Adaptation Strategy in International Brands: An Examination in Iranian Advertising

Introduction

Advertisement is a communication idea that alter the way people think and/or behave about a certain product, service or organization. Advertisement requires disparate ways of looking at managing. Advertising management has four broad elements. These elements are the 4Ps of advertisement. These are people, process, planning and profit (Kelly & Sheehan, 2021, p.10). Advertisement is outlined as ‘a paid, mediated format of communication from a describable resource, designed to convince the target to take some action, in the future or now (Richards & Catharine, 2002). Advertising is the most popular and most extensively discussed form of marketing communication, undoubtedly because of its prevalence. Advertisement is also a very important integrated marketing communication tool especially for corporations such as car manufacturers whose products and services are targeted at mass consumer marketplaces, as it is very cost-efficient at reaching out large audiences. Advertisement’s other main strength is its capacity to create a brand image or identities, speedily and convincingly (Belch et al, 2020, p.40). The authors aim to determine how cultural differences are emphasized in global advertising strategies and how these differences are adapted in ads.

In this research, the geographic, socio-politic, economic and cultural country profile, media and advertising sector in Iran is examined. Next global advertisementing strategies are explored and the adaptation strategy for global advertisements is evaluated in the context of Hofstede's theory of cultural dimensions and cultural onion model (Hofsede & Bond, 1984; Hofstede et al, 1990). In the study, Iranian advertisements were determined as the universe of the research and the advertisement produced by Lipton for Iran was chosen as the sample of the research by random sampling method. Iran has a unique social structure with its historical, cultural, political and socio-economical state. Considering the problems Iran has especially with Western countries and the image of the Western world in the country, the study becomes significant in in terms of how international companies can overcome the important adaptation problems.

Among other studies that use Hofstede’s cultural onion and/or cultural dimensions model in the literate are Eryiğit’s (2020) study, in which the glocal approaches of BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz brands that adopt the glocal marketing approach through examining their Instagram posts as well as Onurlu & Zulfugarova’s (2016) research, in which they examine five global brands’ television advertisements in Turkey regarding whether global brands take cultural differences into account while applying their advertising strategies in local markets.

In this study, it was observed that, Lipton attaches importance to global advertising strategies in order to reach target audiences with different characteristics and in different markets. Furthermore, it is clear in the study that, Lipton aims to give messages appropriate to Iran's eating habits, geographical and cultural characteristics, gender roles, religious values and various social rituals. On the other hand, when Lipton’s advertisement is evaluated in terms of Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions and cultural onion model, it can be understood that “collectivism” dimension is intensively at the forefront in the advertisement. It is striking that people of different status are in communication in advertising. This reflects the low power gap in power distance. Cultural dimensions like femininity and low uncertainty avoidance are at the forefront in the advertisement. Although there are many restrictions in Iran, Iran has a tolerant society. For this reason, the theme of happiness seems to be the leading advertisement theme and this fact reflects tolerance.