ABSTRACT
Advertising is an industry focused on attracting public attention to a product or service, using the channels of mass communications. In recent years, advertising has emerged as a major form of global communication:
• Advertising throughout Latin America increased by more than 14 percent, to $21.3 billion, in 2000.1
• More than $11 billion was spent on advertising in the People's Republic of China in 2001.2
• Spending in the emerging markets of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Mrica, and Thailand grew by approximately 15 percent in 2001.3
• Procter & Gamble Company spent $3.82 million on advertising worldwide in 2001.4
• Prominent U.S. brands are now running more commercials and print ads around the world. In 2002, Colgate-Palmolive Company spent just 19.4 percent of its global total in the United States, 49 percent in Europe, 17.9 percent in Asia, and 11 percent in Latin America.s
• There was a 6 percent growth rate worldwide in advertising in 2002.6
International advertising now extends beyond products and services. For instance, countries now use advertising to promote their image abroad. In 2002, the government of Poland hired DDB Corporate Profiles, an advertising agency in Warsaw, to promote tourism and trade. Szymon Gutkowski, managing director ofDDB Corporate Profiles, comments, "Politicians now realize that a country is a brand." However, Sarah Boxer cautions, ''As with any other brand, people have associations, good or bad. with the nations they know. But can you change people's minds by repackaging, rebranding a nation ?"7 Indeed, advertising often serves political functions in authoritarian countries. China's "Regula-
tions for Advertising Management" declares that advertising in China should be used for "the promotion of socialist construction."8 International advertising serves two main manifest functions. The ftrst is to provide information. International advertisers are often faced with the difficult task of introducing their product to a global audience. In many cases, advertisers must start from the beginning, providing a simple description of the product before explaining why this particular brand is beneftcial. The second manifest function is to create a recognizable identity for a product. A successful ad enables consumers to differentiate one brand from its competition.
