Annicia Reddiar
When basketball player and rapper Shaquille O’Niel tells us that Pepsi is the “choice of the new generation”, and Natural Born Killers Juliette Lewis look-alike pulls on a pair of Levi’s in a public toilet, the common denominator is not only memorable advertisements. It also shows that we are worthy of being courted.
International ads are not new to South Africa. Consumers here have been the target of global campaigns before. Easily recognisable are cosmetic companies ads, like Lancme, Revlon and Estee Lauder, who use supermodels for their worldwide campaigns. But seeing ads for products we haven’t been able to buy for years is making the international presence all the more visible.
It’s also visible to the local industry which is watching this trend with mixed feelings. As the multinationals pour in, so do the global accounts, and that means more business for local ad agencies.
The opportunities created by the new arrivals are evident, but the increase of international ads has also caused some frustration. Advertising people in South Africa stand to lose the most if their skills are no longer in demand.
“Virtually since the start of commercial television,” says Oliver Nurock of Parkinson Productions, “we’ve had an influx of international ads being flighted locally, although there has certainly been a noticeable increase in recent years”. Reasons for this, he says, are the rise of global-ad campaigns and the fact that using one ad is cheaper than producing different ads for each country.
Given the strength of global brands, they go hand-in-hand with global marketing. So ads are made with the intention of reaching as many different cultures with one message as possible. And as with most things, advertising the big ones is cost-related. Piet Muller of Young and Rubicam says: “Instead of having 20 television ads in 20 countries, producing one or two for these countries is a huge cost saving. But it could ignore the cultural requirements of different countries.”
Local agencies could end up playing side-kick, with only a part of their expertise being drawn on. Companies who come into the country have to have local agencies to place their ads or create new ones for them. Most major agencies around the world are aligned internationally. A United States company will probably have an American agency; and this agency will be aligned with others in different countries. Even if a company is bringing in its own ad, it will still need a local agency for strategy advice locally.
There is a definite balance between an ad being cost-effective, and being relevant to the local market. Advertisements not individually evaluated on local merit may not communicate as effectively as they should.
Creative director of Hunt Lascaris, Sandra de Witt, says that “because international people are coming in, why spend money on production of new advertisements when we can use the old one? That kind of reasoning is a real threat for us working in South Africa.”
Lots of ads we see are a combination of both local and international. Agencies sometimes take a piece of existing material, expand on it and make a new commercial.
Often, international ads are adjusted and made suitable for the local market.
But as Gordon Muller of Saatchi and Saatchi says, there is a flip side to the coin. “Our production and creative people are top class. I don’t believe that we should be net importers of creative talent from outside the country. Our industry must recognise its own creative talent.”
South African agencies have been winning awards internationally for years, and have produced ads locally which have been used overseas, like BMW’s mercury and mouse ads, Continental Tyres, Staysoft Refill.
These belong to a small group of South African ads which become international. Because of the increase in multinational clients in South Africa and global-ad campaigns, it’s left to be seen if growth in this direction will be affected.
Meanwhile Nurock believes that the international presence has already had an effect: “This trend is becoming more entrenched, locally and internationally. The net result being that the local production industry, and ultimately local creativity, suffers.”
If the product is well-known, country or cultural-specific marketing isn’t necessary. And because the big names like Camel and Coca- Cola are household around the world, countries don’t exist as barriers for target audiences. Brand names are more the international language than esperanto could have ever hoped to be.
So, says chairman of the Creative Directors Forum Mike Ellman-Brown: “Multinational companies tend to use concepts and advertising that are developed at a central point. Others want a local angle with advertisements based on a worldwide theme, but given a local flavour. It’s taking a strategy through rather than an advertisement.”