of global advertising campaigns

that were discussed in this paper was analysed in conjunction with cultural

factors in an advertising communication process occurring in the highly

                                                                                                               71  Duffet, R. G. op. cit.  

 35  

diverse and global marketplace.

The approach opted for that section of this study was to find out the elements

of those mentioned global advertising campaigns that made it successful to

have a worldwide relevance in terms of finding unifying themes amidst cultural

diversity. It was identified that similarities between people, despite different

cultural backgrounds, is important element of global advertising campaigns.

Following Kapferer’s brand identity model, it was observed that the universal

message that the target consumer receives is representative of the same

values and traits that the sender or the company stands for. This necessitates

then that the composition of a workforce must be consistently linked with the

demography of the segment of the community wherein the workforce

operates.72

That is to say, including the employees’ cultural orientation and background in

the message mix influences the outcome of the brand or advertising

message, especially in creative teams. In the context of delivering advertising

message in the global marketplace, it is more complicated as it has to be

consistent, clear and appropriate across all target groups given that the

strategy used is positioned to be cross-cultural. One of the most important

tools that an advertising agency, or any company for that matter, has at its

                                                                                                               72 King, E. op. cit., p. 1114.

 36  

disposal for promoting the global advertising campaign message is

represented by the workforce itself – that the workforce does not only

significantly influence the important message being sent to the target

audience, but rather they are a channel of communication, and, in reality, part

of the brand or advertising message itself.

Reasons for the plausible implementation of cross-culturalism and why it is so

appealing involves economic practicality: it is cheaper to make one

commercial or one single advertising strategt, translate it and run it worldwide,

than to make one for each individual country. This is not a problem as long as

it is effective and it resonates with the target segment. Also, it is important to

know that a single ad campaign has the ability to make a company seem

consistent and the same, anywhere in the world. The opposite approach,

when the company adapts and creates a different ad for every different

country, can easily give the perspective of numerous and separate

companies, having different goals and agendas. Furthermore, a single ad

campaign allows a greater control of the brand everywhere and does not

impede when it comes to national borders.

This researched therefore focused on thee main points: exploring how

technology and globalisation lead to the implementation of the global

consumer culture positioning or cross-culturalism, how it was successfully

achieved through the importance of diversity of the workforce, and the

exploration of diversity in the UK which is considered to have one of the most

 37  

diverse of population, as well as a source of global advertising campaigns.

Despite these qualities, it is clear that the UK advertising industry is struggling

to find solutions to address the problem of lack of diversity. Nevertheless,

everything starts with awareness, and the acknowledgement of the industry

that the industry itself is responsible for finding solutions for this current state

that it is in.

As the advertising industry is an ever-changing industry, this topic can be

explored further on the differences between the cultures. It would then require

that a deeper and detailed research could be conducted for finding differences

among consumers in the world and possibly mapping the path to the

omniculturalism proposition stated in the introduction, where in the future we

will find out that “same same, but different” could possibly after all become

“different, but same same.”

 38  

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VIDEO:

• Diversity in Advertising, The IPA, London, Richard Paris Wilson, 13th November, 2012 (video).

• IPA, Diversity in Advertising, The IPA, London, Richard Paris Wilson, 13th November,

2012 (video). SITES VISITS:

• BBH London, 60 Kingly St, London, W1B 5DS, visited 17 April 2013 WEBSITES:

• Gillette, ‘Gillette launches New Global Brand Marketing Campaign’, Gillette’s website, 1 July 2009, <http://news.gillette.com/press-release/product-news/gillette-launches-new-global-brand-marketing-campaign> (accessed 23 August 2013).

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<http://www.creativebrief.com/agency/work/686/12> (accessed 12 August 2013).

• Dove, ‘Real Beauty,’ Dove UK’s website, 18 October 2010, <http://www.dove.co.uk/en/Our-Mission/Our-Vision/default.aspx> (accessed 23 August 2013).

PICTURE CREDITS: Fig. 1 Kapferer’s brand identity model, 1992 <  http://www.12manage.com/methods_kapferer_brand_identity_prism.html> Fig. 2 Johnnie Walker:The “Keep Walking” campaign, BBH London’s website, <http://www.creativebrief.com/agency/work/686/12> (accessed 12 August 2013). Fig. 3 Gillette’s global brand campaign ‘The Best a Man Can Get’, Gillette’s website, 2009 <  http://news.gillette.com/press-release/product-news/gillette-launches-new-global-brand-marketing-campaign> Fig. 4 Dove, ‘Real Beauty,’ Dove UK’s website, 18 October 2010, <http://www.dove.co.uk/en/Our-Mission/Our-Vision/default.aspx> (accessed 23 August 2013). Fig. 5 The non-white population by ethnic group, ‘Experimental Population Estimate by Ethnic Group for local authority disctrict and higher administrative areas for England and Wales’, Office for National Statistics, 2009. Fig. 6 The population in England and Wales by ethnic group, 2009