Advertising Agencies Hamper Brand Globalisation
Advertising agencies have done little to help brand owners market their products on a global scale, according to Paul Jackson, managing partner of branding consultancy, Silverfin.
Delivering a speech prepared by Globalbrander’s John Murray at ISBA’s Annual Advertising Conference yesterday, Jackson criticised agencies for their reluctance to deliver workable cross-media communications strategies capable of delivering brands to consumers on a global scale.
He accused the likes of WPP, Omnicom and Interpublic of having no “global voice”, arguing that they rely too much on traditional media such as TV, press and outdoor, rather than looking to more innovative platforms with global capabilities, such as the internet.
Jackson predicted that there will be an significant increase in the globalisation of brands over the next few years, with larger companies focussing on advertising their products to multiple markets.
He said: “A reduction in global tariffs is producing increasing opportunities for manufacturers to take their brands to any market. Companies such as Unilever, Nestlé and Mars have led the field in this respect and have seized the opportunity for global sales to consumers.”
He suggested that the globalisation of brands will be driven by an explosion of teenage culture, which will create a global consumer-base connected through the internet in a way that is “revolutionary.”
Jackson admitted that local branding will always exist for smaller companies, but insisted “There is no going back to local only solutions for global brand-owners.
Last year AOL Time Warner struck what was regarded as the biggest global cross-media marketing deal in history with the world’s largest advertiser Unilever (see AOL And Unilever Strike Global Cross-Media Deal). Under the three-year multi-million dollar deal, AOL has agreed to market Unilever’s range of consumer brands including Dove, Slim Fast, Ragu and Vaseline across its on-air, online and print properties in the US and Europe.
AOL Time Warner has been quick to realise the potential of multi-national marketing strategies and back in September the group appointed Michael J. Kelly as its new president of global marketing solutions, with responsibility for developing and implementing cross-platform marketing solutions across its portfolio of products (see AOL Appoints New President Of Global Marketing Solutions).
Globalbrander: www.globalbrander.com ISBA: 020 7499 7502 www.isba.org.uk
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