Don't Generalise

Greetings, dear readers: your author has just returned refreshed from a week visiting family in the south of Italy. As you know, the very civilised practice of taking a siesta after lunch is prevalent in those parts – breaking the habit having returned, not so easy – and resting after said repast, I found myself watching the television frequently in an attempt to brush up on my Italian.

When it comes to the advertising breaks, it really shouldn’t have come as any surprise to see that the ads for the big brands are the same as ours, though clearly, in this case, in Italian rather than English. This got me thinking.

TV advertising is the clearest and quickest way to see how vendors perceive their market, which is why we refer to this form of promotion so regularly. Clearly, it is economically sensible to keep production costs low; for B2C advertising, there may seem little point in shooting a separate ad for each country where the vendor wishes to sell. This is why there are so many car ads in the UK that are left hand drive.

However, this must be stacked up against the value of both your brand and your products. At the premium end of the market, does it make sense to give the impression that you’re skimping on costs?

If I’m in the UK and considering buying a luxury car, then what’s my perception going to be if the advertising only shows left hand drive vehicles? Does this penny pinching extend to the product as well?

Every part of the projection of your organisation to the outside world must reflect your brand. So, if you are a vendor who wishes to address their market sensitively rather than turn off potential customers completely, you know what to do. And by the same token, you know what not to do.

P.S The social phenomenon of the beard is alive and well in southern Europe, the hirsute of you will be pleased to note.