International Ad Branding Study
This is an informal (but interesting!) study of the international advertising / branding practices by global companies who can afford the best and the brightest in the industry. The inspiration came from listening to KCRW (public radio) and a series of programs on Motown which the station broadcasted back to back over the 4th of July weekend in 2002. I was listening to the program while painting a spare bedroom. The narrator described how Barry Gordy wanted to make music that everyone would listen to. One that it would cross racial and cultural boundries.
At this time I worked at Overture (inventor of paid search) as a designer dedicated to Overture's International markets. The company had expanded into Europe and the European offices were eager to do their own advertising, claiming different cultures. The U.S. office did not have a brand manager nor advertising resources and let the European offices loose in this regard. The brand quickly became diluted. Each country ran completely different ads promoting different company identities.
While listening to the KCRW broadcast, I hit upon the idea of applying the Motown concept to advertising. If I could find examples of global ad campaigns that could reinforce Overture International's argument for a global campaign, we could retake control of the brand in the European markets.
When I began the study I was amazed at what I found. I am presenting some of those findings here. A few examples have been lost unfortunately. In any case, the comparison blew away the marketing, design and international managment at Overture. It made Overture's European management a little defensive, but in the end, everyone learned something new. There was still bickering about the issue, but then Yahoo! bought the company and there was no more Overture to brand!
I hope you learn something new while looking through this site, and while you're at it, put on a little Motown. Who knows how it might inspire you!